The paradox of independence: The maintenance of influence and the French decision to transfer power in Morocco

This article examines the reason why France granted independence to Morocco in the autumn of 1955, in comparison to Tunisian decolonisation. Morocco had been much less prepared for independence than Tunisia and many other British colonies in Africa, including Ghana, which were equipped with stable political institutions and local collaborators, but the country nonetheless gained independence earlier than they did. Paradoxically, the lack of collaborators, resulting from internal rivalries between the nationalists and dignitaries like the pashas, explains France's hasty recognition of Moroccan independence. By doing so, France aimed to make Mohammed V, the Moroccan Sultan, a viable collaborator and to preserve political unity under his leadership and French influence.