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This article is about the historical event. For the aerobatic team see: Marche Verte.

The Green March was a mass march demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed colony of Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) to Morocco.

Background

Morocco had long demanded that Spanish Sahara become part of Morocco, instead of being granted independence. From 1973 onwards, a guerrilla war led by the Polisario Front challenged Spanish control with increasing success, and Spain had quietly begun negotiations for a handover of power with leaders of the rebel movement. Morocco intended to counter these claims by demanding a verdict from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), but when this was delivered on October 16, 1975, its conclusions contradicted the Moroccan arguments: ICJ stated that Moroccan historical ties to Sahrawi tribes were not sufficient to grant it ownership of the territory, and that it was up to the indigenous population to decide. A UN visiting mission had concluded only the day before that Sahrawi support for independence was "overwhelming". Within hours of the ICJ verdict, Moroccan King Hassan II announced a new initiative: a "green march" to Spanish Sahara, to "reunite it with the Motherland".

The Green March

In preparation for the march, Moroccan Army forces crossed the border to engage the Polisario on October 31. As preparations were underway for the march, a well-publicized event of enormous proportions. On November 6, 1975, at least 300,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King Hassan II of Morocco to cross into Western Sahara. They brandished Moroccan flags, photographs of the King and banners demanding the "return of the Saharan provinces". The color green for the march's name was intended as a symbol of Islam. As the marchers reached the border - even though the majority never crossed it - Spanish troops were ordered not to fire, to avoid a military confrontation.

The Madrid Accords

As a result, 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 secret pact which divided Spanish Sahara between Mauritania and Morocco, in return for a 35% concession in the phosphate mines of Bu Craa, and Spanish fishing rights offshore . Both nations then immediately invaded the territory militarily, Morocco claiming the Saguia el-Hamra and parts of Río de Oro province as its Southern Provinces, while Mauritania proceeded to annex the southern third of the country under the name Tiris al-Gharbiyya. The Polisario resisted, demanding that the ICJ's opinion on Sahrawi self-determination be respected - and a long, still unsettled war began.

See also

• Western Sahara
• History of Western Sahara
• International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara

• Western Sahara
• Morocco