Colonialism+of+Morocco+&+Libya

=Colonialism of Morocco & Libya=

Leading to Colonialism[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Morocco_Protectorate.svg width="318" height="304" align="right"]]
Morocco was colonized by France. The Alaouite Dynasty had good relations with the Spanish & French, but the French were secretly setting up treaties with other countries for the rights of Morocco. Moulay Hafiz, the ruler of Morocco, who was close with Spain, had resistence to the French. Spain had sent 90,000 troops, but the French trapped him, and after two years they came to an agreement. With the Treaty of Fez, Morocco gave France the right to defend the country. However, the north of the country was a Spanish protectorate. France colonized Morocco and many other territories around the world for a few reasons. France, along with several other European colonies, felt the push of nationalism. France's only major competition was Britain, furthening the push. Money was the other major factor in the scheme. France benefitted from the raw materials and the market space from these countries. It was also an opportunity to spread Roman Catholicism and other French cultures.

Libya was colonized by Italy. Italy colonialized Libya for three reasons: other European countries colonizing African countries put "peer pressure" on the country, they couldn't penetrate Turkey when they tried, and Libya was closest and the only non-colonized country at the time. It was violent at first, with much resistance, but smooth sailing afterward. Benito Mussolini, the dictator of Italy, was also trying to enforce his fascist regime. However, despite being a dictator, he appreciated Islam, to get to the people. He supported construction of modern buildings, services, and mosques. Italy colonized Libya and other countries for the same reasons France and Britain did, but Italian control was on too small a scale to compete.

Short and Long-Term Effects
After Morocco's independence, the ruler at that time, Mohammed V, modernized the government into a constitutional monarchy to give the sultan an active political role, unlike during French rule. In 1957, he became king. Four years later, a new king rose to power named Hassan II. In the following 10 years, the country underwent a series of political reforms over executive, legislative, and judicial powers. About a year after Hassan assumed power, Algeria was finally released from French rule. The country's western border, separating the country from Morocco, was disputed between the two countries. Eventually, a small war erected, but was put down by the U.N. with no border adjustments.

Libya was modernized during Italian rule, but it had no major resources, and was very poor as a result. However, oil was struck soon after independence, and brought Libya into competition again. However, in 1970 a new government was formed under Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, the chairman of this new organization. The US and UK subsequently removed their military installations. Qadafi later called for a revolution of Islam, and set up many committees oversee political, cultural, and economic life under the new revolution. Internationally, Qadafi wanted to unite Arabs under a Libyan axis, but it was only on paper between a few countries, and nothing of importance occurred between them. Qadafi was accused of supporting secret terrorist plots in African countries for Arabs and countries like Germany and Japan. Since then, Libya has suffered US attacks and boycotts of their goods + oil. Libya had been declared a terrorist state worldwide, with political actions involving the UN taking place, as well as some internal conflicts. Most Libyan conflicts, however, with the country distrusting other Arab nations; but Libya still considers itself an African country first.

Social and Economic Impact
Both countries' economies actually grew after colonialism; the imperializing countries had little economic impact.

Morocco's economy is stable, but its growth hasn't been large enough to off set an unemployment problem in the country. Their main exports, fish, salt, and other phosphates (rocks), have kept the country stable. Textiles, as well as tourism keep the country afloat as well.

During the 1950s, Libya was a poor country. They only had very little agricultural potential. Their only foreign income was selling territory to western countries for military bases, but they were vacated in 1970. Libya finally broke into wealth when they discovered oil in the years following release from Italy. Since then, they've struck less, but the price has risen.

Despite colonialism, both countries managed to retain all of their culture + Muslim religion. At most, the colonizing country's language is an official language of the country (i.e. for Morocco, some of the official languages are French + Spanish, and for Libya, Italian is included).

How has Qadafi been as a leader, and how has he shaped Libya and nearby countries?
Qadafi had strong intentions to unite people under a just cause. He tried to unite Arabs and Muslims and stand up for their opinions. The other countries just weren't strong enough to enforce the rights of Muslims; instead those countries were talking peace with Israel, rather than fighting for Palestine back. He also tried to apprehend the Aouzou Strip, an area of Chad that had rich deposits of Uranium, but it didn't hold long enough. And it may have been the right decision to support terrorists; Muslims don't like the US anyway, undermining their values and all. The other Arab countries let he and his country suffer for saying + doing what they were too scared to do. Qadafi was a brilliant leader who was just ahead of his time.

You could say that...or say he was very misguided in his actions. Uniting people was a good strategy, but all of his military actions were misguided. Just because he didn't get something he wanted doesn't mean he should have used force to attempt to attain it; he should have done things diplomatically. And he should have admitted he was supplying terrorists and atoned for his actions. And he let himself and his people pay the price. Qadafi was digging his own grave.