ABSTRACT
It had long been the custom for writers to divide Morocco into two parts - the Bled Makhzen which obeyed the Sultan and the Bled Siba which did not. In general the Bled Makhzen consisted of the tribes between the Atlas and the Atlantic and was therefore the first to be encountered by the French who landed at Casablanca. Lyautey recognized that although these tribes had fought against the French their opposition was only "sous !'excitation momentanee de fanatiques ou sous Ia pression de leurs coreligionnaires plus guerriers de l'interieur, contre lesquels elles ne demandaient qu'a etre protegees pour rentrer dans l'ordre. Chez ces tribus Ia tache politique etait facile: il suffisait de retablir l'autorite et de reorganiser I' administration du Makhzen auxquelles les populations etaient habituees, qui etaient parfaitement adaptees a leur mentalite, a leurs moeurs et a leur religion et a les appuyer de notre force tout en les controlant d'une fa~;on efficace pour eviter le retour des abus et des exactions dont elles etaient coutumieres. " 1
The Bled Siba consisted of those tribes which had been subject only to the strongest of Sultans and some indeed claimed that they had never been conquered. Each of these tribes needed individual study and attention by the French. A very few were won by political means alone: Colonel Hanote and the Pacha of Agadir were able to pacify the Ida ou Tanan almost without bloodshed. In the more remote areas there was ample time to rely on slow, peaceful penetration. Capitaine Malval of Tiznit wrote that the authorities lived in peace with the dissident tribes, many of whose members were away working in France or as servants in European houses.2 The frontier was open and the dissidents came and went as they pleased, until the time would come for a peaceful occupation. However, in much of Morocco and particularly in the Middle Atlas, each tribe had to be conquered, for, as General Guillaume said, no tribe ever came in to the French without its first having been beaten by force of arms.3
