French rule in Morocco began during the end of the 19th century. In 1904 the French government was trying to establish a protectorate over Morocco, which would make Morocco a French colony. Although this would not happen but for another 8 years. France’s influence could still be felt in the African country. The French conquest of Morocco took place in 1911 in the aftermath of the Agadir Crisis, when Moroccan forces besieged the French-occupied city of Fez. Approximately one month later, French forces brought the siege to an end. On 30 March 1912, Sultan Abdelhafid signed the Treaty of Fez, formally ceding Moroccan sovereignty to France, which established a protectorate. On 17 April 1912, Moroccan infantrymen mutinied in the French garrison in Fez. The Moroccans were unable to take the city and were defeated by a French relief force. In late May 1912, Moroccan forces unsuccessfully attacked the enhanced French garrison at Fez. The last aftermath of the conquest of Morocco occurred in September 1912 when French colonial forces under Colonel Mangin defeated Moroccan resistance at the Battle of Sidi Bou Othman.
On March 30, 1912, France officially established a protectorate over Morocco with the Treaty of Fez, which ended what remained of the country's independence. From a strictly legal point of view, the treaty did not deprive Morocco of its status as a sovereign state. The Sultan reigned but did not rule. Sultan Abdelhafidabdicated in favor of his brother Yusef after signing the treaty. On April 17, 1912, Moroccan infantrymen mutinied in the French garrison in Fez. The Moroccans were unable to take the city and were defeated by a French relief force. In late May 1912, Moroccan forces again unsuccessfully attacked the enhanced French garrison at Fez. In establishing their protectorate over much of Morocco, the French had behind them the experience of the conquest of Algeria and of their protectorate over Tunisia; they took the latter as the model for their Moroccan policy. There were, however, important differences. First, the protectorate was established only two years before the outbreak of World War I, which brought with it a new attitude toward colonial rule. Rejecting the typical French assimilationist approach to culture and education as a liberal fantasy, Morocco's conservative French rulers attempted to use urban planning and colonial education to prevent cultural mixing and to uphold the traditional society upon which the French depended for collaboration. [2] Second, Morocco had a thousand-year tradition of independence; though it had been strongly influenced by the civilization of Muslim Iberia, it had never been subject to Ottoman rule. These circumstances and the proximity of Morocco to Spain created a special relationship between the two countries.
As pacification proceeded, the French government promoted economic development, particularly the exploitation of Morocco’s mineral wealth, the creation of a modern transportation system, and the development of a modern agriculture sector geared to the French market. Tens of thousands of colonists entered Morocco and bought up large amounts of the rich agricultural land. Interest groups that formed among these elements continually pressured France to increase its control over Morocco.
Sultan Yusef ben Hassan (1882 – November 17, 1927) (Arabic: السلطان يوسف بن الحسن‎) ruled Morocco from 1912 until his death in 1927. Born in the city ofMeknes to Sultan Hassan I and his fifth wife "Ruqiya", a Circassian lady from Istanbul[1] and was the youngest of King Hassan I sons. He inherited the throne from his brother, Sultan Abdelhafid, who abdicated after the Treaty of Fez (1912), which made Morocco a French protectorate. He was a member of the Alaouite Dynasty. Yusef's reign was a turbulent one and marked with frequent uprisings with Spain and France. Yusef's reign came to an abrupt end when he died suddenly of uremia in 1927. He was succeeded by his son Muhammad. Mohammed V (10 August 1909 – 26 February 1961) (Arabic: محمد الخامس‎) 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 (Sultan) Yusef, upon whose death he succeeded to the throne. He was a member of the Alaouite Dynasty. Mohammed Ben Aarafa, or Ben Arafa (1889 – 17 July 1976) was a distant relative of Sultan Mohammed V of Morocco (Arabic: محمد بن عرفة بن محمد‎); he was put in Mohammed V's place by the French after they exiled Mohammed V to Madagascar. Protests against Ben Aarafa helped lead to Moroccan independence, which was agreed to between France and Mohammed V in 1955. He died in 1976 in France.
In late 1955, Mohammed V successfully negotiated the gradual restoration of Moroccan independence within a framework of French-Moroccan interdependence. The sultan agreed to institute reforms that would transform Morocco into a constitutional monarchy with a democratic form of government. In February 1956, Morocco acquired limited home rule. Further negotiations for full independence culminated in the Spanish-Moroccan Agreement signed in Paris on March 2, 1956. On April 7 of that year France officially relinquished its protectorate in Morocco. The internationalized city of Tangier was reintegrated with the signing of the Tangier Protocol on October 29, 1956. The abolition of the Spanish protectorate and the recognition of Moroccan independence by Spain were negotiated separately and made final in the Joint Declaration of April 1956.[4] Through this agreements with Spain in 1956 and another in 1958, Moroccan control over certain Spanish-ruled areas was restored, though attempts to claim other Spanish possessions through military action were less successful.
In the months that followed independence, Mohammed V proceeded to build a modern governmental structure under a constitutional monarchy in which the sultan would exercise an active political role. He acted cautiously, having no intention of permitting more radical elements in the nationalist movement to overthrow the established order. He was also intent on preventing the Istiqlal from consolidating its control and establishing a single-party state. In August 1957, Mohammed V assumed the title of king.

The French minted coinage for use in the Protectorate from 1921 until 1956, which continued to circulate until a new currency was introduced. The French minted coins with denomination offrancs, which were divided into 100 centimes. This was replaced in 1960 with the reintroduction of the dirham, Morocco's current currency. The Algeciras conference gave concessions to the European bankers, ranging from a newly-formed State Bank of Morocco, to issuing banknotes backed by gold, with a 40-year term. The new state bank was to act as Morocco's Central Bank, but with a strict cap on the spending of the Sherifian Empire, with administrators appointed by the national banks that guaranteed the loans: theGerman Empire, United Kingdom, France and Spain.

The 73-page report, “Lonely Servitude: Child Domestic Labor in Morocco,” found that some child domestic workers – who are overwhelmingly girls – toil for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for as little as US$11 a month. Some girls told Human Rights Watch that their employers frequently beat and verbally abused them, denied them education, and sometimes refused them adequate food.
The Moroccan government has reduced child labor rates and increased school enrollment over the last decade. But it should strictly enforce laws prohibiting child domestic labor below age 15 by applying penalties to employers and recruiters, creating effective mechanisms to identify and remove underage children from employers’ households, and monitoring working conditions for domestic workers ages 15 to 17, said Human Rights Watch.
“Girls are being exploited, abused, and forced to work long hours for extremely low wages,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Morocco has taken important steps to reduce child labor, but it needs to take targeted actions to protect these child domestic workers and enforce the law.”
Human Rights Watch first investigated the use of child domestic labor in Morocco in 2005. Interviews for the follow-up study indicated that the number of children working as domestic workers has dropped in recent years, and that public education campaigns and increased media attention have raised public awareness of the hazards of child domestic labor. http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/15/morocco-abuse-child-domestic-workers Morocco's Minimum Wage is the lowest amount a worker can be legally paid for his work. Most countries have a nation-wide minimum wage that all workers must be paid.
Morocco's minimum wage is 10.14 Moroccan dirhams per hour in the industrialized sector and 52.50 dirhams per day for agricultural workers. So how does Morocco's minimum wage compare to the minimum wage in other countries? Morocco's yearly minimum wage is $2.00 in International Currency. International Currency is a measure of currency based on the value of the United States dollar in 2009. There are countries with a higher Minimum Wage then Morocco, and Morocco is in the top 0 percent of all countries based on the yearly minimum wage rate. http://www.minimum-wage.org/international/en/Morocco Local groups and UN agencies also credit public education campaigns and media coverage with raising awareness of child domestic labor and of the legal prohibition on the employment of children under 15. Despite progress in reducing child labor, laws prohibiting the employment of children under age 15 are not adequately enforced, Human Rights Watch said. Labor inspectors lack the authority to gain entry to private households to identify child domestic workers. Criminal prosecutions against employers responsible for physically abusing child domestic workers are rare, and fines are almost never imposed on employers who hire under-age children for domestic work. Child domestic workers are often unaware of existing mechanisms to assist vulnerable children or how to access them. Human Rights Watch urged the government of Morocco to expand its efforts to address child labor by: Strictly enforcing age 15 as the minimum age for all employment, imposing penalties on employers and recruiters who employ or recruit children under age 15; Expanding public awareness campaigns regarding child domestic labor, including information about existing laws and how girls who need help can reach hotlines; Creating an effective system to identify and remove child domestic workers who are under the minimum age of employment and those ages 15 to 17 who are subject to abuse. Prosecuting under the Criminal Code people who are responsible for violence against child domestic workers. Human Rights Watch also urged the government of Morocco to adopt a draft law on domestic workers that has been under discussion for several years, and to amend it to ensure compliance with the International Labour Organization’s Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. The Convention, adopted in 2011, establishes global standards for domestic workers. The Convention specifies that working hours for domestic workers should be equivalent to those for other sectors and that domestic workers should be covered by minimum wage requirements. The draft law does not set working hour limits for domestic workers, however, and would allow employers to pay domestic workers only 50 percent of the minimum wage for the industrial sector. Morocco voted to adopt the Domestic Workers Convention at the International Labour Conference in 2011, but has not yet ratified it. The convention was adopted with overwhelming support from governments and will enter into force in 2013. “Morocco’s draft domestic workers law includes important provisions, such as an employment contract and a weekly day of rest, but in other respects, such as working hours and minimum wage, it falls short of new international standards,” Becker said. “Amending and adopting the law will show Morocco’s commitment to this issue and improve the working conditions for Morocco’s domestic workers.”
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/15/morocco-abuse-child-domestic-workers