THE REOCCUPATION OF NORTHERN AFRICA 285
Faithful — as well as the political sovereign of the empire.
This places him in a unique position, but at the same time
it increases his responsibilities and hampers his freedom of
action. The Mohammedan peoples of northern Africa are
held together by a common religion, and also by a number
of powerful secret fraternities. The Senoussi of Algeria and
Tripoli and the Derkaoua are intensely anti-European, while
the Tedjinia and the Moulay Taieb of Morocco and the
northern Sahara are friendly to the English and French.
The influence of these societies is so great and far-reaching
that no sultan would dare to ignore them for long; and when
one or more of them is once aroused to demand a religious
war or an anti-foreign crusade, the rulers are practically
helpless before them. The French rule the largest portion of
Mohammedan Africa, and so they cannot permit any one
section, like Morocco, to remain free from their control and
a hotbed of Mohammedan conspiracies. England, threat-
ened by similar outbreaks, such as the Mahdi uprising in the
Sudan in the eighties, has gladly joined hands with France to
hold in check these restless religious peoples, who chafe natu-
rally under foreign control and a restricted freedom.
The possession of Morocco is, for other reasons, a vital
necessity for the success of colonial enterprise of France in
Africa. It is the keystone of her arch. Without it, she
cannot hope to solidify her extensive domains, or to control
the trade routes and commerce of northern Africa and the
Sahara. Without it, there is little chance of her coping with
those endless border difficulties and desert robberies which
have hampered the trade of the entire region since the
French-Moroccan treaty of 1845. Patiently and thoroughly
France has studied the problem for years, and has woven a
network of influences within and without the country so
powerful that neither the Sultan nor any outside power can
hope now to shake off her hold. This prolonged effort to
