History Of Western Sahara
The history of Western Sahara is a desert area populated by a few nomadic tribes, which has never been organized into nation-state. It is intimately linked to that of its neighbors, Morocco , Mauritania and Algeria. After several unsuccessful attempts to XV century , the Spaniards made a colony between 1884 and 1975. The decolonization takes place in poor conditions because it led to the annexation and the takeover of Western Sahara between Morocco and Mauritania and the armed struggle of an independence movement, the Polisario Front. Western Sahara is now a non-autonomous territory according to the UN , claimed by Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic , and its final status remains unresolved since the cease-fire in 1991.
First Inhabitants
Between -5000 and -2000 in the territory of Western Sahara was a savanna populated by elephants , the giraffes and rhinos. The first modern inhabitants leave behind traces of rock art and cave .
Progressive desertification from -2000 (era Holocene ) dries up lakes and hunting animals and Bafour south. During the 1st millennium BCE, they are gradually replaced by nomadic Berbers mainly Sanhadja , from the north. A few isolated communities living in the oases, have persisted in the exonym Haratin.
Some coastal sites along the Atlantic coast of Morocco was colonized by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians , which Hanno the Navigator to the VI - V centuries before our era, no conclusive evidence than has been found in Western Sahara. The Periplus of Hanno mentions an " island of Cerne "(also" Hern Island "or" Island of the Herons ") that could be the island of Arguin (Mauritania) or Island Herne near Dakhla .
The Romans do not exceed the Mauretania Tingitane (northern half of Morocco). They are aware of the existence of gold caravans crossing the Sahara, but do not venture into the desert. Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy mention Draa (Darat) in their writings .
Desertification between -300 and +300 made contact with the outside world very difficult until the introduction of camels in the region. Faced with a hostile environment, the Berbers are probably dependent on some desert communities and caravans, or to guide them, either for plunder.
Islamization of Western Sahara
See also: History of Morocco
The Islamization of the Western Sahara began in the eighth century was long but shallow, much of the population keeping practices animists. It is not a direct result of the Arab conquest , it is the Berbers themselves who propagated Islam southwards by trading more regularly across the Sahara . In particular, the gold of Senegal is essential for Arab States in order to hit their currency .
In 745, the governor of Ifriqiya , Abderrahman Ibn Habib , built a series of wells between southern Morocco and Aoudaghost (oasis and trading town, south of present-day Mauritania) .
To the ninth century , the confederation of Berber Zenetes ( kharidjite ) controls the oases and trading centers in the northern desert, which Sijilmassa. Three major Berber tribes Sanhadja ( Maliki ) control while the desert: Djoddala west, near the Atlantic coast, the Messoufa north in the Draa Valley and the Anti-Atlas, and Lemtuna in central and South . One of the most important caravan routes linking Sijilmassa to the empire of Ghana and it goes through Aoudaghost, became the largest city of Lemtuna. This is where the salt , mined in the northern desert is exchanged against the gold of Bambouk.
Towards the end of the tenth century , Ghana seizes Aoudaghost Lemtuna and take refuge in the Adrar Mauritanian Berbers while others submit to Ghanaians. Zenetes the hunt at the same time the Sanhadja Sijilmassa.
At the same time, the dynasty Idrissids who ruled Morocco was conquered by the Fatimids and the Umayyads of Cordoba.
In the early eleventh century , the emir Tarsin founded a new confederation Sanhadja from Lemtuna, and Djoddala Messoufa. Tarsin was killed shortly after (1023) and his son Yahya Ibn Ibrahim succeeded him.
The Almoravids (1030-1147)
Several slightly different versions tell the advent of the Almoravids. According to the most common around 1030, a chief djoddala , Yahya ibn Ibrahim , went to Mecca , on his return, he stopped at Kairouan to perfect his knowledge of Islam. Finding large gaps in him and his men, he asked that a teacher accompanies them in the desert. In the absence of a candidate in Kairouan, he went to where the religious Sijilmassa Abdallah ibn Yasin , of obedience Maliki and puritanical, agrees to follow. The teaching of Ibn Yasin is rejected by Djoddala; he retired in Mauritania (perhaps on the island of Tidra ) where he founded a convent or ribat military. By 1050, it attracts the favor of the military leader Lemtuna, Yahya Ibn Omar. The Almoravids (al-Murabitun, "those ribat") then come to impose their doctrine to Lemtuna and other Sanhadja and finally to the entire region.
In 1053, Yahya ibn Umar takes to Sijilmassa Zenetes Aoudaghost then in 1054 (held by Zenetes on behalf of the Ghana Empire) but died shortly afterwards Tabfarilla during a revolt Djoddala. His brother Abu Bakr Ibn Umar takes Aghmat to 1058 and then attacks Berghouata (in the current region of Rabat ) in 1059, killing Abdallah Ibn Yasin probably during this fight.
Abu Bakr and his cousin, Yusuf Ibn Tasufin , founded the military base in Marrakech in 1062-1070 . North, Youssef Ibn Tasufin up a new unified army and Morocco and western Algeria today, while Abu Bakr Ibn Umar returns to the South put down a new rebellion Djoddala. In 1076, Abu Bakr capture Kumbi Saleh , the capital of the empire of Ghana. At the end of the century, Youssef Ibn Tasufin conquered Al-Andalus. In their heyday, the Almoravids controlled territory along 3500 kilometers but are not a unified kingdom .
Arabization of the Berbers (1147-1405)
The struggle against the Almoravids Hilalians (Arab tribes from the east, sent by the Fatimids) in 1147 and their fall into the hands of Almohad contribute to disrupt the caravan routes of the western desert, the benefit of Timbuktu more east . The Sanhadja find themselves isolated from the Maghreb for a century. In Morocco, Almohad (from the Berber tribe of Masmouda in the region of Souss ) focus their attention north and east.
The following are the arrivals Banu Maqtil the thirteenth century , the Bedouin Arabs came from Yemen , first in support Merinids opposed to Almohads. Following the hostility of Merinids themselves Maqtil tribes named Banu Hassan left the Draa Valley and migrate south, going as far as Mauritania. They come into conflict with sporadic Sanhadja and dominate the region from 1400, including teaming with Djoddala Lemtuna the cons. The emirate of Oulad Delim covers the south of Western Sahara while the current control of Oudaia northern Mauritania. The Berbers have a status of "second class" but can get all their rights by converting to Islam. The Islamization of the territory becomes truly complete about this time, and Berber and Arab peoples mix gradually (with the notable exception of the Touareg , almost direct descendants Sanhadja), giving birth to the people Moor. The Arabic dialect of the Bani Hassan, or Hassaniya, is still spoken by the Moors and the Saharawi.
Ibn Khaldun left one last written testimony on Sanhadja as an autonomous entity, shortly before his death around 1405.
To the south, and Hodh Tagant (including Aoudaghost) pass under the dominion of the Mali Empire.
In the thirteenth century , Ibn Fatima is the first sailor to reach the bay greyhound when it ran aground. It is then under the control of Djoddala . In a world map of 1320, the territory Djoddala extends from the island of Arguin to Seguia el-Hamra. Some other browsers still stranded Muslims thirteenth and fourteenth centuries , they are generally welcomed by the population recently Islamized.
The trans-Saharan trade in 1400
In Western Sahara, the track-Sijilmassa Teghazza-Aoudaghost remains the most important. Further east, the tracks connecting the Ifriqiya in Timbuktu and Gao. Ibn Khaldun relates the existence of an annual caravan of 12 000 camels.
The main cargoes are salt and gold. Salt is mined in the north, whose Seguia el-Hamra and Teghazza , north of present-day Mali, and transported blocks. Gold is mined in the south, in Bambouk then Bour (in modern Guinea ) and Akan (future -of-Gold Coast ), transported as dust and gold coin struck in northern cities. Several Arab writers argue that Sudan , "the gold grows like carrots." The Sudanese also import of horses, cloth, copper, silver, beads, cowrie shells , glass, and dates , and figs and many finished goods. They export of slaves , spices, kola nuts , hides or ivory.
The Massoufa are known as guides. Other Berber tribes living tributes paid by the caravans to avoid being attacked and in the second half of the fourteenth century , the numerous raids of the Arab tribes recently arrived in the region contribute to disrupt trade and promote at the expense of Timbuktu ' Oualata.
The European incursions (1434-1541)
Early travels
The first known expedition to the Sea of Darkness , led by Ugolino Vivaldi Vandino and , from Genoa in 1291. She hopes to reach India by sea, but she disappears without a trace.
The Catalan Jaume Ferrer disappears in 1346, it is mentioned on the planisphere Cresques (1375) as per March party al Riu Gold . It is probably a reference to the Senegal River , whose wealth of gold was known but the name Rio de Oro apply later to the south of the Spanish Sahara.
Sailors Dieppe have reached Guinea in 1364-1410, according to Mercer , such shipments are invented.
Around 1400, Europeans have reached the Canary Islands and the adjacent African coast, they know the name of el-Hamra Seguia since 1350. At that time, Sanhdaja Hassinya and occupy the south coast while in the Djoddala pass under the domination of Oulad Delim.
The first European explorers landed near Cape Bojador in 1405 and it attacked a caravan of other raids occur but Europeans are also trying to trade. Faced with a determined local opposition, they remain confined to the coast .
Establishment of the Portuguese
At the instigation of Henry the Navigator , Gil Eanes is the first to cross the Cape Bojador in 1434 and back. Between 1434 and 1446, fifty caravels Portuguese reach to the river Senegal. The Portuguese settled on the island of Arguin (in modern Mauritania) in 1445, and bring back a swag of gold and slaves, where they established their first fort in 1448 . The chronicle of these expeditions is held by Gomes Eannes of Azurara. In 1445, Joao Fernandes was detained for seven months as a hostage by Sanhadja, which he initially did not understand Arabic hassinya and he brings the first evidence of the nomadic life to the Europeans and in particular indicate that the tribes are not subject to the Kingdoms the Maghreb . In 1455, Henry prohibits raids conversion in Sanhadja.
In 1456, following clashes between Cape Ghir and Cape Bojador, Pope Callistus III chose it as the dividing line between Castile (north) and Portugal (the South).
Around 1487, the Portuguese brought back gold and approximately 1000 slaves per year, they buy the nomads and cons of corn tissue (we recognize the important men in their European clothing fabrics). The nomads themselves exchanging horses brought from Morocco against the slaves they get cheap, they also use cowries to trade them. The Portuguese also take several fisheries on the coast, where they dry their catch .
The Spanish forts
In 1449, King John II of Castile gives Juan Guzman lands between Cape Ghir (cabo de Aguer, near Agadir ) and Cape Bojador but the first Castilian expedition on the continent only since 1476. They erected a fort named Santa Cruz de Mar Pequea across the Canaries. The location of the fort is not known with precision, it can be the Wadi Chebica, Puerto Cansdao or Sidi Ifni . The fort was soon besieged by 10,000 infantry and 2 000-3 000 riders, the governor of the small Canary Diego de Herrera sends only 700 men as reinforcements and the fort was abandoned. The Castilians then only for raids, so around 1480, they attack the region Taghaost ( Legsabi ) and bring 158 slaves. The discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 quickly diverts the attention of the Spaniards to the new continent.
The Castilians back in 1496 with 34 soldiers. February 13, 1499, the Ait Atta , a Berber confederation that controlled the region Messa , the valley of Draa and ICHT (approximately the region Souss-Massa-Draa current) receive a delegation of their capital Taghaost, submit to the Spanish crown and sending ambassadors to the court . The growing trade with Spain, and it also sends its first exiles to "the barbarians ".
However, peace with the Ait Atta does not apply to other tribes as Massa and other forts were built, Taghazout, San Miguel on the Oued Assaka and Cape Bojador. The fort of San Miguel, then builds an army of hostile nomads accumulates, falls at the first assault, and three-quarters of the Spanish defenders are killed. In 1502, the Spaniards are trying to build a new fort at Cape Ghir , the area devoted to Portugal by the Treaty of Tordesillas. Before its completion, they are forced to abandon the order of the king. In 1505, with the agreement of Massa, the Portuguese built their own fort, Santa Cruz do Cabo de Aguer in Agadir (40 km from Cape). In 1508, to fight against the Barbary pirates (as the Spanish version), the Castilians occupied the island of Rock of Vlez de la Gomera in the Mediterranean, again violating the Treaty of Tordesillas. As a remedy, when the Treaty of Capitulation of Cintra (September 18, 1509), they abandoned their zone of influence between Massa and Cape Bojador the Portuguese, retaining only Santa Cruz de Mar Pequea.
Victory Moroccans
The tribes of the Draa Valley organized around several religious brotherhoods and exasperated by the attacks of the Europeans decided to resume their territory by force. In 1511, they attacked the Portuguese fort of Agadir, without success. In 1516, they subjugate Massa and Ait bou Aita and take Taghaost. In 1517, they take and raze Santa Cruz de Mar Pequea but the Spanish rebuilt the fort a few days later. In 1524, a new storm finally ousted and it is the last Spanish incursion in Western Sahara before 1884 . In 1541, the Portuguese fort of Santa Cruz do Cabo de Aguer is destroyed in turn. In 1554, they finally chase Wattassides power and founded the dynasty Saadi.
Arguin (1541-1728)
Europeans largely avoided Morocco and Western Sahara and then focus on the coasts more favorable, from Senegal. After the annexation of Portugal from Spain, Holland at war with the latter seized the fort of Arguin in 1638 and control the island until 1678 (the English occupy some time in 1665). France takes over the island but then quickly abandoned. In 1685, Frederick William of Brandenburg conquered the site. His successors cede these counters to the Dutch in 1717. The French and Dutch are fighting the island until 1728 when it came under the control of local tribal leaders.
The Moroccan rule (1541-1884)
The Saadian
With the advent of the Moroccan dynasty Saadi , the Moroccan ascending become effective on the Western Sahara. To the south, they advance to Timbuktu and Senegal. In 1591 , the Battle of Tondibi , troops of Ahmed al-Mansur Saadi , commissioned by Djouder , a eunuch converted Spanish, won a decisive victory over the Songhai empire in which the Tuaregs (Berbers from the center of the desert, non-descendants Arabized Sanhadja) previously paid tribute. The climax Moroccan did not last after the death of al-Mansur in 1603, his son tear Morocco; the country disintegrates into numerous fiefdoms while the Europeans are creating new enclaves in the north . Around 1632, Timbuktu and Gao declare their independence and regain control of nomadic desert .
In 1644, the revolt against the Sanhadja Hassaniya desert and trigger war Boubba Charr. Led by a lemtuna emir, Nasr ad-Din , they are beaten in the Trarza , south-western Mauritania. In 1674, the region is again under Arab control.
The Alawites
The Alawite Moulay Ismail then led several expeditions into the desert to regain control of caravan routes and consolidates the Moroccan sovereignty. He appoints the governors of Teghazza (where the salt mines), Tuat, and Shinqit Semara. In 1724, he sent his black troops, and Abid al-Bukhari , Emir Trarza help attacking the French post of St. Joseph on the Senegal. This renewed activity in the Moroccan desert forms the historical basis for Morocco's claim on the territory of Western Sahara .
After the death of Moulay Ismail in 1727, Moroccan control becomes more uncertain . Thus, May 28, 1767, Sultan Mohammed III of Morocco signed the Treaty of Marrakesh with Charles III of Spain in which he acknowledges that "His Imperial Majesty reserves to deliberate on the counter that SM wants to found Catholic south of Nun river, because it can not take responsibility for accidents and misfortunes, his rule does not extend so far ... From Santa Cruz to the north, His Imperial Majesty grants from the Spanish and Canarian fishing without permit any other nation . "The Arabic version of the treaty does not imply a renunciation of sovereignty as clear .
When the 1799 Treaty of Meknes, also signed with Spain, Morocco indicates that the Oued Noun itself (formerly Assaka) is not under the sovereignty . However, towards the end of the century, the investiture of the Emir of the confederation Trarza back to the Sultan of Morocco. Like the Treaty of Marrakesh in Arabic Meknes treaty does not imply a renunciation of sovereignty as clear.
Back from Spain (1859)
In 1859, Spain triggers the African war against Morocco, and imposes its conditions in 1860 in the Treaty of Tetuan. She obtained an enclave around the location of the fort of Santa Cruz de Mar Pequea was but can not accurately indicate its location. In 1878, Blasco de Garay's expedition found the ruins at the mouth of the Oued Noun and received permission from local leaders to build a fishing port. Sultan Moulay Hassan then proposes to install the port to Ifni , out of the area under the treaty , but the hostility of local people prevented the Spaniards from taking possession of the territory. They manage to win in 1934.
Donald MacKenzie
In the late nineteenth century , southern Morocco is still Bilad al-Siba, area rebellious royal power . In 1879, Scotsman Donald MacKenzie gets agreement from a leader of Souss, Mahammad Bayruk to establish a counter near Cape Juby and a strip two miles out of twelve . Victoria Harbour, managed by the North-West Africa Company MacKenzie hopes to capture part of the caravan trade.
Sultan Moulay Hassan of Morocco, afraid of losing trade with the Sahara and see MacKenzie arming tribes in the south, offers money to it to leave but refuses MacKenzie.
In 1880, the Sultan sent an expedition to sack the counter but it causes only minor damage. MacKenzie then seeks to expand his company and makes contact with the Emir of Adrar Mauritania. The next expedition of Morocco in 1882 to subject the tribes to dislodge the Souss and MacKenzie. It ends in failure and until 6000 the 20 000 soldiers died of thirst .
In 1884, the prospect of establishing a new counter MacKenzie in the Ro de Oro, the Spanish decided to take the lead and land themselves. They are also trying to prevent it from using its warehouses in the Canary Islands but the British press dissuades them.
In 1888, Morocco is murdering the manager of Cap Juby countertop, and under British pressure, he was forced to pay 5,000 pounds in compensation. Sporadic fighting between the Izarguien , MacKenzie allies, and Moroccan troops. The French worry that turn their weapons to enemies are imported via Cape Juby.
In 1893, Morocco organized a new expedition to the Tafilalet (where was the old Sijilmassa ). Fifteen to thirty thousand soldiers go Fez to Marrakech / A> via the oases of Tafilalet. They are evidence of submission (and tax arrears) from local leaders, and help to reaffirm the authority of the sultan on the region The Anglo-Moroccan border in 1895 and in Morocco Shortly before 1895, the British government is seeking de jure independence of the Cape Juby, to avoid renewed conflict with Sultan, but do not reach an agreement. He decides to sell the business to the Sultan for 50 000 pounds, in theory to transform the enclave into a free port. The Anglo-Moroccan March 13, 1895 states: "... No power can make claims to the territories from the Wadi Draa and Cape Bojador called Tarfaya as stated above and inside because these territories belong to Morocco. " The treaty is one of the parts made by Morocco to the International Court of Justice in 1975 to support its claim of sovereignty over these territories. However, the International Court of Justice states that British diplomatic correspondence of the time indicated on several occasions that the Cape Juby is not part of Morocco for the British to stop Draa. Thus, the Treaty represents an agreement on the part of Britain not to contest the claims of the future Sultan south and not a recognition of its existing sovereignty over these territories . Some writings suggest a foreign recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over the Ro de Oro, as a letter from the Ambassador of France to Tangiers dated November 10, 1898 includes the passage: "The Spanish press takes great noise around recently received new Rio de Oro and from which a considerable number of Moroccans, four or five miles-would approach with an aggressive attitude of said factories. "However, the Franco-Spanish Convention of 1904 states that" the government of the French Republic recognizes that Spain has far from complete freedom of action in terms of territories between 26 degrees and 27 degrees 40 minutes latitude north and the 11th meridian west of Paris, which are outside the boundaries of Morocco . "More generally, any official text of the period attests recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara at the time of Spanish colonization . In 1910, Cape Juby is in the hands of Izraguien so that trade with the Canaries. Since the eighteenth century , Spanish fishermen of the Canaries just off the coast of Western Sahara, where fish abound. In the late nineteenth century , several companies formed Africanists to explore and exploit the still largely unknown territory. Moreover, the advance of British and French in the region leads the Spaniards to be the first to claim it. In 1881, the Sociedad Pesquerias Canario-African built a jetty on the edge Durnford , location of Villa Cisneros . In January 1884, Emilio Bonelli Hernando y Sociedad Espaola de the Colonists there Africanist sign a treaty with the Saharan leaders who surrender Peninsula Rio de Oro in Spain but it does not take possession. November 28, Emilio Bonelli signed another treaty with three representatives of Oulad Bou Sbaa (SBA), which authorizes the establishment of trading: Villa Cisneros (Rio de Oro, current Dakhla ), Puerto Bada (Angra da Cintra) and Medina Gatell (La Guera, current Lagouira ). On 26 December 1884 , Spain declares a protectorate called Rio de Oro on the coast from Cape Blanc to Cape Bojador (Bahia del Oeste), ostensibly at the request of the local population. The protectorate also closes the door to Donald MacKenzie, who sought to establish new settlements on this coast. The Berlin conference endorses the Spanish claim the following month. Villa Cisneros is the administrative capital and Bonelli made built a fort with the workers of the Canaries. 6 April 1887, the Spanish protectorate was extended to Seguia el-Hamra in the north and only 240 miles inland begins the emirate of Adrar. It is then placed under the authority of the Governor-General of the Canaries, which appoints a deputy governor. In March 1887, Villa Cisneros is attacked and looted by the Oulad Delim and again in March 1892 and November 1894. On 2 March 1895, the Spanish signed an agreement with Sheikh Ould Oulad Delim Laroussi . However, in March 1898, a band of Oulad Delim Villa Cisneros attack again, killing several employees of the company Hispano-African trade (Compaa Mercantil Hispano Africana) and plunder the stocks while the Spaniards fleeing by boat to the Canary. On June 27, 1900, France and Spain sign the Treaty of Paris which defines the border between Rio de Oro (Spanish) and Mauritania (French) . 4 October 1904, the Paris Convention establishes the borders of Saguia el-Hamra and Cape Juby (Morocco Spanish Southern ). On 27 November 1912, after the establishment of French protectorate over Morocco, the Madrid Convention confirms these fixed borders and those of the enclave of Ifni where Spaniards are still not managed to win. The Spaniards did not venture into mass inland and thus avoid confrontation with the nomads. It was the French, far more aggressive, advancing in Mauritania after colonizing Algeria and Tunisia and provoke the uprising of some nomads. Around 1895, the religious leader Sahraoui El Ma Ainin built a ribat to Smara , hitherto single point of water and caravan crossroads, where it calls for holy war against the colonizers. Armed and financed by the Sultan of Morocco against the recognition of the sovereignty of the latter on the Western Sahara and Mauritania, Ma El Ainin seizes countertops Donald MacKenzie at Cap Juby the same year. Around 1905, he sent one of his son in the Mauritanian Adrar order to lead the resistance against the French and it may be the cause of the assassination Tidjikdja of Xavier Coppolani , the French commissioner of Mauritania ( May 12, 1905). The death of the French pressure Coppolani disrupts but does not stop it. In 1907, Henri Gouraud , who had just submitted a rebellion in the French Sudan ( Mali ), is appointed and takes the offensive. El Ainin my travels to Morocco to get weapons and then chooses to deal with Abd al-Hafid , opposed the French and brother Moulay Abd al-Aziz , himself a collaborator. The fighting in 1908-1909, however, turn to the advantage of Gouraud, Ma El Ainin was forced to leave Smara (still unfinished) and moved to Tiznit , where he proclaimed himself the Mahdi. On June 23, 1910, General Moinier beats a 6000 Moroccan army and rebellious of the Adrar Tadla which puts an end to the pretensions of Ma El Ainin. He died October 23, 1910 in Tiznit . In May 1911, Abd al-Hafiz Abd al-Aziz reversed. He finds himself besieged by Berber tribes Fez and is forced to ask the French for help leading to the establishment of a protectorate in 1912. Ahmed al-Hiba , a son of al-Ma'Aynayn , proclaimed himself the Mahdi and the Sultan of Tiznit in 1912. He extends his power in Western Sahara, while his brothers take control of Agadir and Taroudant , in August, "Sultan Blue" makes a triumphant entrance to Marrakech at the head of 10,000 men, but he was defeated at Sidi Bou Othmane. In 1913, a French colony from Mauritania, arrived in Smara and partially destroyed the city. In retaliation, troops led by nomadic Agdaf, another son of Ma El Ainin, killing forty French in the South. During the First World War , Germans and Turks are trying to arm the nomads against the French. A submarine weapons German book in 1916 but the crew was captured shortly thereafter by the Spanish Cape Juby. In 1916, benefiting from the neutrality of Al-Hiba and French against him, Colonel Francisco Bens hunting Sahrawis Cap Juby becomes Villa Bens. Al-Hiba is pushed into the Anti-Atlas , where he died in 1919, his brother Merebbi Rebbu became head of the resistance. The French then submit the Souss Rif; about 1929 resistance is confined to the coastal desert of Saguia el-Hamra. In 1932, the relative neutrality of Spain in the guerrilla war between the French and Saharawi ends when a detachment of Camel Oulad Delim deserted with their weapons. In 1934, the French beat Reguibat and seized Tindouf, making the junction with the troops of Adrar and encircling the latest Saharawi resistance. The Spaniards then complete the takeover of their territory through auxiliaries recruited from among the nomads (Tercio Africanos), occupying the localities within which Smara and that Ifni. The lifestyle of the Saharawi changes little under the Spanish administration: they are nomadic pastoralists with their own traditions, including customary assemblies (djemaa), and self-righteousness ( Muslim law and customary orf). The Spanish presence itself is limited to a few cities where the trade is done with the nomads. The city of El Aaiun ( Laayoune ) was founded in 1938 after the discovery of a significant groundwater . During the Second World War , the Spanish undertook the first scientific exploration campaign in Western Sahara, the Estudios Saharianos, and improve the economic and social infrastructure of the territory . In 1947, Spain founded the Spanish West Africa which includes Ifni , the band of Tarfaya, the Seguia el-Hamra and Ro de Oro. From the 1950s, several droughts growing part of the nomadic population to settle in urban areas which leads them into contact with the Spaniards, causing new tensions to colonial status. The Morocco won its independence in 1956. Spurred on by nationalists as Allal al-Fassi and his party Istiqlal , he then proceeds to restore its territorial integrity with the goal of a " Greater Morocco "gathering all the land that historically belonged to a period or another in the kingdom of Morocco. Supported by all member countries of the Arab League and it boasts all the areas still controlled by the Spanish and part of the territories controlled by the French (a portion of the Sahara around Tindouf and Bechar , as well as Mauritania to St. Louis in Senegal but not Mali , Al-Fassi claims without support ). He opposed the independence of Mauritania in 1960 and his admission to the UN next year and do not recognize until 1969 , Mauritania will be a member in the Arab League after his recognition by Morocco. After the war sands of 1963, he also waives Tindouf . Spanish Sahara became the main demand in Morocco. In 1957, Mokhtar Ould Daddah , the future founder of Mauritania, said: "In a word, we claim the same desert civilization of which we are justly proud. I therefore invite our brothers in the Spanish Sahara to consider this great economic and spiritual Mauritania . , And is launching the idea of a Greater Mauritania. The discovery of huge deposits of phosphate to Boukraa by Manuel Alia Medina from 1947 and especially in 1960 suddenly makes Western Sahara economically viable (the first exports will begin in May 1973). It then attracts the envy of its neighbors: Morocco, in addition to the idea of a " Greater Morocco ", hopes to control the main potential competitor to its own deposits of phosphate, Mauritania would like to find additional resources and Algeria Morocco wants to counter and to ensure direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. For his part, Franco Spain no longer has any inclination to decolonizing the earth became rich. Finally, by Virginia Thompson and Richard Adloff, Sahrawis themselves, who have never formed a nation, discovering that the desert contains much more than pasture and water for their herds and nationalism design from scratch . In 1956, Morocco creates a liberation army in the south of Morocco , mainly composed of Sahrawi tribes to fight against the Spanish occupation in the enclave of Sidi Ifni and Western Sahara. The Ifni War began in October 1957. After several successes, the liberation army was repulsed and destroyed in February 1958 by a joint Franco-Spanish named "Operation Hurricane" (Spanish part) and "Operation swab (French part). Spanish Sahara was created 12 January 1958 by bringing together the territories of Rio de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra. The same year, Spain ceded the band Tarfaya Morocco and dissolved the Spanish West Africa, the Saguia el-Hamra and Ro de Oro become Spanish provinces of right, electing their representatives to the Cortes Generales (which does have virtually no power under Franco ), while qu'Ifni obtained a municipal council. On April 19, 1961, El Aaiun became the capital of Spanish Sahara. In 1962, Spain launched a new plan for economic modernization. The first municipal elections held in 1963 and every two years. In 1967, Spain set up a territorial assembly, the Jemaa (or Yema), which has equally little power . From 1963 , the Spanish Sahara was included at the request of Morocco on the list of Non-autonomous. Morocco is so convinced that the Saharawi people want overwhelmingly to join the kingdom, and that self-determination vote was merely a formality. On December 17, 1965, in resolution 2072 , the UN General Assembly calls on the Spanish to take immediate steps to release the colonial territories of Ifni and Spanish Sahara and to engage in To this end negotiations on issues relating to sovereignty posed by these two territories. Spain and Portugal voted against the resolution while France, South Africa , the United Kingdom and the United States abstaining. Therefore, this item is included each year to the agenda of the Fourth Committee on Decolonization and the subject of seven additional resolutions of the General Assembly between 1966 and 1973, directing the Spanish to implement this right to self-determination. Since then, the UN has always upheld its position in favor of self-determination for the Saharawi population . Recommendations emanating from the same type of year the Security Council of UN, the OAU , the Non-Aligned Movement, the European Parliament , urging all parties to cooperate fully with the UN to move toward a solution consensus policy of regional conflict. In 1969, Spain returns the region of Ifni in Morocco. After crushing the uprising of 1957-1958, it takes several years before the reconstitution of new pacifist movement first and then more inclined to seek independence by force. The first independence movement, the Frente de Liberacin del Sahara bajo Dominacon Spanish, was founded in 1966, but he takes no action . In 1967, Muhammad Bassiri founded the Harakat Tahrir al-Saqi Hamra Wadi al-Dhahab wa (Liberation Movement Seguia el-Hamra and Oued ed-Dahab), precursor peaceful Polisario . On June 17, 1970, protesters led by Muhammad Bassiri bring a petition to the governor general of Spanish Sahara in Laayoune. While the demonstration was dispersed, the police tried to arrest the leaders, the demonstrators resisted, the government involves the Tercio Africanos firing on the crowd, killing 11. Hundreds of people were arrested within days Bassiri which disappears in prison, presumably murdered or tortured to death. In 1969, Edouard Moha (Moha R'guibi) founded the Revolutionary Movement of the Blue Men - The (Morehob) - claiming the link with Morocco and opposes independence. In 1971, El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed , a Sahrawi then a law student and other students in Rabat beginning to consider the possibility of freeing Western Sahara by force by refusing any interference Moroccan. In 1973, Moroccan authorities intervene to dissolve the group and Sayed flees into the desert. On May 10, 1973, the Frente Popular de Liberacin of Saguia el Hamra y Ro de Oro, or Polisario Front is based on Ayn Bentil (Mauritania) to compel by force Spain to relinquish colonization but also in opposition to connecting with Morocco and Mauritania. El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed was elected secretary general. On 20 May during the raid Khanga, the Polisario seized a military post and seized weapons . To counter the Polisario, Hassan II in 1974 encourages the establishment of the Liberation Front and the unit (FLU), pro-Moroccan . Finally, in February 1975, allow a Spanish Partido Nacional de la Union Sahraoui to maintain a link with Spain, but its leader, Rachid Ould Khalihenna, pledged allegiance to the Moroccan king and rallied quickly to Morocco . Like many sheikhs Khalihenna Ould Rachid Saharawis allegiance to Morocco. On 21 August 1974, Spain announced the holding of a referendum on self-determination in early 1975. Morocco's King Hassan II said so oppose them by force to any referendum that could lead to the independence of the disputed territory; September 17, he proposed the arbitration of the International Court of Justice . In October, at the OAU Summit in Rabat, Morocco and Mauritania orally conclude a secret agreement to divide the territory . Algeria is then publicly in favor of a Western Sahara independent non-aligned , but it appears to have endorsed the agreement mauritanio-Moroccan . Spain makes a quick census of the population of Spanish Sahara in 1974 to determine the list of participants to self-determination vote. The census finds a population of 70 to 80 000 inhabitants, but do not take into account the Sahrawi refugees in neighboring countries, or nomads. The Polisario He estimates the population at 250-300 000. On 13 December 1974, the UN General Assembly adopts resolution 3292 . It reaffirms the right to self-determination of the Spanish Sahara, asked the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the status and legal ties between the territory and mandates a visiting mission to the territory. The mission takes place in May-June 1975 and visits the Western Sahara and neighboring countries. She presented her report to the UN on October 15 and found a "overwhelming consensus among the Sahrawi living in the territory for independence and opposing integration with any neighboring country . The leaders of the mission also find strong support of the population in favor of the Polisario Front. On October 16, 1975, the International Court of Justice gives its opinion: it recognizes that the territory of Western Sahara was not terra nullius before colonization by Spain and had legal ties of allegiance with Morocco and the Mauritanian entity. However, she finds no tie of territorial sovereignty. It concludes that these links are not likely to hinder "the principle of self-determination through the free and genuine expression of the will of the people of the territory" . The day after the opinion of the International Court of Justice, Hassan II announced the organization of a " Green March "for which the logistics are already in place in order to "expel the infidels from Moroccan soil colonialists" and to incorporate the Western Sahara to Morocco. The call for the march was a huge success: 500 000 Moroccans flock to Tarfaya near the border and a system of quotas and raffles determines who can cross it. In early November, 350 000 civilians organized a peaceful march, waving the Moroccan flag and the Koran, crossing the border to support the Moroccan territorial claims and are supported by some 20 000 Moroccan soldiers, while the Spaniards retreated six miles south. On 6, the Security Council of UN resolution 380 which approves the "application to Morocco to immediately withdraw from the territory of Western Sahara all the participants in the walk . November 9, Hassan II ordered the marchers, who stopped before the minefields laid by the Spanish, to make a U-turn. Walking Green allows Hassan to consolidate power around the Moroccan nationalist sentiment , and determination pushes Moroccan Spanish negotiation. On 14 November 1975, while Franco is dying, the Spanish government signed the Madrid accords with Morocco and Mauritania. The territory is divided: the northern two-thirds to Morocco, the southern third to Mauritania. Spain gets licenses for Bou Craa phosphate and fishing. The local population is not consulted and the Frente Polisario violently opposed to the agreements. Algeria is also excluded from the agreements, mainly because it wanted to prevent Spain from continuing operations of Bou Craa phosphate , and she undertook diplomatic support, financial and military Polisario. On 10 December the UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 3458, approving the report of the visiting mission and the conclusions of the International Court of Justice, including the establishment of a referendum on self- and urges all parties concerned "to refrain from any unilateral action or otherwise, which would circumvent the decisions of the General Assembly relating to the territory . On 11 December 1975, the Moroccan troops occupied Laayoune. December 20, Mauritanian troops occupy Tichla and Lagouira. January 9, the last Spanish troops left Laayoune while Moroccan troops arrive in Dakhla (Villa Cisneros). January 12, they are joined by the Mauritanian troops and the last Spanish soldiers left the territory. Moroccan troops committed numerous abuses against the Saharawi civilians in February, the International Federation of Human Rights confirms the accusations of repression, torture and killings of civilians, using napalm against civilians is itself confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross in January and a team of Swiss doctors in May . Morocco denies the accusations, said that none of these NGOs were present in Western Sahara during the fighting, and that these organizations are known by their support for the Polisario Front . This distinction in international law does not allow Morocco to exploit phosphate Bou Craa. The next day, the Polisario proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in Bir Lehlou , with the support of Algeria, and approval of a majority of OAU members, who are willing to recognize the Polisario as a "liberation movement" . Ouali Mustapha Sayed El is the first president of the SADR. March 6, Algeria recognizes the SADR, which causes the rupture of diplomatic relations with Morocco. The Polisario initially concentrated its efforts against Mauritania, the army of the latter being significantly lower than that of Morocco. It is led by El Ouali then Lahbib Ayoub and is reinforced by Algeria, its main ally, and financially supported by Libya , which uses military hardware Soviet. It adopts the tactics of guerrilla who quickly show their effectiveness. In January 1976, the Polisario troops attacked the conveyor belt of phosphate between Bou Craa and Laayoune and interrupts the production of phosphate for several years . The air force bombed several Moroccan Sahrawi camps which causes the exodus of thousands of Saharawi refugee camps in the region of Tindouf in Algeria. The Polisario is Amgala which had been abandoned by Algerians, according to Morocco, is engaged in "massacres" in the Moroccan troops. El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed died June 9, 1976 during a raid in Nouakchott , the Mauritanian capital. In May 1977, Lahbib Ayoub attack the mining town of Zouerate (while exports of iron represent three quarters of contributions in exchange for Mauritania), where two French nationals are killed and six others were captured. October 25, Polisario launched a new attack and capture two new French. France refuses to deal directly with the Polisario, and that Georges Marchais, who led the informal negotiations at the Foreign Ministry in Algiers and obtained the release of eight French. This action was disavowed by President Valery Giscard d'Estaing triggers, November 23, 1977, the operation Lamentin . decides that the bombing of three positions of the Polisario in Mauritania in December . On December 17, 1977, Nouakchott is bombarded with mortar by a contingent of 40 vehicles and hundreds of attackers. The forces of the French army commits answered with two Jaguar SEPECAT who were based in Dakar , on the BA 160 Ouakam and destroyed the motorized column in the desert. Between 1976-1978, the Polisario manages to form columns of hundreds of armored vehicles equipped with Soviet weapons. He chases the Moroccans Amgala and conducts raids in the open Morocco up 240 km of the border . Mauritania's position is weakened by the presence of many Sahrawi nationalists and thousands of Sahrawi soldiers Mauritanian desert and join the Polisario. In 1978, 60% of the budget goes to the army and the country is on the brink of insolvency . On 10 July 1978 after a coup in Mauritania and the establishment of a Military Committee for National Recovery (CMRN), the Polisario announces cease-fire with Russia. The negotiations are not progressing, a second coup gave rise to the Military Committee of National hello (CMSN) and the Polisario breaks the cease-fire in July 1979. Mauritania sells within days and accept the conditions of the Polisario peace treaty, withdrawal of troops, renunciation of any claim against the third of Western Sahara agreements reached at Madrid and recognition of the Polisario as the sole representative of the Saharawi people. Morocco, also immediately annex the southern portion of the territory. A coup in 1981 launched the cons CMSN fails; Mauritania suspect he was supported by Morocco and breaks diplomatic relations . In January 1979, the Polisario attack the Moroccan town of Tan-Tan Moroccan press and spoke of "national disaster" . In August, he attacked Dakhla where Moroccans do not give in but the following month he Lebouiarat to 500 victims and seized heavy weapons. En octobre, une attaque sur Smara est repousse l'aide de Mirage F1 achets aux Franais et le Polisario s'empare de Mahbs, sur la route entre Smara et l'Algrie. En mars 1980, le Polisario inflige une svre dfaite aux forces armes marocaines dans le Djebel Ouarkziz et les pousse adopter une nouvelle stratgie . En 1980, le Maroc entreprend la construction du mur marocain en commenant par la rgion Layoune - Smara - Bou Craa qui concentre l'essentiel de l'activit conomique. Le mur est constitu de bermes (remblais) de sable et de pierre d'environ trois mtres de haut ; des tranches de plusieurs mtres sont creuses en plusieurs endroits en contrebas de faon minimiser le risque d'une incursion adverse. Tout le long du mur, des units de surveillance se relaient aux units d'intervention, quipes de radars et protges de barbels. Construit en six tapes jusqu'en 1987, il comporte cinq brches censes assurer le droit de poursuite pour les troupes marocaines. Chaque mur est cens scuriser la zone qui le spare de l'Atlantique. D'une longueur totale d'environ 2 700 kilomtres, le mur de dfense est surveill par plus de 90 000 hommes. Une bande de plusieurs centaines de mtres de champs de mines en interdit l'accs. Le mur est une parade dcisive la stratgie de gurilla du Polisario et il change radicalement le cours du conflit. Le Polisario se trouve rejet l'extrieur du mur et est incapable de mener des incursions significatives l'intrieur du territoire contrl par l'arme marocaine. L'arme marocaine bnficie d'une excellente position dfensive mais le cot du mur et de la force de surveillance grve le budget du Maroc, malgr l'aide de l' Arabie saoudite et des tats-Unis , et contribue la dgradation de la situation conomique et sociale . En 1982, lors d'un entretien avec le prsident algrien Chadli Bendjedid , Hassan II lui aurait dclar dans un signe de bonne volont laissez-moi le timbre et le drapeau, tout le reste est ngociable / Span>. The same year, diplomats from the Polisario, backed by the Algerian diplomacy, obtain the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in the Organization of African Unity which causes the departure from Morocco in 1985. During the 1980s, the SADR is recognized by 75 states, mostly African. The refugee camps of Tindouf host his government in exile. In 1984, the OAU adopted the resolution AHG104 which reaffirms the right of Sahrawi self-determination and calls for direct negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario, a cease-fire and a referendum. In August, Morocco signed the Treaty of Oujda with Libya through which it agrees to stop supporting the Polisario. In September, the UN General Assembly, Hassan II is committed to the referendum on self-determination . In 1987 held a further meeting between Hassan II and Chadli Bendjedid to Akid Lofti (near the border between Algeria and Morocco) and the year after Morocco and Algeria resumed diplomatic ties. In August 1988, the UN presence in Morocco and the Polisario's plan for settling the conflict. The proposals of the UN have accepted "in principle" by both parties but are accompanied by contradictory comments sent directly to Perez de Cuellar and Issa Diallo. These comments are not sent to the commission for the implementation of the plan . In January 1989, a Polisario delegation was received by Hassan II in Marrakesh, to no avail. Soon after, Hassan II declared that "Morocco would not give an inch of its territory "and in October that" there is nothing to negotiate because the Western Sahara is a Moroccan territory . The last significant attack Polisario held in October-November, against the Wall. The direct armed confrontation between the Moroccan Army and the Polisario army lasts until September 1991 when a cease-fire arranged by the UN and part of the settlement plan. In early 1990, based on joint proposals by the OAU and the UN , established a dynamic of peace. But even after the establishment of a cease-fire development, the prospect of a referendum is still distant. The Security Council agrees to establish the " United Nations Mission for a referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) April 19, 1991 (Resolution 690 ) and the cease- fire comes into force on September 6. The implementation of the resolution meets quickly the most important obstacle is the identification of voters could participate in the referendum. The Polisario wants to limit enrollment to residents identified in the 1974 census and their descendants, thus facilitating a pro-independence result. Morocco hopes that the Saharawi people living in Morocco and the Moroccans living in Western Sahara can also decide what the result would favor pro-integration. The arrival of Kofi Annan to the General Secretariat in January 1997 allows to revive the peace process. Kofi Annan appointed James Baker , former U.S. Secretary of State, as personal envoy for Western Sahara. Baker visited the region of 23 to 28 April 1997 and then managed to gather and Sahrawi Moroccans in Houston's 14 to 16 September and have them sign agreements that provide for the Houston referendum in 1998. The voter identification resumed on December 3 but stumbles again on the status of various nomadic tribes. The referendum was postponed to December 1999. In 1999, the identification commission rejects most of the individual applications for registration of those tribes which angered Morocco. The Polisario, meanwhile, raised the possibility of a resumption of hostilities if the referendum is continually postponed. In 2000, James Baker proposed a foreground (now known as "Baker I") which offers a broad local autonomy within the Moroccan state, whose powers would be limited to defense and foreign affairs. This plan was accepted by Morocco but rejected by Polisario and Algeria (see in this regard the report of the Secretary General of the United Nations dated 20 June 2001 Reference Documentation Centre UN: S/2001 / 613). However, the Polisario releases 201 Moroccan prisoners "on humanitarian grounds." Baker proposed a new plan in 2003 ("Baker II"), which provides for the establishment of a Western Sahara Authority for five years, then the referendum which the non-Moroccan from Western Sahara participate and to which the new option a "self standing" be included. The plan was approved unanimously by the Security Council under the condition of its acceptance by all parties. It is rejected by Morocco because it undermines its territorial integrity. Following this refusal, Baker resigned in June 2004. The SADR is gradually losing its international recognition in the 1990s, many countries prefer to abandon or suspend it, pending the outcome of self-determination vote. In 2006, forty countries still recognize the SADR. In 2002, a UN document calls for the first time Morocco of "administering power" which would allow it to exploit the natural resources of the territory but this characterization is not worn on the list dependent territories held by the UN. In August 2003, the diplomat Peruvian Alvaro de Soto was appointed to the post of UN Special Representative for Western Sahara. In 2005 Kofi Annan appointed Peter van Walsum and Frasesco Bastagli respectively as personal envoy and special representative to Western Sahara. Since May 2005, demonstrations and riots, nicknamed "intifada for independence" by the Polisario held in several cities in Western Sahara, mostly in Laayoune. Several foreign journalists were expelled after interviewing protesters. On December 14, 2005, fourteen Sahrawi activists were sentenced to prison. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have expressed serious reservations about the conditions of these trials and Amnesty International has called for an investigation into allegations of torture of prisoners . Following these events, King Mohammed VI decided in 2006 the establishment of the Royal Consultative Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS) to propose to the Saharawi people a third way between the annexation and independence, that of the autonomy. Morocco then retain the national defense, foreign affairs and currency. Morocco has decided in favor of holding a referendum on self-determination of the local population of Western Sahara , but that does not include among its options the territory's independence. Since June 18, 2007 the first round of negotiations for a final settlement of the Western Sahara issue is held in Manhasset , a suburb of New York between representatives of Morocco (including the President of CORCAS Khalihana Ould Errachid) and the Front Polisario at the invitation of Secretary General of the United Nations and in accordance with resolution 1754 of the Security Council. On April 21, 2008, the Special Envoy of UN Secretary General, Peter van Walsum said that the independence of Western Sahara, was in his eyes, not "an achievable goal." He estimates that in the absence of "pressure on Morocco to abandon its claim of sovereignty," an "independent Western Sahara was not a realistic proposition" . On April 30, 2008, the Security Council adopted UN resolution 1813 renewing the mandate essentially of MINURSO until 30 April 2009, reiterates the fundamental principles set out in previous resolutions but also "endorsed the recommendation in the report that it is essential that the parties to show realism and a spirit of compromise to maintain the momentum in the negotiating process " . In October 2008, the UN debate on the autonomy plan for Western Sahara, presented by Morocco . In October 2009, seven activists of Sahrawi human rights were arrested in Casablanca on their return from refugee camps in Tindouf. They are brought before a military court for violation of State security . In commemorating the 34th anniversary of the Green March , Mohammed VI has a plan to decentralize "Southern Provinces". In his speech he said that the Western Sahara, there is no middle ground between patriotism and treachery . On 14 November 2009, the Sahrawi Haidar is held at Laayoune airport on his arrival in the Canaries. Moroccan authorities say Aminatou Haidar began to renounce his Moroccan citizenship by writing "Sahrawi" as nationality and "Territory of Western Sahara" as the country of residence on his declaration of entry. She is deported to the Canary Islands and began a hunger strike. After 32 days, allows Haidar Morocco to return to Laayoune for humanitarian reasons . On August 9, 2010, Moustapha Ould Sidi Mouloud Salma , a former Inspector General of Police of the Polisario Front, announced at a press conference in Smara he is in favor of the Moroccan solution. Upon his return in the Tindouf camps, he was arrested and jailed by Algerian authorities or by the Polisario . The SADR ambassador in Algiers, Brahim Ghali, calls him a "traitor." October 31, his family announced that he was wounded by gunfire while attempting to escape. No independent verification of his condition is possible. On November 8, 2010, The Moroccan security forces dismantle camp protest Gdim Izik near the town of Laayoune, resulting in violent clashes between security forces and Saharawi. The Spanish Sahara (1884-1975)
Establishment of the Protectorate
My El Ainin
French victory
Spanish Domination
Beginning of the decolonization
War of Ifni
Spanish Reforms
The right to self-determination
Foundation of independence movements
The opinion of the International Court of Justice
The Green March and the end of the term Spanish
The war in Western Sahara (1975-1991)
Invasion of Morocco and Mauritania (1975-1976)
Success of the Polisario (1976-1980)
Construction du mur marocain et enlisement du conflit (1980-1987)
Ngociations pour un cessez-le-feu (1984-1991)
The cease-fire and the dead (1991 -)
Establishment and obstacles
Plans Baker
Changes in the status of the SADR and Morocco
Recent Developments
Sources
References
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