Hassan II of Morocco
Encyclopedia
King Hassan II; July 9, 1929 – July 23, 1999) was King
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

 of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 from 1961 until his death in 1999. He was the eldest son of Mohammed V, Sultan, then King of Morocco
Mohammed V of Morocco
Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne...

 (1909–1961) and his wife Lalla Abla bint Tahar
Lalla Abla bint Tahar
Lalla Abla bint Tahar was the first wife of Mohammed V of Morocco.She was the daughter of Tahar ben Hasan, and married Mohammed V of Morocco in 1926...

 (1889–1992).

Youth and education

King Hassan was educated at the Imperial College at Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...

 and earned a law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 degree from the University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux is an association of higher education institutions in and around Bordeaux, France. Its current incarnation was established 21 March 2007. The group is the largest system of higher education schools in southwestern France. It is part of the Academy of Bordeaux.There are seven...

.

He was exiled to Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

 by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 authorities on 20 August 1953, along with his father Sultan Mohammed V
Mohammed V of Morocco
Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne...

. They were transferred to Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

 in January 1954. Prince Moulay Hassan acted as his father's political advisor during the exile. Mohammed V and his family returned from exile on 16 November 1955.

Prince Moulay Hassan participated in the February 1956 negotiations for Morocco's independence with his father, who later appointed him Chief of Staff of the newly founded Royal Armed Forces in April 1956. In the unrest of the same year, he led army contingents battling rebels in the mountains of the Rif
Rif
The Rif or Riff is a mainly mountainous region of northern Morocco, with some fertile plains, stretching from Cape Spartel and Tangier in the west to Ras Kebdana and the Melwiyya River in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the river of Wergha in the south.It is part of the...

. Mohammed V changed the title of the Moroccan sovereign from Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...

 to King
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

 in 1957. Hassan was proclaimed Crown Prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....

 on 19 July 1957, and became King on 26 February 1961, after his father's death.

Rule

Hassan's conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

 rule, one characterized by a poor human rights record, strengthened the Alaouite dynasty
Alaouite Dynasty
The Alaouite Dynasty is the name of the current Moroccan royal family. The name Alaouite comes from the ‘Alī of its founder Moulay Ali Cherif who became Prince of Tafilalt in 1631. His son Mulay r-Rshid was able to unite and pacify the country...

. In Morocco's first constitution of 1963, Hassan II reaffirmed Morocco's choice of a multi-party political system, the only one in the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...

. The constitution gave the King large powers he eventually used to strengthen his rule, which provoked strong political protest from the UNFP and the Istiqlal
Istiqlal
-Political parties:*Istiqlal Party, the Hizb al-istiqlāl or Independence Party, political party in Morocco*Hizb al-Istiqlal, or Independence Party , Arab political party under the British Mandate of Palestine...

 parties that formed the backbone of the opposition. In 1965, Hassan dissolved Parliament and ruled directly, although he did not abolish the mechanisms of parliamentary democracy
Parliamentary system
A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....

. When elections were eventually held, they were mostly rigged in favor of loyal parties. This caused severe discontent among the opposition, and protest demonstrations and riots challenged the King's rule.

In the early 1970s, King Hassan survived two assassination attempt
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

s. The first, in 1971, was coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

 attempt allegedly supported by Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

, organized by General Madbouh and Colonel Ababou and carried out by cadets during a function at the King's summer palace in Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...

 during his forty-second birthday party. Important guests, including the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 Ambassador Marcel Dupert, were placed under house arrest, and the King himself was taken to a small pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...

. Rabat's main radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 was taken over by the rebels and broadcast propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

 stating that the King had been murdered and a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

 founded. The coup ended the same day when royalist
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of government, but not necessarily a particular monarch...

 troops took over the palace in combat against the rebels. On August 16, 1972, during a second attempt
1972 Moroccan coup attempt
In August 1972 a coup was attempted against Hassan II of Morocco.The attempt was orchestrated by General Mohamed Oufkir, a close advisor to King Hassan. On August 16, three Northrop F-5 jets, acting on Oufkir's orders, intercepted Hassan's Boeing 727 as returned from France. They then opened fire...

, four F-5 military jets from the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Royal Moroccan Air Force
The Royal Moroccan Air Force is the air force branch of the Moroccan Armed Forces.-History:...

 fired upon the King's Boeing 727
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...

 while he was traveling back to Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...

 from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, but they failed to bring it down. General Mohamed Oufkir
Mohamed Oufkir
General Mohammad Oufkir was a Moroccan Berber politician.As the right hand man of king Hassan II in the 1960s and early 1970s, Oufkir led government supervision of politicians, unionists and the religious establishment...

, Morocco's defense minister, was the man behind the coup and was officially declared to have committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 after the attack. His body, however, was found with several bullet wounds.

In the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 era, Hassan II allied Morocco with the West generally, and with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in particular. There were close and continuing ties between Hassan II's government and the CIA, who helped to reorganize Morocco's security forces in 1960. Hassan served as a back channel between the Arab world and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, facilitating early negotiations between them. This was made possible due to the presence in Israel of a large Moroccan Jewish community.

During his reign, Morocco recovered the Span
SPAN
The Saudi Payments Network is the only and major payment system in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It connects all ATM and point of sale terminals throughout the country to a central payment switch which in turn re-routes the financial transactions to the card issuer,...

ish-controlled area of Ifni
Ifni
Ifni was a Spanish province on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, south of Agadir and across from the Canary Islands.It had a total area of 1,502 km² , and a population of 51,517 in 1964. The main industry was fishing....

 in 1969, and military seized two thirds of Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...

 (now Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...

) through the "Green March
Green March
The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan Spanish Province of Sahara to Morocco.-Background:...

" in 1975. The latter issue continues to dominate Moroccan foreign policy to this day. Relations with Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

 have deteriorated sharply due to the Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...

 affair, as well as due to Moroccan claims on Algerian territory (Tindouf
Tindouf
Tindouf is the main town in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian and Moroccan borders. The region is considered of strategic significance, and it houses Algerian military bases. Since 1975, it also contains several Sahrawi refugee camps operated by the Polisario Front a guerrilla...

 and Bechar
Béchar
Béchar , formerly known as Colomb-Béchar, is a capital city of Béchar Province, Algeria. The area is controlled by Algeria, though claims have also been made on it by Morocco. In 1998 the city had a population of 134,954....

), which unleashed the brief 1963 Sand War
Sand War
The Sand War or Sands War occurred along the Algerian-Moroccan border in October 1963, and was a Moroccan attempt to claim the Tindouf and the Béchar areas that France had annexed to French Algeria a few decades earlier.- Background :...

. Relations with Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...

 were tense too, as Morocco only recognized it as a sovereign country in 1969, nearly a decade after Mauritania's independence, because of Moroccan claims on the country (see Great Morocco).

Economically, Hassan II adopted a market-based economy, where agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

, and phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

s mining industries played a major role.

The period from the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...

 to the late 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...

 was labelled as the "years of lead
Years of Lead (Morocco)
The Years of Lead is the term used especially by former opponents to the rule of King Hassan II of Morocco to describe a period of his rule marked by state violence against dissidents and democracy activists.-Timeframe:...

" and saw thousands of dissidents jailed, killed, exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...

d or forcibly disappeared
Forced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...

.

King Hassan II had extended many parliamentary functions by the early 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...

 and released hundreds of political prisoners in 1991, and allowed the Alternance, where the opposition assumed power, for the first time in the Arab World
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...

. He set up a Royal Council for Human Rights to look into allegations of abuse by the State.

Death

Hassan died of natural causes in his birth town at the age of 70 on 23 July 1999. A national funeral service was held for him in at Rabat, Morocco, with some 40 heads of state in attendance. He was buried in the Mausoleum of Mohammed V
Mausoleum of Mohammed V
The Mausoleum of Mohammed V is a historical building located on the opposite side of the Hassan Tower on the Yacoub al-Mansour esplanade in Rabat, Morocco. It contains the tombs of the Moroccan king and his two sons, late King Hassan II and Prince Abdallah...

 in Rabat. The coffin of King Hassan II, carried by King Mohamed VI, his brother Prince Moulay Rachid and his cousin Moulay Hicham, was covered with a green fabric, in which the first prayer of Islam, " There is no god but Allah," is inscribed in golden letters.

Family

King Hassan II had five children with his wife Lalla Latifa Hammou
Lalla Latifa Hammou
Lalla Latifa Hammou is the widow of king Hassan II and the mother of Princess Lalla Meryem, King Mohammed VI, Princess Lalla Asma, Princess Lalla Hasna and Prince Moulay Rachid.. , Evening Times Although she never held the title of "Queen," she is referred to using terms such as "mother of the...

, a member of the Zaiane tribe, whom he married in 1961 :
  • HRH Princess Lalla Meryem
    Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco
    Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco is first daughter and eldest child of the late King Hassan II of Morocco and his wife Lalla Latifa Hammou.After she obtained her Baccalaureat in 1981, Princess Lalla Meryem was appointed by her father as the President of Social Works of the Royal Army Forces.In...

     (b.1962)
  • HM King Mohammed VI
    Mohammed VI of Morocco
    Mohammed VI is the present King of Morocco and Amir al-Mu'minin . He ascended to the throne on 23 July 1999 upon the death of his father.-Education:...

     (b.1963)
  • HRH Princess Lalla Asma
    Princess Lalla Asma of Morocco
    Princess Lalla Asma of Morocco is the second daughter and third eldest child of Hassan II of Morocco and his wife Lalla Latifa Hammou.Lalla Asma married Khalid Bouchentouf in 1987...

     (b.1965)
  • HRH Princess Lalla Hasna
    Princess Lalla Hasna of Morocco
    Princess Lalla Hasna of Morocco is the youngest daughter of the late King Hassan II and his wife, Lalla Latifa Hammou. She is sister to the current king, Mohammed VI and Prince Moulay Rachid....

     (b.1967)
  • HRH Prince Moulay Rachid
    Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco
    Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco, also known as Prince Moulay Rachid ben al-Hassan was born on 20 June 1970 in Rabat as the youngest male child of the late King Hassan II. He holds a doctorate in international politics and serves Morocco as a diplomat...

     (b.1970)


The king also had one other wife, Lalla Fatima bint Qaid Amhourok. Married also in 1961, they had no children.

The father of Hassan II was Mohammed V of Morocco
Mohammed V of Morocco
Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne...

, his mother was Lalla Abla bint Tahar
Lalla Abla bint Tahar
Lalla Abla bint Tahar was the first wife of Mohammed V of Morocco.She was the daughter of Tahar ben Hasan, and married Mohammed V of Morocco in 1926...

.
King Hassan II had five sisters and one brother:
  • Lalla Fatima Zahra, born June 29, 1929, (from the first marriage of Mohammed V of Morocco
    Mohammed V of Morocco
    Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne...

    )
  • Lalla Aicha
    Lalla Aicha
    Princess Lalla Aicha, DCVO was the eldest sister of the late King Hassan II of Morocco, and daughter of King Mohammed V of Morocco and Lalla Abla bint Tahar.-Life and career:...

    , born June 17, 1930 in Rabat (from the second marriage of Mohammed V
    Mohammed V of Morocco
    Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne...

    , with Lalla Abla
    Lalla Abla bint Tahar
    Lalla Abla bint Tahar was the first wife of Mohammed V of Morocco.She was the daughter of Tahar ben Hasan, and married Mohammed V of Morocco in 1926...

    )
  • Lalla Malika, born March 14, 1933 in Rabat (from the second marriage of Mohammed V
    Mohammed V of Morocco
    Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne...

    )
  • Moulay Abdallah
    Prince Moulay Abdallah of Morocco
    Prince Moulay Abdallah of Morocco was the brother of Hassan II, later King Hassan of Morocco and the son of King Mohammed V of Morocco and his wife Lalla Abla bint Tahar .-Family:...

    , born July 30, 1935 in Rabat, died in 1983 (from the second marriage of Mohammed V
    Mohammed V of Morocco
    Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne...

    )
  • Lalla Nuzha, born 1940 in Rabat, died in 1977 (from the second marriage of Mohammed V
    Mohammed V of Morocco
    Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne...

    )
  • Lalla Amina, born in Madagascar, April 8, 1954 (from the third marriage of Mohammed V of Morocco
    Mohammed V of Morocco
    Mohammed V was Sultan of Morocco from 1927–53, exiled from 1953–55, where he was again recognized as Sultan upon his return, and King from 1957 to 1961. His full name was Sidi Mohammed ben Yusef, or Son of Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne...

    , with Lalla Bahia
    Lalla Bahia
    Lalla Bahia was a third wife of Mohammed V of Morocco, who reigned from 1927 until 1961. Bahia was also the mother of Princess Lalla Amina....

    , died in September 2008)

External links

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