288 
EUROPE AND AFRICA 
Meanwhile, the French were taking definite steps to put 
an end to the disorders on the Algerian-Moroccan frontier, 
and to bring about the much-needed reforms within Morocco 
itself. They occupied the Touat Oasis — south of Algeria, 
and southeast of Morocco — and, through the efforts of M. 
Révoil, Governor-General of Algiers, a definite arrangement 
was reached with the Sultan on July 20, 1901, concerning the 
regulation of trade and the police on the Algerian-Moroccan 
frontier, France agreeing to assist with troops in restoring 
order and establishing the imperial authority in east and 
southeast Morocco. In June, 1908, the French occupied 
Zanagra and aided the Moroccan forces in suppressing 
brigandage in the region of Figuig. In August, the French 
and Shereefian troops occupied the district of Oudjda in 
eastern Morocco; and the French were permitted to estab- 
lish military posts there to preserve order.! 
When the Franco-British treaty of April, 1904, had been 
arranged, France made every effort to procure the consent of 
the Sultan to the general terms of this agreement and to the 
acceptance of her aid in the maintenance of order, the estab- 
lishment of the royal authority, and the reorganization of 
the finances and government of the realm. Abd-el-Aziz and 
his advisers, although friendly to the French Republic in a 
general way, hesitated to give any foreign power a large 
share in the direction of the local affairs of the kingdom. 
They understood full well the advantages; but they realized, 
on the other hand, the unpopularity of such a move with the 
majority of the inhabitants of Morocco. And they foresaw 
the probable effect on their own position if the scheme were 
attempted at that time. At this critical moment, Germany 
suddenly broke into the field of Moroccan diplomacy with a 
stroke so powerful and skillful that the perplexed mind of 
! French Yellow Book or Documents diplomatiques, Affaires du Maroc. 
1901-05, nos. 83, 84 and 1912.