Bombardment of Casablanca

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Bombardment of Casablanca
Part of the French conquest of Morocco
The French cruiser Gloire bombarding Casablanca, August 1907 printed on a postcard.
Date 5–7 August 1907 Location Casablanca, Morocco Result French conquest and occupation of Casablanca
Belligerents
France	Morocco
Commanders and leaders
Antoine Drude Joseph Philibert	Abd al-Aziz al-Alawi Abu Bakr bin Bouzid
Casualties and losses
1,500 to 7,000 civilian deaths

The Bombardment of Casablanca (Arabic: قصف الدار البيضاء; French: Le bombardement de Casablanca) was a French naval attack taking place from August 5 to 7 in 1907 that destroyed the Moroccan city of Casablanca.^[1] France used mainly artillery fire from armored cruisers to bomb the city and targets in the surrounding area, which caused an estimated 1,500 to 7,000 Moroccan deaths.^[1] The bombardment of Casablanca opened a western front to the French conquest of Morocco after Hubert Lyautey's occupation of Oujda in the east earlier that year.

The bombardment came after an attack of tribesmen of the Shawiya opposed to the terms of the Treaty of Algeciras of 1906 to the French presence in the customs house and to the construction of a railroad over a sanctuary, specifically on European employees of the Compagnie Marocaine operating a Decauville train from a quarry in Roches Noires to the Port of Casablanca on July 30, 1907.^[2] When the French cruiser Galilée disembarked a landing party of 75 soldiers on August 5, an insurrection broke out in the city.^[2]

The Galilée and the Du Chayla bombarded the city with mélinite, an explosive substance containing picric acid that struck residential neighborhouods, particularly the Tnaker.^[1][3][4]