Mohammed V of Morocco
Mohammed V was made sultan by the French at seventeen because they expected him to be pliable and led Morocco to independence. He came to the throne in 1927 under a protectorate that had run since 1912, in which France governed through a resident-general and the sultan signed. The war changed him. He refused to apply Vichy's antisemitic legislation to Moroccan Jews, on the argument that they were his subjects and that he made no distinction among them, and the laws were largely not enforced. He met Roosevelt at Casablanca in 1943 and came away believing that the postwar order would not include protectorates. He then began doing things a protected sultan was not supposed to do: refusing to sign decrees, associating himself publicly with the Istiqlal party, and in 1947 giving a speech at Tangier that referred to Morocco's Arab and Islamic ties and omitted any reference to France. The French deposed him in August 1953, flew him to Corsica and then to Madagascar, and installed an elderly relative. The exile made him a national symbol. Armed resistance began, people reported seeing his face in the moon, and by 1955 France was fighting in Algeria and could not sustain a second front. He returned in November 1955 to enormous crowds and negotiated independence the following March. He died in 1961 after minor surgery, at fifty-one, and his son Hassan II reigned for thirty-eight years. Israel recognised his protection of Moroccan Jews after the war, and Morocco's Jewish community, which numbered some 250,000 in 1948, was the largest in the Arab world. His refusal is the most cited instance of a Muslim ruler declining to apply the Nazi laws.
- Lived: 1909 CE – 1961 CE
- Nationality: Moroccan
- Roles: Sultan of Morocco (1927-1953, 1955-1957), King of Morocco (1957-1961)
