Franco-Moroccan War
Painting of the Bombardment of Tangier.
Date 6 August – 10 September 1844 Location Morocco Result French victory Treaty of Tangier Morocco recognises Algeria as a French possession. Territorial changes Treaty of Lalla Maghnia France annexes El Bayadh, Chellala, Boussemghoun and Tiout.
Belligerents
France French Algeria	Morocco
Commanders and leaders
François d'Orléans Thomas Robert Bugeaud Joseph Vantini	Abd al-Rahman Mohammed IV Ben Abbou Laarbi Torres Omar Laalaj † Ahmed ben al-Shiker
Strength
15,000 troops 15 warships	40,000 cavalry 300 artillery
Casualties and losses
41+ killed 163 wounded[1]	1,150 killed 28 cannons lost

The Franco-Moroccan War was fought between France and Morocco in 1844. The principal cause of war was the retreat of Algerian resistance leader Abd al-Qadir into Morocco following French victories over many of his tribal supporters during the French conquest of Algeria.

Background

Abd al-Qadir had begun using northeastern Morocco as a refuge and a recruiting base as early as 1840, and French military movements against him heightened border tensions at that time. France made repeated diplomatic demands to Sultan Abd al-Rahman to stop Moroccan support for Abd al-Qadir,^[2] but political divisions within the Sultanate made this virtually impossible.

Tensions were heightened in 1843, when French forces chased a column of Abd al-Qadir supporters deep into Morocco following the Battle of the Smala. These men included tribesmen from Morocco, and French authorities interpreted their actions as a de facto declaration of war. While they did not act immediately, French military authorities threatened to march into the Sultanate if support for Abd al-Qadir was not withdrawn, and the border between Algeria and Morocco properly demarcated so that defenses against future incursions could be set up.

An attempt to dislodge these troops peacefully in late May 1844 failed when Moroccan tribal fighters fired on the French and were eventually driven back to Oujda. Rumours surrounding this incident, including reports that the shrine had been defiled and that French troops had entered Oujda and hanged the governor, fanned the flames of jihad in Morocco. Amid escalating troop buildups and skirmishes in the frontier area, French Marshal Thomas Robert Bugeaud insisted that the border be demarcated along the Kiss River [fr], a position further west than the Tafna River [fr], which Morocco considered to be the border.^[3] On the 19th of June, violating the frontier, Marshal Bugeaud occupied Oujda.^[4]

War

Bombardment of Tangier, engraving by N.E. Sotain.

The war began on August 6, 1844 when a French fleet under the command of the Prince of Joinville François d'Orléans conducted a naval Bombardment of the city of Tangier.^[5]

The conflict peaked on August 14, 1844 at the Battle of Isly, which took place near Oujda.^[6] A large Moroccan force led by the Sultan's son Sidi Mohammed, was defeated by a smaller French royal force under the Governor-General of Algeria Thomas Robert Bugeaud.^[7]

Battle of Isly, oil painting by Horace Vernet.

Bombardment of Mogador, painting by Henri Durand-Brager.

Essaouira, Morocco's main Atlantic trade port, was attacked in the Bombardment of Mogador and briefly occupied by Joinville on August 16, 1844.^[8][9]

Aftermath

The war formally ended on September 10, 1844 with the signing of the Treaty of Tangier,^[10] in which Morocco agreed to officially recognize Algeria as part of the French Empire, reduce the size of its garrison at Oujda, and establish a commission to demarcate the border. The border, which is essentially the modern border between Morocco and Algeria, was agreed in the Treaty of Lalla Maghnia.