Moroccan crises

The first crisis was set off by Wilhelm II's visit to Tangier on 31 March 1905. The Kaiser backed the Sultan's independence, although the Entente Cordiale of 1904 recognised Morocco as a French sphere of influence. Under German pressure the French Foreign Minister Théophile Delcassé resigned, but at the Algeciras conference in 1906 Germany, supported only by Austria-Hungary, found itself isolated, and France and Spain were given charge of the Moroccan police. During the crisis British and French staff talks began.

The second, or Agadir, crisis began when the French sent troops to Fez in the spring of 1911 and Germany sent the gunboat Panther to Agadir on 1 July, demanding compensation. On 21 July David Lloyd George warned at the Mansion House that Britain would not accept humiliation. By the agreement of 4 November 1911 Germany recognised French control of Morocco in return for part of the French Congo, added to Cameroon, and in 1912 the Treaty of Fez established a French protectorate. The crisis also drew Britain and France together at sea.