The area south of the medina that is now Muhammad V Square had been occupied by barracks of the French colonial troops before the plan of Henri Prost and Joseph Marrast to establish a large square there was implemented in 1916.
It became the heart of the expanding ville européenne, or European city.
At the time, it was named Place Lyautey, Lyautey Square, in honor of the France's first résident général in Morocco.

On August 8, 1943, Charles de Gaulle—accompanied by General Georges Catroux, commissary of the Coordination of Muslim Affairs and governor general of Algeria, and Gabriel Puaux, resident general of France in Morocco—appeared at Place Lyautey, where he delivered a speech broadcast by radio.
The area south of the medina that is now Muhammad V Square had been occupied by barracks of the French colonial troops before the plan of Henri Prost and Joseph Marrast to establish a large square there was implemented in 1916. It became the heart of the expanding ville européenne, or European city. At the time, it was named Place Lyautey, Lyautey Square, in honor of the France's first résident général in Morocco.
On August 8, 1943, Charles de Gaulle—accompanied by General Georges Catroux, commissary of the Coordination of Muslim Affairs and governor general of Algeria, and Gabriel Puaux, resident general of France in Morocco—appeared at Place Lyautey, where he delivered a speech broadcast by radio.
Muhammad V Square