Green March
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[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 225852308 by [[Special:Contributions/80.25.121.159|80.25.121.159]] ([[User talk:80.25.121.159|talk]])
:''This article is about the historical event. For the aerobatic team see: [[Marche Verte]].
{{Sahara conflict}}
'''The Green March''' was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the [[Morocco|Moroccan]] government, to force [[Spain]] to hand over the disputed [[Provinces of Spain|province]] of [[Western Sahara|Sahara]] to Morocco.
==The Green March==
The Green March was a well-publicized popular march of enormous proportions. On November 6, 1975, approximately 350,000 unarmed [[Demographics of Morocco|Moroccans]]<ref>{{fr icon}} [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/jeune_afrique/article_jeune_afrique.asp?art_cle=LIN02113hassaetreve0 Hassan II lance la Marche verte :: Jeune Afrique<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> converged on the city of [[Tarfaya]] in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from [[List of rulers of Morocco|King]] [[Hassan II of Morocco|Hassan II]] to cross into [[Western Sahara]]. They brandished [[Flag of Morocco|Moroccan flags]], banners calling for the "return of the [[Southern Provinces|Moroccan Sahara]]," photographs of the King and the [[Qur'an]]; the color [[green]] for the march's name was intended as a symbol of [[Islam]]. As the marchers reached the border [[Spanish Armed Forces|Spanish troops]] were ordered not to fire to avoid bloodshed.
In order to prepare the terrain and to riposte to any potential counter-invasion from [[Algeria]], the [[Moroccan Army]] entered the northeast of the region where it met with sporadic resistance from the [[Polisario]], by then a two-year-old independence movement.<ref>[http://mondediplo.com/2006/01/12asahara How the US and Morocco seized the Spanish Sahara, by Jacob Mundy<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Background==
Morocco, to the north of the Spanish Sahara, had long claimed that the territory was historically an integral part of Morocco, and should not be [[independence|independent]] after Spain left. [[Mauritania]] to the south argued similarly that the territory was in fact Mauritanian. Since 1973, a Sahrawi [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]] led by the Algerian backed Polisario had challenged Spanish control, and in October 1975 Spain had quietly begun negotiations for a handover of power with leaders of the rebel movement, both in [[El Aaiún]], and with foreign minister [[Pedro Cortina y Mauri]] meeting [[El Ouali]] in [[Algiers]].<ref> Jacob Mundy, "Neutrality or Complicity? The United States and the 1975 Moroccan takeover of the Spanish Sahara, p. 283; in [[Journal of North African Studies]], Volume 11, No. 3 (Routledge/Taylor & Francis Publishing, September 2006)</ref>
Morocco intended to vindicate its claims by demanding a verdict from the [[International Court of Justice]] (ICJ). The [[International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara|ICJ stated]] that there were historical legal ties of allegiance between "some, but only some" [[:Category:Sahrawi tribes|Sahrawi tribes]] and the [[Sultan of Morocco]], as well as ties including some rights relating to the land between Mauritania and other Sahrawi tribes. [http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/idecisions/isummaries/isasummary751016.htm] However, the ICJ stated also that there were no ties of territorial sovereignty between the territory and Morocco, or Mauritania, at the time of Spanish [[Colonisation|colonization]]; and that these contacts were not extensive enough to support either country's demand for [[annexation]] of the Spanish Sahara. Instead, the court argued, the indigenous population (the Sahrawis) were the owners of the land, and thus possessed the right of [[self-determination]]. This meant that regardless of which political solution was found to the question of sovereignty (integration with Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, partition, or independence), it had to be explicitly approved by the people of the territory. Complicating matters, a [[United Nations visiting mission to Spanish Sahara|UN visiting mission]] had concluded on October 15, the day before the ICJ verdict was released, that Sahrawi support for independence was "overwhelming".
However, the reference to previous Moroccan-Sahrawi ties of allegiance was presented by Hassan II as a vindication of his position, with no public mention of the court's further ruling on self-determination. (Until, seven years later, he formally agreed to a referendum before the [[Organisation of African Unity]]). Within hours of the ICJ verdict's release, he announced the organizing of a "green march" to Spanish Sahara, to "[[Irredentism|reunite it with the Motherland]]".
==The Moroccan arguments for sovereignty==
{{Politics of Morocco}}
According to [[Morocco]], the exercise of sovereignty by the Moroccan state was characterized by official pledges of allegiance to the sultan. The Moroccan government was of the opinion that this allegiance existed during several centuries before the Spanish [[Military occupation|occupation]] and that it was a legal and political tie.<ref> ICJ, Reports 1975, p. 83. For more details, Cf. pp. 83-102. Cf. also individual opinion of Judge M. FORSTER. Idem p. 103 and Annex n° 7.</ref> The sultan [[Hassan I]], for example, had carried out two expeditions in 1886 in order to put an end to foreign incursions in this territory and to officially invest several [[caid]]s and [[cadi]]s. In its presentation to the ICJ, the Moroccan side also mentioned the levy of [[tax]]es as a further instance of the exercise of sovereignty. <ref> ICJ, Western Sahara Pleadings, Arguments, Documents, Volume 111, Written Statements and Documents, pp. 205 to 497. </ref> The exercise of this sovereignty had also appeared, according to the Moroccan government, at other levels, such as the appointment of local officials (governors and military officers), and the definition of the missions which were assigned to them. <ref>- Nomination Dahirs, dating back to the reign of His Majesty Moulay Abdelaziz Bel Hassan, (Two Dahirs in 1886 and two in 1899), of His Majesty Abdelhafid Bel Hassan (1907 and 1909).
- Dahirs of His Majesty El Hassan Ben Mohammed (1877 and 1886) of His Majesty Abdelaziz Ben El H~Hassan (1901) </ref>
The Moroccan government further pointed to several treaties between it and other states, such as with [[Spain]] in 1861, the [[United States of America]] in 1786, and 1836 and with [[Great Britain]] in 1856 <ref> The treaties are the following: - Trading Treaty between Morocco and Spain in Madrid in November 20, 1861. - Treaty with the USA in June 23 to 28,1786. - Treaty of peace and friendship between the USA and Morocco, signed in Meknes in September 16,1856. - Anglo-maroccan Accords, December 9,1856.</ref> [http://www.mincom.gov.ma/english/reg_cit/regions/sahara/s_hist.htm].
The court, however, found that "neither the internal nor the international acts relied upon by Morocco indicate the existence at the relevant period of either the existence or the international recognition of legal ties of territorial sovereignty between Western Sahara and the Moroccan State. Even taking account of the specific structure of that State, they do not show that Morocco displayed any effective and exclusive State activity in Western Sahara." [http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/idecisions/isummaries/isasummary751016.htm]
==The Madrid Accords==
{{Campaignbox Spanish colonial wars in Morocco}}
Spain feared that the conflict with Morocco could lead to war, and with its government in disarray (the [[dictator]], [[Francisco Franco|Franco]], lay dying), it was in no mood for trouble in the colonies. Only the year before, the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|government]] had been [[Carnation Revolution|toppled]], after becoming bogged down in colonial wars in [[Angola]] and [[Mozambique]]. Therefore, following the Green March, and with a view to preserving as much as possible of its interest in the territory, Spain agreed to enter direct bilateral negotiations with Morocco, bringing in also Mauritania, who had made similar demands. This resulted in the November 14 [[Madrid Accords]], a treaty <ref>Trilateral Agreement concluded between the Spanish, Moroccan and Mauritanian Governments, the text of which has been transmitted to the Secretary General of the UN in November 18, 1975. (Resolution 3458 (XXX) B. 10/12/1975).</ref> which divided Spanish Sahara between Mauritania and Morocco.
Spain received a 35% concession in the [[phosphate]] mines of [[Bou Craa]], and offshore [[fishing]] rights [http://www.arso.org/CLAIHR.htm]. Morocco and Mauritania then formally annexed the parts they had been allotted in the Accords. Morocco claimed the northern part, i.e. [[Saguia el-Hamra]] and approximately half of [[Río de Oro]], while Mauritania proceeded to occupy the southern third of the country under the name [[Tiris al-Gharbiyya]]. Mauritania later abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979 and this area was occupied by Morocco.
The Polisario, now with heavy [[Algeria]]n backing, refused the Madrid Accords, and demanded that the ICJ's opinion on Sahrawi [[self-determination]] be respected; it turned its weapons on the new rulers of the country, sticking to its demand for independence outright, or a referendum on the matter. The conflict has still not been resolved. Currently, there is a [[cease-fire]] in effect, after a Moroccan-Polisario [[Settlement Plan|agreement]] was struck in 1991 to solve the dispute through the organization of a [[referendum]] on independence. A UN peace-keeping mission ([[United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara|MINURSO]]) has been charged with overseeing the cease-fire and organizating the referendum, which has still not taken place [[as of 2007]]. Morocco has rejected the idea of the referendum as not workable in 2000 and is suggesting an [[autonomy for Western Sahara]] within Morocco. That proposal been rejected by Polisario, and also by its Algerian backers; according to the Moroccan government, it will be presented to the UN in April 2007.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
*[[History of Western Sahara]]
*[[List of Spanish colonial wars in Morocco]]
==External links==
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6195249005533251332&q=%22Western+Sahara%22 Footage of the Gren March], courtesy [[Google Video]]
[[Category:History of Morocco]]
[[Category:History of Western Sahara]]
[[Category:November observances]]
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