Tangier and the fleet demonstration at Algeciras

The First Moroccan Crisis grew from French ambitions in Morocco, weak Moroccan state capacity, and imperial competition. Kaiser Wilhelm II landed at Tangier during a Mediterranean training cruise and called for international involvement, hoping to disrupt the Entente Cordiale. Germany then pressed France and other delegates hard at the Algeciras Conference. Britain's Mediterranean and Atlantic fleets had been exercising nearby, which put a ready military instrument within reach of the negotiations. Their arrival in strength made naval power part of every diplomat's calculation.