Illusory Neutrality, 1914–1918

Abstract

This chapter looks at the contradictory set of international legal and political requirements prevailing on Spain and Morocco during World War I. There was little will on the part of Spain to enter the conflict, yet it was unclear how to adhere to the requirements of wartime neutrality while also meeting the obligation to administer a portion of the Moroccan Sultanate, a belligerent state by virtue of association with France. German agents, such as the Mannesmann mining firm, exploited this legal and political grey zone to infiltrate the pro-Entente sultanate via the many maritime smuggling networks, brigands, and safe havens of Spanish Morocco. Although this had little bearing on the war’s outcome, it convinced the leader of the French colonial army, Hubert Lyautey, that the Spanish officer corps was an unreliable partner.