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, a famous gunboat diplomacy.
The Agadir Crisis, also called the Second Moroccan Crisis, was the international crisis tension sparked by the deployment of the Germany gunboat Panther (gunboat), to the Morocco port of Agadir on July 1 1911.
Anglo–German tensions were high at this time partly due to German attempts to surpass United Kingdom's History of the Royal Navy. When the British heard of the Panther's arrival in Morocco, they believed that the Germans meant to turn Agadir into a naval base on the AtlanticTWO WAR CLOUDS MENACE EUROPE, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES, July 6, 1911, Thursday. The main result was to increase British fear and hostility and to draw Britain closer to France.
The German move was aimed at reinforcing claims for compensation for acceptance of effective France control of the North African kingdom, where France's pre-eminence had been upheld by the 1906 Algeciras Conference following the Tangier Crisis (or First Moroccan Crisis) 5 years ealier.
Franco-German negotiations initiated on July 9 in 1911 at Treaty of Fez, led to the conclusion (November 4) of a convention under which Germany accepted France's position in Morocco in return for territory in the French Equatorial African colony of Middle Congo (now the Republic of the Congo). This 275 000 km² territory, known as Neukamerun, became part of the German colony of Kamerun and part of German West Africa, which only lasted briefly until they were captured by the allies in World War I. The area is partly marsh land where Sleeping sickness was widespread, although it did give Germany an outlet on the Congo River. Also as part of the treaty, Germany ceded France a small area of territory to the south-east of Fort Lamy, now part of Chad, as shown on this map.
Aftermath
France subsequently established a full protectorate over Morocco (March 30, 1912), ending what remained of the country's formal independence.
United Kingdom backing for France during the crisis reinforced the Entente Cordiale between the two countries and added to Anglo-German estrangement, deepening the divisions which would culminate in World War I.
Daniel Yergin, in his book The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and PowerYergin (1991), p.11-12, p153-154, has argued that it was this incident that led Winston Churchill, then Britain's Home Secretary, to the conclusion that the Royal Navy must convert its power source from coal to oil in order to preserve its supremacy. Until then, the locally abundant coal was favored over riskier overseas oil, but the speed and efficiency offered by oil convinced him that "Mastery itself was the prize of the venture". Subsequently, Churchill was asked by Prime Minister H.H. Asquith to become First Lord of the Admiralty, which he accepted.
In modern Germany, the Agadir Crisis is still the best known example of gunboat diplomacy.
Notes
See also
- Colonialism
- Scramble for Africa
- First Moroccan Crisis (Tangier Crisis)
- Gunboat diplomacy
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