Before the French occupation got to Morocco, Oued Zem was the main place that provided water to the near tribes, such as Smaala, Beni Samir, and Beni Khiran. There are no official documents that documented the history of this place since its beginning, but there are only passed-on stories about war between the three tribes and the French colonizer.
After the French occupation had its way to the country and sadly without any resistance, Oued Zem and its tribes fell in the hands of the French on November 14th, 1913. The city was used as a main military base for planning French attacks against the resistance in the Atlas Mountains. Unfortunately, and in addition to colonizing Oued Zem, the French succeeded in controlling Abou Ljaad and Tadla too. After a while, the French colonizers built a lake in Oued Zem, one in the shape of the French map. They named it “Little Paris” and it still exists today.
In the year 1917, phosphate was discovered in the city, and due to that the first train rail ways in Morocco were built starting from Oued Zem. At that time, the city’s population increased, numbers of new districts were set in motion, the first school was built – currently known as Shawqi Elementary School – and the Church of Jews was established. The small city became the administrative and the military center of the French administration. Also, the city’s expansion continued after establishing the first Civil Hospital, building tobacco companies, and establishing soft drinks farms.
August 20th, 1953 was a huge turning point in the country’s collective history. This day witnessed the exiling of King Mohammed V by the French forces. This left a great impact on people of Oued Zem, to the extent that after two years, and exactly on Saturday, August the 20th, 1955, and for a short time, Oued Zem was at peace, unlike Abou Ljaad that had some protests going on against the King’s exiling. Due to that, French military forces were called upon to come from Oued Zem and Tadla to stop the manifestations. And because of the military absence, people of Oued Zem felt emboldened to start protesting against the French administration. Indeed, a huge number of people gathered in the street of Monday’s Market to protest against the French oppression. French officials gave orders to use lethal weaponry to stop the manifestations. As a result, a huge number of people died and it was said that the street of Monday’s Market was streaming with blood.
In the middle of that day, the three tribes decided to besiege the city, close its entrances and exits. And after successfully cutting off French communication lines, the rebellion began. Complete chaos controlled the city. And just that day, the number of martyrs reached 5000. Days after the great rebellion, people of Morocco started to manifest demanding for the King’s comeback and the country’s freedom.
Oued Zem was the first to start the uprising and is sadly the last city to be taken care of nowadays.
