write in brief about Moroccan nationalism
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Moroccan nationalism
The conventional view of the Moroccan nationalist movement argues that its success was rooted in the experience of the Second World War in Morocco. However, this overlooks the critical differentiation in popular response to nationalist ideas that developed over the period from 1926 to independence in 1956. Whereas the pre-war nationalist movement was urban-based, with a strong middle-class and Salafiyyist tradition behind it, and picked up support from other urban groups that suffered from the Great Depression in the 1930s, it consistently lacked the essential concomitant of a broad rural base. This was in part due to the effective control of rural areas maintained by the French administration, but also arose from the development of a new élite in rural areas that had a clear interest in acquisition and control of land. Although this group had antecedents that originated from pre-colonial times, it was the conditions of the Protectorate and the development of a money-based economy which allowed it to flourish while other aspects of indigenous economic activity declined. This group, which may be considered to constitute a ‘kulak’ class, thus had an evident interest in supporting the French Protectorate authorities, and little concern for nationalist aspirations, particularly since it was also closely associated with the French administration of rural areas through its role in the caïdat. It was only when this élite found its economic interests threatened, and realized that the nationalist movement had the support of the Sultan, that its political concerns were redirected. This change occurred in 1947 with the Tangier speech, in which Mohammed V implicitly rejected French tutelage and, by inference, turned to the nationalist movement to support his dynasty. The speech coincided with the end of the consequences of the 1945 famine, which gave the nationalist movement its opportunity to extend its network into rural areas. It was this development, rather than the Second World War itself, that ensured the ultimate success of the Moroccan nationalist movement.
Three major factors have made Islam a dominant feature of Moroccan political life. First, ever since Morocco achieved statehood and became an independent entity in the eighth century, Islam has been the cement joining Moroccans together. Islam was the only common factor able to bridge the gap among different ethnic and linguistic Moroccan communities, particularly Arabs and Berbers. Second, the geographical location of Morocco at Islam’s far western frontier meant that the jihadist drive remained a powerful element in the country’s destiny. Furthering the cause of Islam was a strong rallying principle behind the emergence of the great Moroccan empires. When expansion was no longer possible after the fifteenth century, resistance against the Christian threat kept the jihadist spirit alive. The third factor that enhanced the religious character of the country was the monarchical institution, which was always identified with Islam. From the time of the first Islamic dynasty of the Idrisids (the eighth through the tenth centuries) the monarchy made religion its main legitimizing theme, and used it continuously in efforts to rally the different social communities. Even before the coming to power of the Sharifian dynasties in the sixteenth century, the monarchy was seen as a religious institution with the power to unite the Moroccans and make them one nation.