Declaration of la Celle St. Cloud
DECLARATION OF LA CELLE ST. CLOUD
Agreement by France to allow Morocco independence.
In August 1953, France deposed the Moroccan sultan, Sidi Muhammad bin Yusuf. Until then, the Moroccan opposition had been divided, but the exile of the monarch united the country. A wave of strikes, violence, and disturbances swept the country, accompanied by demands for the sultan's return and the immediate independence of Morocco. The French government of Prime Minister Pierre Mendès-France finally recognized that Morocco would not be pacified, except at a cost far greater than the French were willing to pay. In October 1955, the exiled sultan went to France, and the Declaration of La Celle St. Cloud was issued by the French foreign minister, Antoine Pinay, on November 6. Under its terms, France agreed to grant Morocco independence in accord with the principle of Franco–Moroccan interdependence. This concept raised some concern in Morocco about the sincerity of the French, but in March 1956, the promise enshrined in the declaration became fact, with the former sultan becoming King Muhammad V, ruler of the new state.
See also Muhammad V.
Bibliography
Mansfield, Peter. The Arabs, 3d edition. New York: Penguin, 1985.
zachary karabell