E. B. DEMINTSEVA Candidate of Historical Sciences To date, there is not a single European country that is not subject to intensive migration flows. In some cases, these flows seem to freeze on a certain territory, giving rise to either simply emigrant settlements, or more stable ethno-confessional communities. One of these communities in France is Moroccan, which has quite deep historical roots. The field materials collected in recent years, both in France and Morocco, shed light on the reasons that are now forcing Moroccans to leave their homeland. IN THE REAR AND AT THE FRONT In the 19th century, students, merchants, and diplomats mostly came to France from Morocco, and their stay on this land was temporary. Prior to 1912, 1 relations between the two countries were more like neighbors, and the number of people living (temporarily or permanently)in the United States increased. There were few Moroccans on French territory (about 20 thousand). With the outbreak of the First World War, the situation changed dramatically. The French have gone to fight at the front, and the country is sharply beginning to feel a shortage of workers. France remembers its colonies: between 1915 and 1916, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Labor hired the first immigrants to replace the country's indigenous people who had gone to the front. Many of the Moroccan workers who arrived during these years (mostly emigrants from southern Morocco) were sent back to their homeland after the end of the war, and some managed to stay to work in France. Moroccans worked not only in the rear: during the war years, France recruited many North Africans to serve in the French army. Many of them returned home, but there were also those who were hired to work in France in the post-war years. In the 1920s, the number of Moroccans again approached the level of pre-war years-from 15 to 21 thousand people. They were mostly men, and they worked in large industrial enterpr ... Read more