Spanish Sahara
Province of the Sahara Provincia del Sáhara ( Arabic) As-Sahrā'a Al-Isbānīyah | |||||||||||||||||||
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Colony (1884–1958) and Province (1958–1976) of Spain | |||||||||||||||||||
1884–1976 | |||||||||||||||||||
Anthem | |||||||||||||||||||
Marcha Real | |||||||||||||||||||
Capital | Villa Cisneros (1884–1940) Laayoune (1940–1976) | ||||||||||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1970[1] | ≈ 15,600 Europeans | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1974[1] | ≈ 66,925 Sahrawis | ||||||||||||||||||
Government | |||||||||||||||||||
• Type | Spanish colonial government | ||||||||||||||||||
Governor-General | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1884–1902 (first) | Emilio Bonelli | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1974–1976 (last) | F. Gómez de Salazar | ||||||||||||||||||
Historical era | New Imperialism, World War I, World War II, Cold War | ||||||||||||||||||
26 December 1884 | |||||||||||||||||||
14 November 1975 | |||||||||||||||||||
27 February 1976 | |||||||||||||||||||
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Today part of | Western Sahara |
Spanish Sahara (
Between 1946 and 1958, the Spanish Sahara was amalgamated with the nearby Spanish-protected Cape Juby and Spanish Ifni to form a new colony, Spanish West Africa. This was reversed during the Ifni War when Ifni and the Sahara became provinces of Spain separately, two days apart, while Cape Juby was ceded to Morocco in the peace deal.
Spain gave up its Saharan possession following
In 1976, Mauritania and Morocco occupied much of the territory, now known as Western Sahara, but the Polisario Front, promoting the sovereignty of an independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), fought a guerrilla war against both, forcing Mauritania to relinquish its claim in 1979. The war against Morocco continued until 1991, when the UN negotiated a ceasefire and has tried to arrange negotiations and a referendum to let the population vote on its future. Morocco controls most of the Atlantic coast and most of the landmass, population and natural resources of Western Sahara.
Spanish period
At the
On entering the territory in 1884, Spanish forces were immediately challenged by stiff resistance from the indigenous
. This was followed by a wave of uprisings under Ma al-Aynayn's sons, grandsons and other political leaders.In 1886, Spain signed the
Morocco asserts that the territory was under Moroccan royal sovereignty at the time when the Spanish claimed it in 1884. The country raises to back its claims two sixteenth-century treaties, the
The borders of the territory were not clearly defined until treaties between
Modern history
After gaining independence in 1956, Morocco laid claim to Spanish Sahara as part of its historic pre-colonial territory. In 1957, the Moroccan Army of Liberation nearly occupied the small territory of Ifni, north of Spanish Sahara, during the Ifni War. The Spanish sent a regiment of paratroopers from the nearby Canary Islands and repelled the attacks. With the assistance of the French, Spain soon re-established control in the area through Operaciones Teide-Ecoubillon (Spanish name) / Opérations Ecouvillon (French name).[7][8]
Spain tried to suppress resistance politically. It forced some of the previously nomadic inhabitants of Spanish Sahara to settle in certain areas, and the rate of urbanisation was increased. In 1958, Spain united the territories of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro to form the overseas province of Spanish Sahara, while ceding the province of the Cape Juby strip (which included Villa Bens) in the same year to Morocco.
In the 1960s, Morocco continued to claim Spanish Sahara. It gained agreement by the United Nations to add the territory to the list of territories to be decolonised. In 1969, Spain ceded Ifni to Morocco, but continued to retain Spanish Sahara.
In 1967, Spanish rule was challenged by the
In 1973, the
In the winter of 1975, just before the death of its long-time dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Spain was confronted with an intensive campaign of territorial demands from Morocco and, to a lesser extent, from Mauritania. These culminated in the Marcha Verde ('Green March'), where a mass demonstration of 350 000 people coordinated by the Moroccan Government advanced several kilometres into the Western Sahara territory, bypassing the International Court of Justice's Advisory opinion on Western Sahara that had been issued three weeks prior.[9] After negotiating the Madrid Accords with Morocco and Mauritania, Spain withdrew its forces and citizens from the territory.
Morocco and Mauritania took control of the region. Mauritania later surrendered its claim after fighting an unsuccessful war against the Polisario Front. In the process of
Present status
Part of a series on the |
Western Sahara conflict |
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Background |
Regions |
Politics |
Clashes |
Issues |
Peace process |
Western Sahara is listed by the United Nations (UN) as a non-
UN peace efforts have been directed at holding a referendum on independence among the Sahrawi population, but this has not yet taken place. The African Union (AU) and more than 80 governments consider the territory to be the sovereign (albeit occupied) state of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), with a government-in-exile backed by the Polisario Front.
See also
- List of colonial governors of Spanish Sahara
- International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara
- History of Western Sahara
- Moroccan Army of Liberation
- Southern Provinces
- Tiris al-Gharbiyya
- Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
- Spanish West Africa
References
- ^ ISSN 1138-9788.
- ^ a b c Robert Rézette, The Western Sahara and the Frontiers of Morocco (Paris: Nouvelles Éditions Latines, 1975), p. 60.
- ^ "Encuentro con Premiados SGE 2007". Sociedad Geográfica Española. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011.
- ^ Fouad Ammoun, Separate Opinion of Vice-President Ammoun, International Court of Justice, 1975, p. 79.
- ^ Fouad Ammoun, Separate Opinion of Vice-President Ammoun, International Court of Justice, 1975, p. 81.
- .
- ^ Yabiladi.com. ""Opération Écouvillon" : Dernière tentative coloniale pour en finir avec l'Armée de libération marocaine ?". yabiladi.com (in French). Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Evrard, Camille. "" L'Opération " Ecouvillon " (1957-1958) et la mémoire des officiers sahariens : entre contre-discours colonial et sentiment national en Mauritanie ", in G. Cattanéo (dir.) Guerre, mémoire et identité, Paris, Nuvis, 2014, p. 83-107" (in French).
- ISBN 978-1-317-64969-4. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ Erik Jensen, Western Sahara: Anatomy of a Stalemate, p. 17.
- ISBN 978-0-19-100691-3. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
To sum up the legal status: Western Sahara is not a part of Morocco and Morocco has no legal title or claim to the territory. Since the annexation is illegal, it is null and void, and Morocco is therefore, legally speaking, an occupying power. Morocco has an obligation to respect the right of the people of Western Sahara according to the law of occupation and to end its illegal annexation and occupation of Western Sahara.
- ^ "Western Sahara's stranded refugees consider renewal of Morocco conflict". The Guardian. 6 January 2015.
- ^ "Mixed Reviews for Morocco as Fourth Committee Hears Petitioners on Western Sahara, Amid Continuing Decolonization Debate". un.org. 10 October 2018.
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