The French influence in the development of Morocco

French influence in Morocco nowadays still characterizes the international relationship it has in the Mediterranean and in the world. One of the most relevant historical events which could explain the maintenance of these strong ties is the French colonization. It has developed a fundamental role in determining a relationship between France and Morocco. The French grandeur was possible due to a French « moral » duty of spreading new modern democratic ideas through education, called « civilizing mission ». The colonial phase took at first a political direction, the Moroccan empire has been dismembered into different parts with the aim of weakening it, thus integrating it within the French sphere of influence. This thesis demonstrates how French influence in Morocco is not only political, but also includes an economic, monetary, linguistic, cultural and military sphere. The cultural influence imposed during colonization is very evident today because of the existence of the Francophone mutation. French is a powerful language, an instrument of communication that allows access to the international world market. Moreover, French-speaking countries in Africa maintain a strong cultural influence, adopting French as the official language or second language and belong to the international organization of Francophone states (OIF). Universities in France and Morocco improve their strong relationships through the implementation of cultural exchange and activities between academics and students. This active collaboration promotes an important cultural enrichment. In addition, the thesis introduces the French political influence in Morocco. Since colonization, France has created a local occidentalized élite which had the power to administrate the territory and continued to rule after Independence of the territories. Despite this fact, many protests have spread throughout the populations of these territories because they do not feel represented by their local governments. French political influence in the territory cannot be underestimated. Clientelism and lack of transparency of the government has been denounced on numerous occasions. This situation gave birth to the Arab Springs in most of the Arab countries. But unlike other countries where claims have often resulted in violence or war, as seen with the horrors of Libya and Syria, in Morocco a readiness for dialogue on the subject of reforms on the part of King Mohammed VI has prevented the widening and escalation of the uprisings. A further important point to be noted is the influence of France in the economic domain of Morocco. France created a preferential and solid partnership. It’s the second main business partner (21%) and it’s also the second biggest supplier partner (16%). Besides this, France is one of the biggest Foreign direct investors in Morocco, generally concentrated in the following sectors: real estate, industrial production, logistics, transport and construction. The latter sector has represented the highest capital investment, while surprisingly, the electricity sector has recorded the highest ratio of capital use per unit of capital invested. Moreover, in order to understand monetary influence today in Morocco, it is sufficient to think about the continued existence today of the « Franc zone », an exchange zone between France and Morocco, but not only. Morocco became gradually more “European” and It has made several trade agreements with many European countries but also outside the European Union, such as the important trade agreement with the United States, Turkey, some Asian countries, including Japan and Latin American countries. I can surely interpretate the result of my research positively. France and not only, had a great and positive impact on the economy of Morocco and it’s development. Also from a social and political point of view.