290 
French and German representatives at Fez should be with- 
drawn simultaneously, and that the two powers should 
unite later in urging the conclusions of the conference 
upon the Sultan. In addition, the sovereignty of the Sul- 
tan, the integrity of his empire, the freedom of trade, the 
paramount interests of France in Morocco, and the intro- 
duction of reforms through a court established by the 
European powers were fundamental principles agreed to by 
hoth parties.! 
Thus came about the famous Algeciras Conference of 
[906, the Sultan agreeing to its being held at Algeciras, in 
southern Spain, and issuing the formal invitations to the 
European states. In the negotiations which followed, the 
United States played the part of a neutral umpire desiring to 
see fair treatment for the claims of both litigants. England, 
Spain, Italy, and the smaller powers approved the French 
policy; and Germany, supported only by Austria and unable 
to secure the recognition of her claim for the establishment 
of a general international committee of reform, acquiesced in 
entrusting to France and Spain the introduction of financial 
and military reforms into Morocco.2 The German Em- 
peror’s real motive in forcing this meeting of the powers, in 
addition to a desire for the participation of Germany in the 
final settlement of the Moroccan question, does not appear 
to have been the humiliation of the French Republic. It 
was rather a move to test the Franco-British entente and to 
force the diplomatic isolation of France,® Russia being then 
occupied with the Russian-Japanese War. The results of 
the Algeciras Conference were exactly opposite to these 
expectations. The bonds between France and her new 
L Arch. Dip., 1905, Affaires du Maroc, vols. 11-1v, pp. 559-746. 
2 Act published in Arch Dip., 1907, vol. 11, pp. 5-49, and in the Yellow 
Book, 1906, Affaires du Maroc, pt. 11. 
3 Compare article on “Morocco and the Powers” by Edwin Maxey in 
Arch. Dip.. 1908, vol. 111, pt. 1, pp. 280-86.