Independence Manifesto: Pride and the duty of remembrance

January 11th, a date so dear to Moroccans who are celebrating today the eighty-first anniversary of the Independence Manifesto. A landmark event in the history of the Kingdom and the prelude to emancipation from the colonial yoke.

It was enough for 66 illustrious personalities of the National Movement to embolden themselves to sign a manifesto legitimately demanding, in the midst of the Second World War, the independence of the country to destabilise the General Residency of the French coloniser, which was subordinate to the Vichy government. Independence and democracy were the two aspirations formulated by the signatories of the manifesto, which changed the course of the French protectorate in Morocco, which eventually succumbed to the will of the Moroccan people and their Sultan to determine the destiny of their own country.

In continuity with the spirit of January 11th, the Kingdom has made giant strides, accumulating diplomatic victories, notably through the recognition by several major powers of the Moroccan nature of the Sahara. Added to this are the initiatives aimed at raising Morocco to the rank of influential and powerful countries in the region, including the latest Royal initiative for the Atlantic. 

Flashback

Historians agree that this date is the most important in the history of the national movement and the struggle for the country's independence. Presented on January 11, 1944, this document constituted a decisive turning point in the struggle to free the kingdom from colonialism, sealing a pact between the King, the late Mohammed V, and the figures of the National Movement.

This agreement, which illustrates the common will of the Throne and the people to end the protectorate for a free and independent Morocco, allowed the phase of public demand for independence and national sovereignty to begin. Reading the Manifesto retrospectively, looking at the way the problem of Independence had been posed, we remain impressed by the strength of the demand that marked the content of the text, at a time when the world was struggling to emerge from the Second World War, and France was emerging from Nazi occupation. From the very first lines, the signatories demanded the independence of Morocco in its territorial integrity under the aegis of King Mohammed Ben Youssef.

Independence and nothing else, but under the authority of the legitimate King, the sole guarantor of unity and the symbol of sovereignty. There was clearly a subtle logic in the proposal that posited liberation as an unavoidable principle. This requirement that the liberation of Morocco could only take place within its natural borders and within the territorial integrity of the Kingdom represented a point of no return in the march towards restoring a nation's right to self-determination. The commemoration of January 11th thus crystallises the will of all sincere patriots devoted to the cause of the people to lead the struggle together to open new horizons, forge a new mentality, and give democratic and sovereign Morocco the place it deserves on the world map.

A founding act in the building of modern Morocco. This building of the future of Morocco, enjoying its political, economic, and cultural independence and where all citizens equally enjoy the fruits of this independence, requires the combining of everyone's efforts and the mobilisation of all potential to meet challenges and consolidate the foundations of a solid edifice capable of facing all challenges. January 11th was the starting point for the Moroccan people to establish democracy, overcome obstacles, and possess all the means of defence and immunity.

The presentation of this Manifesto on January 11, 1944, to the late H.M. Mohammed V, to the French Resident General, to the consuls of Great Britain and the United States in Morocco, and to the ambassador of the Soviet Union, constituted a decisive milestone in the struggle of the Moroccan people. After learning of this important event, this free and proud people organised actions in several cities. The colonial authorities then proceeded to arrest several leaders of the National Movement, following which strikes and demonstrations broke out, particularly in the cities of Rabat, Salé, and Fez. January 11, 1944, therefore concretises the fact that the Moroccan people had moved beyond the stage of demanding simple economic, administrative, and social reforms to demand the country's independence.

The programme was thus mapped out and the objectives defined. A roadmap that would serve as a foundation to which both the King and the Moroccan nationalists around him would cling. A strategy immediately took shape, adapted to national circumstances, but also in correlation with the texts that were flourishing everywhere in the world at that time regarding national liberation movements. Both in the Arab world and in Asia or Africa.

It is not by chance that years later, eliciting echoes of admiration in Africa and Asia, the fight of Mohammed V was evoked as a strong illustration of political commitment, made of wisdom and determination. It is also no coincidence that the French colonial authorities, measuring the depth of the ties that united the King and his people, did not relent for a second to break this sacred bond and deal with the guide of the nation, now propelled onto the national and international stage as a leader whose strength of conviction, spirit of sacrifice for his people, and far-reaching vision went hand in hand with the charisma that his person exuded.

It also took a real conspiracy, a devious campaign of underhanded intrigue and plots, led by General Juin and sub-prefecture mercenaries, to succeed in exiling, on the morning of August 20, 1953, the King and his family, forcing him to leave his country and distance himself from his people. A true betrayal, that is what the plot of a group of constables was towards the person who embodied the millennial history of Morocco and carried all the hopes of the people within him. 
 

The repression that followed the publication of the January 11th Manifesto and the meeting at the Royal Palace of Rabat between the Sovereign and the nationalists was fierce. It was matched only by the angry but calm and cold resolution of Mohammed V to defend the freedom of his people and the independence of his country. On April 10, 1947, while visiting Tangier with his young family, he took it upon himself to deliver a founding historical speech from the top of the Mandoubia, in this Mediterranean city separated from Europe by only 13 kilometres.

This solemn appeal had an international impact, given that the capital of the North had a special status as an International Zone and, as such, served as a sounding board for the royal demand, which was none other than the people's demand for independence.

The treacherous blow of General Juin on August 20, 1953, was the sinister response to the Sovereign's tenacity, but it in no way diminished his insight and resolution, since in December 1952, a few months earlier, popular revolts of rare violence broke out in the Central Quarries of Casablanca after the assassination in Tunisia of the trade union leader Farhat Hachad, revolts that also took place, above all, under the banner of support for the King, catching the French prefect of the city, Boniface, and his troops off guard. The conjunction between the King and the national forces was no longer in doubt for the colonial officials.

Moreover, they measured the stakes not without gravity and concluded that it was necessary to root them out. Which they did, without, however, realising that they were strengthening the symbiosis between Mohammed V and his people, giving both additional legitimacy to continue the liberating fight in the name of justice, freedom, and dignity.

On November 16, 1955, after two years of exile in Corsica and Antsirabé (Madagascar), and also after laborious negotiations conducted at La Celle-Saint-Cloud with Antoine Pinay and Edgar Faure, Mohammed V returned to the Kingdom and made a triumphal return in indescribable popular jubilation that left an indelible mark on the memory of millions of Moroccans.