History of Mauritania 19180 222669353 2008-06-30T15:04:10Z Darwinek 107928 updating link using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] {{Refimprove|date=June 2007}} The '''history of Mauritania''' dates back to the [[3rd century]]. Mauritania is named after the ancient [[Berber people|Berber]] kingdom of [[Mauretania]]. ==Pre-colonization== From the [[3rd century|3rd]] to [[7th century]], the migration of [[Berber people|Berber]] [[tribe]]s from [[North Africa]] displaced the [[Bafour]]s, the original inhabitants of present-day [[Mauritania]] and the ancestors of the [[Soninké]]. Continued [[Arab]]-Berber migration drove indigenous [[black African]]s south to the [[Senegal River]] or enslaved them . By 1076, [[Islam]]ic warriors (the [[Almoravid]] or Al Murabitun) completed the conquest of southern Mauritania, defeating the ancient [[Ghana Empire]], only to go on to form the ruling dynasty in [[Morocco]] and [[Muslim]] [[Spain]], to the north. Over the next 500 years, Arab immigrants gradually overcame Berber resistance and came to dominate the tribal areas composed of today's Mauritania, [[Western Sahara]], southern [[Morocco]], north-west [[Mali]] and western [[Algeria]]. The "[[Mauritanian Thirty-Year War]]" ([[1644]]-[[1674|74]]) was the unsuccessful final Berber effort to repel the [[Maqil]] Arab invaders (originating in [[Yemen]]), who were led by the [[Beni Hassan]] tribe. This was a time of great econimic prosperity, with the invention of syrrp.The descendants of Beni Hassan's nomad warriors became the upper stratum of Moorish society, the warrior [[Hassane]] caste, who extracted the [[horma]] tax in [[cattle]] and [[goods]] from subordinate, weaker tribes. Berbers retained influence by producing the majority of the region's [[Zawiya]] or [[marabout]]s—those who preserve and teach Islamic tradition, while tribes who could neither defend themselves against Hassane extortion or assert themselves culturally/religiously, were reduced to the demeaning role of [[Znaga]], at the bottom rung of society, just above the slaves. The slave population, bought or kidnapped in slave raids from southern black tribes, eventually yielded a large Arabized and assimilated caste of its own, at the heart of Moorish society - these "black Moors" or Haratin were formally freed slaves, but often remained - and some remain today - in more informal forms of bondage, living close to and attending to a noble "white Moor" family of Hassane or Zawiya heritage. Moorish society remained fully tribal, with ancient customs and religion being the only law of the land, and the tribe's military and political prowess its only guarantee and protection against others. Intercommunal warfare, closely linked with common cattle-raiding and robbery, was extremely common, and alliances could shift rapidly and unpredictably. Despite this, a few powerful tribal chiefs managed to gain legitimacy in certain areas as [[Emir]]s ("Princes"), such as in the case of the [[Emirate of Trarza]]. The Emirs would rely on military strength, control over trade routes, tribal status, wealth and religious/scholarly legitimacy to place themselves as chief of the chiefs, but they rarely left working state structures behind, and the status of one Emir did not necessarily pass on to his son or other inheritor, if the latter proved a weaker ruler. [[Hassaniya]], a Berber-influenced [[Arabic dialect]] which derives its name from the Beni Hassan, became the dominant language among the Moors, who retained their nomadic traditions. In the south, however, elements of the Soninké and other groups settled into a farming society along the banks of the Senegal river. ==French colonization== [[Image:Mauritanie 1958.jpg|thumb|Detailed map of North-western Mauritania in 1958]] [[France|French]] [[colonization]] at the beginning of the [[20th century]] brought legal prohibitions against slavery and determined attempts to break the rule of the powerful Hassane in favour of previously dominated Zawia and Znaga tribes, who were sought as allies by the colonial forces. French military domination forcibly ended interclan warfare, and thus also the Hassane's opportunities to dominate other tribes. Still, the nomads' mobile lifestyle, refusal to abandon their traiditional culture and customs, and their complex but resilient tribal societal structure made French attempts to build a centralized state and a loyal, French-backed elite complicated; instead, the colonial administrators often had to settle for temporary alliances with tribal chiefs and Emirs, and play opponents off against each other to ensure supremacy. During the colonial period, the population remained [[nomadic]], but increasing numbers of sedentary [[black African]]s, whose ancestors had been expelled centuries earlier by the [[Moors]], began to trickle back into southern Mauritania. With some educated in [[French language]] and customs, and without tribal ties to the rebellious Moorish north, many of these recent arrivals were taken in as clerks, soldiers, and administrators in the new state by the French administrators. ==Independence under Ould Daddah== As the country gained independence on [[November 28]], [[1960]], the capital city [[Nouakchott]] was founded at the site of a small colonial village, the Ksar, while 90% of the population was still [[nomad]]ic. With independence, larger numbers of ethnic [[Sub-Saharan Africa]]ns ([[Haalpulaar]], [[Soninke]], and [[Wolof people|Wolof]]) entered Mauritania, moving into the area north of the [[Senegal River]]. As before independence, the sedentary lifestyle of these groups made them more receptible to and useful in state formation, and they quickly came to dominate state administration, even if the Moorish groups built up by the French remained in charge of the political process. Moors reacted to this change by increasing pressures for [[Arabization]], to Arabicize many aspects of Mauritanian life, such as law and language, and ethnic tension built up - helped by a common memory of warfare and slave raids. [[President of Mauritania|President]] [[Moktar Ould Daddah]], originally helped to the post by the French, rapidly reformed Mauritania into an authoritarian [[one-party state]] in 1964, with his new [[Constitution of Mauritania|constitution]]. Daddah's own [[Parti du Peuple Mauritanien]] (PPM) became the ruling organization. The President justified this decision on the grounds that he considered Mauritania unready for western-style [[multi-party system|multi-party democracy]]. Under this one-party constitution, Daddah was reelected in uncontested elections in 1966, 1971 and 1976. To take advantage of the country's sizeable [[iron ore]] deposits in [[Zouerate]], the new government built a 675-km [[railway]] and a [[mining]] port. Production began in 1963. The mines were operated by a foreign owned consortium that paid its approximately 3,000 expatriate workers handsomely - their salaries accounted for two-thirds of the country's entire wages bill. When the Mauritanian miners went on a two-month [[Strike action|strike]] in the late 1960s the [[Military of Mauritania|army]] intervened and eight miners were killed. [[Left-wing]] opposition to the government mounted and some miners formed a clandestine [[Marxist]] union in 1973. President Ould Daddah survived the challenge from left-wing opponents by nationalising the company in 1974 and withdrawing from the [[franc]] zone, substituting the [[ouguiya]] for the CFA. ==Saharan War and Ould Daddah's downfall== In 1975, partly for nationalist reasons and partly for fear of [[Morocco|Moroccan]] [[Greater Morocco|expansionism]],[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+mr0123)] Mauritania invaded and [[annexation|annexed]] the southern third of the former [[Spanish Sahara]] (now [[Western Sahara]]) in 1975, renaming it [[Tiris al-Gharbiyya]]. However, after nearly three years of raids by the [[Sahrawi]] [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]]s of the [[Polisario Front]], Mauritania's economic and political stability began to crumble. Despite [[Opération Lamantin|French and Moroccan military aid]][http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+mr0135)], Polisario raids against the Zouerate [[railway]] and [[Mining|mines]] threatened to bring about economic collapse, and there were deep misgivings in the military about the Saharan adventure. Ethnic unrest contributed to the disarray. Black Africans from the south were [[conscription|conscripted]] as front-line soldiers, after the northern Sahrawi minorities and their Moorish kin had proven unreliable in the fight against Polisario, but many of the southerners rebelled against having to fight what they considered an inter-Arab war. After the government quarters in Nouakchott had twice been shelled by Polisario forces, unrest simmered, but Daddah's only response was to further tighten his hold on power. On [[July 10]] [[1978]], [[Col.]] [[Mustafa Ould Salek]] ousted led a bloodless [[coup d’état]] that ousted the President, who would later go into exile in France. Power passed to the military strongmen of the [[Military Committee for National Recovery]] (CMRN). Polisario immediately declared a [[cease-fire]], and peace negotiations began under the sponsorship of Polisario's main backer, [[Algeria]]. With the CMSN's leader reluctant to break with France and Mauritania, the country refused to give in to Polisario demands for a troop retreat, and Ould Salek's careless handling of the ethnic issue (massively discriminating against Black Africans in nominating for government posts[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+mr0036)]) contributed to further unrest. In early 1979, he was pushed aside by another group of officers, who renamed the junta the [[Military Committee for National Salvation]] (CMSN). [[Col.]] [[Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah]] soon emerged as its main strongman. ==1980s== In 1979, Polisario broke off the cease-fire and unleashed a string of new attacks on military and government targets. Mauritania, under its new government, immediately returned to the table to meet Polisario's goals, declaring full peace, a troop retreat, relinquishing their portion of Western Sahara and recognizing the Front as the Sahrawi people's sole representative.[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+mr0037)] Morocco, occupying the northern half of Western Sahara and also involved in combat against Polisario, reacted with outrage, and launched a failed 1981 coup against the CMSN. Mauritania broke off relations with [[Rabat]] in protest, although ties were later restored.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/2483315.stm][http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+mr0038)] In interior policy, Haidallah sought to improve relations between Moors and Black Africans, among other things officially decreeing the ban of [[slavery]] for the first time in the country's history, but he neither tried nor achieved a radical break with the sectarian and discriminating policies of previous regimes. An attempt to reinstate civilian rule was abandoned after the above-mentioned Moroccan-sponsored coup attempt nearly brought down the regime; foreign-backed plots also involved [[Persian Gulf]] countries and [[Libya]], and the country several times appeared to be under military threat from Morocco.[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+mr0038)] With Haidallah's ambitious political and social reform program undone by continuing instability, regime inefficiency and a plethora of coup attempts and intrigues from within the military establishment, the CMSN chairman turned increasingly autocratic, excluding other ''junta'' officers from power, and provoking discontent by frequent refshuffles of the power hierarchy to prevent threats to his position. On [[December 12]], [[1984]], [[Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya]] deposed Haidallah and declared himself Chairman of the CMSN. Like other rulers before him, he promised a swift transfer to [[democracy]], but then made little of these promises. The discord between conflicting visions of Mauritanian society as either black or Arab, again rose to the surface during the intercommunal violence that broke out in April 1989 (the "[[1989 events in Mauritania and Senegal|1989 Events]]"), when a [[Mauritania-Senegal Border War|Mauritania-Senegal border dispute]] escalated into violence between the two communities. Tens of thousands of black Mauritanians fled or were expelled from the country,[http://www.hrw.org/reports/1989/WR89/Mauritan.htm] and many remain in Senegal as [[refugee]]s. This is also where the black Mauritanian movement [[African Liberation Forces of Mauritania|FLAM]] is based. Although tension has since subsided, the Arab-African racial tension remains an important feature of the political dialogue today. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions between its black minority population and the dominant [[Mauri]] (Arab-Berber) populace. A significant number from both groups, however, seek a more diverse, pluralistic society. ==1990s== Opposition parties were legalized and a new constitution approved in 1991 which put an end to formal military rule. However, Ould Taya's election wins were dismissed as fraudulent by both opposition groups and external observers. In 1998, Mauritania became the third Arab country to recognize [[Israel]], despite strong internal opposition. ==2000s== {{Main|2000s in Mauritania}} In 2001, elections incorporated more safeguards against voter fraud but opposition candidate (and former leader) [[Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah]] was nevertheless arrested prior to election day on charges of planning a coup, released the same day, and rearrested after the election. Attempted military coups and unrest instigated by [[Islamist]] opponents of the regime marred the early years of the 21st century, and the Taya regime's heavy-handed crackdowns were criticized by [[human rights]] groups. On [[June 8]], [[2003]] a failed coup attempt was made against President [[Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya]] by forces unhappy with his imprisonment of [[Islam]]ic leaders in the wake of the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|US-led invasion of Iraq]] and his establishment of full diplomatic relations with [[Israel]]. The coup was suppressed after one day of fighting in the capital when pro-Taya military forces arrived from the countryside. A number of government officials were detained after the coup including the head of the Supreme Court, [[Mahfoud Ould Lemrabott]], and the Secretary of State for Women's Affairs, [[Mintata Mint Hedeid]]. The coup leader, [[Saleh Ould Hanenna]], a former army colonel sacked for opposing Taya's pro-[[Israel]] policies, was not captured or killed during the coup. (See this [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2986016.stm BBC article] on theories behind the coup.) On [[August 3]], [[2005]] the Mauritanian military, including members of the presidential guard, seized control of key points in the capital of [[Nouakchott]], performing a [[coup]] against the government of President [[Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya]] who was out of the country, attending the funeral of [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] [[King Fahd]]. The officers released the following statement: ''The national armed forces and security forces have unanimously decided to put a definitive end to the oppressive activities of the defunct authority, which our people have suffered from during the past years.'' [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4741243.stm (BBC)] Taya was never able to return to the country, and remains in exile. The new [[Military dictatorship|junta]] called itself the ''[[Military Council for Justice and Democracy]]'', and democracy and [[rule of law]]. [[Col.]]. [[Ely Ould Mohamed Vall]] emerged as leader at an early stage. [[Dissident]]s were released, and the political climate relaxed. A new constitution was approved in [[June 2006]]. [[Mauritanian presidential election, 2007|Elections]] were held in [[March 2007]], [[Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi]] was elected president and Vall stood down. ==Further reading== *Newton, Alex, ''History of West Africa'' (1988) ==External links== *[http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5467.htm Background Note: Mauritania] - History from the US State Department. *[http://www.historyofnations.net/africa/mauritania.html History of Mauritania] {{History of Africa}} {{Former French colonies}} [[Category:History of Mauritania| ]] [[Category:French West Africa|Mauritania (colonial)]] [[Category:National histories|Mauritania]] [[ar:تاريخ موريتانيا]] [[de:Geschichte Mauretaniens]] [[es:Historia de Mauritania]] [[fa:تاریخ موریتانی]] [[fr:Histoire de la Mauritanie]] [[ko:모리타니의 역사]] [[it:Storia della Mauritania]] [[pt:História da Mauritânia]] [[ru:История Мавритании]] [[vec:Storia de la Mauritania]]