Military of Morocco
Encyclopedia
The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces are the summation of the armed forces of the kingdom of Morocco
.
It was founded in 1956 (except the Royal Navy founded in 1960) after Morocco's independence
from France and Spain. Before the French and Spanish occupation of Morocco, which started in 1912, the country's defence force was made of a regular Makhzen
army, and of a less organized but much more powerful Berber
tribes' militias. These Berber militias were able to resist the French and Spanish armies for over 30 years, from 1907 to 1933.
The U.S. Embassy in Rabat commented in 2008 that: 'Civilian control, if ascribed to the person of the King, is complete, but there is no real Defense Ministry. Outside the FAR, there is only a small administration. The military remains plagued by
corruption, an inefficient bureaucracy, low levels of education in the ranks, periodic threats of radicalization of some of its soldiers, political marginalization, and the deployment of most of its forces in the Western Sahara.'
This data is from the Finance Law 2009. However, the U.S. Embassy Rabat cable linked above gives different figures for some of the armed services. Most significantly, they list the Navy with 7,800 personnel, but also say that the Gendarmerie consists of about 22,000 personnel.
and Tirailleur
regiments of the French Army of Africa
. During World War II more than 300,000 Moroccan troops (including goumier
auxiliaries) served with the Free French forces
in North Africa, Italy, France and Austria. The two world conflicts saw Moroccan units earning the nickname of "Todesschwalben" (death swallows) by German soldiers as they showed particular toughness on the battlefield .
By the end of the World War II
, Moroccan troops took part of the French Expeditionary Force engaged in the First Indochina War
from 1946 to 1954.
The Spanish Army
also made extensive use of Moroccan troops recruited in the Spanish Protectorate
, during both the Rif War
of 1921-26 and the Spanish Civil War
of 1936-39. Moroccan Regulares
, together with the Spanish Legion
, made up Spain's elite Spanish Army of Africa
. A para-military gendarmerie
, known as the "Mehal-la Jalifianas" and modelled on the French goumieres, was employed within the Spanish Zone.
The Royal Armed Forces were created on 14 May 1956, after the French Protectorate was dissolved. Fourteen thousand Moroccan personnel from the French Army and ten thousand from the Spanish Armed Forces transferred into the newly formed armed forces. This number was augmented by approximately 5,000 former guerrillas from the "Army of Liberation" (see below). About 2,000 French officers and NCOs remained in Morocco on short term contracts, until crash training programs at the military academies of St-Cyr, Toledo and Dar al Bayda produced sufficient numbers of Moroccan commissioned officers.
Four years later, the Royal Moroccan Navy
was established in 1960.
The Royal Moroccan Army fought on the Golan front during the Yom Kippur War
of 1973 (mostly in the battle for Quneitra
) and intervened decisively in the 1977 conflict known as Shaba I
to save Zaire's regime. The Armed Forces also took a symbolic part in the Gulf War
among other Arab armies.
But the Moroccan Armed Forces were mostly notable in fighting a 25-year war against the POLISARIO, an Algeria
n backed rebel national liberation movement
seeking the independence of Western Sahara
from Morocco. From the mid-1980s Morocco largely managed to keep Polisario troops off by building a huge berm
or sand wall (the Moroccan Wall
), staffed by an army roughly the same size as the entire Sahrawi population, enclosing within it
the economically useful parts of Western Sahara (Bou Craa
, El-Aaiun, Smara
etc.). This stalemated the war, with no side able to achieve decisive gains, but artillery strikes and sniping attacks by the guerrillas continued, and Morocco was economically and politically strained by the war.
On 14 July 1999, the Moroccan Armed Forces took part in the Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Élysées, which was exceptional for a non-French armed forces, at the invitation of then French President Jacques Chirac
.
It is today taking part in several peace keeping missions: MONUC, ONUCI, EUFOR, KFOR and MINUSTAH. Previous peace-keeping missions included the Somalia operation, in which Moroccan personnel served as part of UNOSOM I
, the Unified Task Force, and the follow-on UNOSOM II
mission.
The Army of Liberation (Berber: Aserdas n Uslelli) was a force fighting for the independence
of Morocco
. In 1956, units of the Army began infiltrating Ifni
and other enclaves of Spanish Morocco
, as well as the Spanish Sahara
. Initially, they received important backing from the Moroccan government. In the Spanish Sahara, the Army rallied Sahrawi
tribes along the way, and triggered a large-scale rebellion
. In early 1958, the Moroccan king reorganized the Army of Liberation units fighting in the Spanish Sahara as the "Saharan Liberation Army" .
The revolt in the Spanish Sahara
was put down in 1958 by a joint French
and Spanish offensive. The king of Morocco then signed an agreement with the Spanish, as he asserted control over the rebellious southern border areas, and parts of the Army of Liberation was absorbed back into the Moroccan armed forces.
Nationalistic Moroccans tend to see the Army of Liberation battles in Western Sahara as a proof of Western Sahara's loyalty to the Moroccan crown, whereas sympathizers to the Polisario Front
view it only as an anti-colonial war directed against Spain
. Sahrawi veterans of the Army of Liberation today exist on both sides of the Western Sahara conflict, and both the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
celebrate it as part of their political history.
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
.
It was founded in 1956 (except the Royal Navy founded in 1960) after Morocco's independence
History of Morocco
The History of Morocco spans over 12 centuries, without considering the Classical antiquity. The country was first unified by the Idrisid dynasty in 780, representing the first Islamic state in Africa autonomous from the Arab Empire. Under the Almoravid dynasty and the Almohad dynasty, Morocco...
from France and Spain. Before the French and Spanish occupation of Morocco, which started in 1912, the country's defence force was made of a regular Makhzen
Makhzen
Makhzen is the governing elite in Morocco and in pre-1957 Tunisia, centered around the king and consisting of royal notables, businessmen, wealthy landowners, tribal leaders, top-ranking military personnel, security service bosses, and other well-connected members of the...
army, and of a less organized but much more powerful Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
tribes' militias. These Berber militias were able to resist the French and Spanish armies for over 30 years, from 1907 to 1933.
The U.S. Embassy in Rabat commented in 2008 that: 'Civilian control, if ascribed to the person of the King, is complete, but there is no real Defense Ministry. Outside the FAR, there is only a small administration. The military remains plagued by
corruption, an inefficient bureaucracy, low levels of education in the ranks, periodic threats of radicalization of some of its soldiers, political marginalization, and the deployment of most of its forces in the Western Sahara.'
Branches
The modern Moroccan military is structured into six different branches.| Branch: | Personnel | Founded |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Army Royal Moroccan Army The Royal Armed Forces is the terrestrial arm of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is a part of one of the oldest monarchies in history. The Alaouite Dynasty is the name of the current Moroccan royal family. The name Alaouite comes from the ‘Alī of... |
185,800 | 1956 |
| Royal Moroccan Air Force Royal Moroccan Air Force The Royal Moroccan Air Force is the air force branch of the Moroccan Armed Forces.-History:... |
14,000 | 1956 |
| Royal Navy Royal Moroccan Navy The Royal Navy of Morocco is a branch of the military of Morocco responsible of conducting naval operations.The Royal Moroccan Navy is administratively managed by the Adminsitration of Defence, which is commanded by King Mohammed VI - Mission :The Royal Moroccan Navy is part of the Moroccan Armed... |
45,000 | 1960 |
| Royal Gendarmerie Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie The Moroccan Royal Gendarmerie is the Gendarmerie body of Morocco, and comes under the authority of the Ministry of Defence.-History:... |
24,000 | 1956 |
| Royal Guard Moroccan Royal Guard The Moroccan Royal Guard is officially part of the Royal Moroccan Army. However it is under the direct operational control of the Royal Military Household of His Majesty the King.- Organization :... |
3,000 | 1956 |
| * Total | 271,800 | - |
This data is from the Finance Law 2009. However, the U.S. Embassy Rabat cable linked above gives different figures for some of the armed services. Most significantly, they list the Navy with 7,800 personnel, but also say that the Gendarmerie consists of about 22,000 personnel.
Origins
During the period of the French protectorate of Morocco (1912–1956) large numbers of Moroccans were recruited for service in the SpahiSpahi
Spahis were light cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The modern French Army retains one regiment of Spahis as an armoured unit, with personnel now recruited in mainland France...
and Tirailleur
Tirailleur
Tirailleur literally means a shooting skirmisher in French from tir—shot. The term dates back to the Napoleonic period where it was used to designate light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns...
regiments of the French Army of Africa
Army of Africa (France)
The Army of Africa was an unofficial but commonly used term for those portions of the French Army recruited from or normally stationed in French North Africa from 1830 until the end of the Algerian War in 1962.-Composition:...
. During World War II more than 300,000 Moroccan troops (including goumier
Goumier
Moroccan Goumiers were soldiers who served in auxiliary units attached to the French Army of Africa, between 1908 and 1956. The term Goumier was also occasionally used to designate native soldiers in the French army of the French Sudan and Upper Volta during the colonial era.-Description:The word...
auxiliaries) served with the Free French forces
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
in North Africa, Italy, France and Austria. The two world conflicts saw Moroccan units earning the nickname of "Todesschwalben" (death swallows) by German soldiers as they showed particular toughness on the battlefield .
By the end of the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Moroccan troops took part of the French Expeditionary Force engaged in the First Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
from 1946 to 1954.
The Spanish Army
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
also made extensive use of Moroccan troops recruited in the Spanish Protectorate
Spanish Morocco
The Spanish protectorate of Morocco was the area of Morocco under colonial rule by the Spanish Empire, established by the Treaty of Fez in 1912 and ending in 1956, when both France and Spain recognized Moroccan independence.-Territorial borders:...
, during both the Rif War
Rif War (1920)
The Rif War, also called the Second Moroccan War, was fought between Spain and the Moroccan Rif Berbers.-Rifian forces:...
of 1921-26 and the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
of 1936-39. Moroccan Regulares
Regulares
The Fuerzas Regulares Indígenas , known simply as the Regulares , were the volunteer infantry and cavalry units of the Spanish Army recruited in Spanish Morocco. They consisted of Moroccans officered by Spaniards...
, together with the Spanish Legion
Spanish Legion
The Spanish Legion , formerly Spanish Foreign Legion, is an elite unit of the Spanish Army and Spain's Rapid Reaction Force. Founded as the Tercio de Extranjeros , it was originally intended as a Spanish equivalent of the French Foreign Legion, but in practice it recruited almost exclusively...
, made up Spain's elite Spanish Army of Africa
Spanish Army of Africa
The Army of Africa was a Spanish field army that garrisoned Spanish Morocco from the early 20th century until Morocco's independence in 1956....
. A para-military gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
, known as the "Mehal-la Jalifianas" and modelled on the French goumieres, was employed within the Spanish Zone.
The Royal Armed Forces were created on 14 May 1956, after the French Protectorate was dissolved. Fourteen thousand Moroccan personnel from the French Army and ten thousand from the Spanish Armed Forces transferred into the newly formed armed forces. This number was augmented by approximately 5,000 former guerrillas from the "Army of Liberation" (see below). About 2,000 French officers and NCOs remained in Morocco on short term contracts, until crash training programs at the military academies of St-Cyr, Toledo and Dar al Bayda produced sufficient numbers of Moroccan commissioned officers.
Four years later, the Royal Moroccan Navy
Royal Moroccan Navy
The Royal Navy of Morocco is a branch of the military of Morocco responsible of conducting naval operations.The Royal Moroccan Navy is administratively managed by the Adminsitration of Defence, which is commanded by King Mohammed VI - Mission :The Royal Moroccan Navy is part of the Moroccan Armed...
was established in 1960.
The Royal Moroccan Army fought on the Golan front during the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
of 1973 (mostly in the battle for Quneitra
Quneitra
Quneitra is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south-western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan Heights at an elevation of 1,010 metres above sea level...
) and intervened decisively in the 1977 conflict known as Shaba I
Shaba I
Shaba I was a conflict between the neighbouring states of Zaire and Angola in 1977, and was arguably a consequence of Zaire's support for the FNLA and UNITA factions in the Angolan Civil War....
to save Zaire's regime. The Armed Forces also took a symbolic part in the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
among other Arab armies.
But the Moroccan Armed Forces were mostly notable in fighting a 25-year war against the POLISARIO, an Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n backed rebel national liberation movement
National Liberation Movement
A national liberation movement is an organization engaged in a war of national liberation.National Liberation Movement may also refer to:* Movement of National Liberation, a leftist party founded by former Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas...
seeking the independence of Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
from Morocco. From the mid-1980s Morocco largely managed to keep Polisario troops off by building a huge berm
Berm
A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier separating two areas. Berm originates in the Middle Dutch and German berme and came into usage in English via French.- History :...
or sand wall (the Moroccan Wall
Moroccan Wall
The Berm of Western Sahara is an approximately 2,700 km-long defensive structure, mostly a sand wall , running through Western Sahara and the southeastern portion of Morocco...
), staffed by an army roughly the same size as the entire Sahrawi population, enclosing within it
Southern Provinces
The Southern Provinces or Moroccan Sahara are the terms used by Morocco for Western Sahara, in reference to the part of Western Sahara that lies to the west of the Moroccan Berm...
the economically useful parts of Western Sahara (Bou Craa
Bou Craa
Bou Craa is a town in the Saguia el-Hamra region of northern Western Sahara, south and slightly east of the city of El Aaiún. It is inhabited almost entirely by employees of the Moroccan-controlled Bou Craa phosphate industry...
, El-Aaiun, Smara
Smara
Smara, also Semara , is a city in the Moroccan-Administered Western Sahara, with a population estimated at 42,056.-History:The largest city in its province, Smara was founded in the Saguia el-Hamra as an oasis for travellers in 1869. It is the only major city in Western Sahara that was not founded...
etc.). This stalemated the war, with no side able to achieve decisive gains, but artillery strikes and sniping attacks by the guerrillas continued, and Morocco was economically and politically strained by the war.
On 14 July 1999, the Moroccan Armed Forces took part in the Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Élysées, which was exceptional for a non-French armed forces, at the invitation of then French President Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
.
It is today taking part in several peace keeping missions: MONUC, ONUCI, EUFOR, KFOR and MINUSTAH. Previous peace-keeping missions included the Somalia operation, in which Moroccan personnel served as part of UNOSOM I
UNOSOM I
United Nations Operation in Somalia I was the first part of a United Nations sponsored effort to provide, facilitate, and secure humanitarian relief in Somalia, as well as to monitor the first UN-brokered ceasefire of the Somali Civil War conflict in the early 1990s.The operation was established...
, the Unified Task Force, and the follow-on UNOSOM II
UNOSOM II
United Nations Operation in Somalia II was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia, from March 1993 until March 1995....
mission.
Army of Liberation
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. In 1956, units of the Army began infiltrating Ifni
Ifni
Ifni was a Spanish province on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, south of Agadir and across from the Canary Islands.It had a total area of 1,502 km² , and a population of 51,517 in 1964. The main industry was fishing....
and other enclaves of Spanish Morocco
Spanish Morocco
The Spanish protectorate of Morocco was the area of Morocco under colonial rule by the Spanish Empire, established by the Treaty of Fez in 1912 and ending in 1956, when both France and Spain recognized Moroccan independence.-Territorial borders:...
, as well as the Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...
. Initially, they received important backing from the Moroccan government. In the Spanish Sahara, the Army rallied Sahrawi
Sahrawi
Most frequently in English language usage, the term Sahrawi is usually used in reference to populations from the disputed Western Sahara territory, sometimes with a nationalist connotation....
tribes along the way, and triggered a large-scale rebellion
Ifni War
The Ifni War, sometimes called the Forgotten War in Spain , was a series of armed incursions into Spanish West Africa by Moroccan insurgents and Sahrawi rebels that began in October 1957 and culminated with the abortive siege of Sidi Ifni.The war, which may be seen as part of the general movement...
. In early 1958, the Moroccan king reorganized the Army of Liberation units fighting in the Spanish Sahara as the "Saharan Liberation Army" .
The revolt in the Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...
was put down in 1958 by a joint French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Spanish offensive. The king of Morocco then signed an agreement with the Spanish, as he asserted control over the rebellious southern border areas, and parts of the Army of Liberation was absorbed back into the Moroccan armed forces.
Nationalistic Moroccans tend to see the Army of Liberation battles in Western Sahara as a proof of Western Sahara's loyalty to the Moroccan crown, whereas sympathizers to the Polisario Front
Polisario Front
The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...
view it only as an anti-colonial war directed against Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Sahrawi veterans of the Army of Liberation today exist on both sides of the Western Sahara conflict, and both the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a partially recognised state that claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 27, 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. The SADR government controls about...
celebrate it as part of their political history.
External links
- http://far-maroc.on.ma