France's exile of the highly respected Sultan Mohammed V to Madagascar on Eid al-Adha of 1953, and his replacement by the unpopular Mohammed Ben Aarafa, sparked active opposition to the French protectorate both from nationalists and those who saw the sultan as a religious leader. In retribution, Muhammad Zarqtuni bombed Casablanca's Marché Central in the European ville nouvelle on Christmas of that year.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: A month after his replacement, Allal ben Abdallah, a Moroccan nationalist attempted to assassinate the sultan on his way to the friday prayers at Great Mosque of Fes el-Jdid. Two years later, faced with a united Moroccan demand for the sultan's return and rising violence in Morocco, as well as a deteriorating situation in Algeria, the French government brought Mohammed V back to Morocco, and the following year began the negotiations that led to Moroccan independence. So, with the triumphant return of Sultan Mohammed ben Youssef, the beginning of the end of the colonial era was marked.
France's exile of the highly respected Sultan Mohammed V to Madagascar on Eid al-Adha of 1953, and his replacement by the unpopular Mohammed Ben Aarafa, sparked active opposition to the French protectorate both from nationalists and those who saw the sultan as a religious leader. In retribution, Muhammad Zarqtuni bombed Casablanca's Marché Central in the European ville nouvelle on Christmas of that year.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: A month after his replacement, Allal ben Abdallah, a Moroccan nationalist attempted to assassinate the sultan on his way to the friday prayers at Great Mosque of Fes el-Jdid. Two years later, faced with a united Moroccan demand for the sultan's return and rising violence in Morocco, as well as a deteriorating situation in Algeria, the French government brought Mohammed V back to Morocco, and the following year began the negotiations that led to Moroccan independence. So, with the triumphant return of Sultan Mohammed ben Youssef, the beginning of the end of the colonial era was marked.