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

The Green March was a peaceful mass 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 (see Greater Morocco.)

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 independent. Mauritania to the south argued similarly that the territory was in fact Mauritanian. Since 1973, a Sahrawi guerrilla war led by the Polisario Front had challenged Spanish control with increasing success, and in October 1975 Spain had quietly begun negotiations for a handover of power with leaders of the rebel movement.

Morocco intended to vindicate its claims by demanding a verdict from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ stated that there were historical legal ties of allegiance between Sahrawi tribes and the Sultan of Morocco, as well as ties including some rights relating to the land between Mauritania and these same tribes. However the ICJ stated also that there was no ties of territorial sovereignty between the territory and Morocco or Mauritania at the time of Spanish 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, division or independence), it had to be explicitly approved by the people of the territory. Complicating matters, a 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 King Hassan II as a vindication of his position, with no public mention of the court's further ruling on self-determination until his proposal for a referendum before the Organization of African Unity in 1982. Within hours of the ICJ verdict's release, he announced the organizing of a "green march" to Spanish Sahara, to "reunite it with the Motherland".

Historical Foundations of the Moroccanity of Western Sahara

According to Morocco, the exercise of sovereignty by the Moroccan state is characterized by a number of peculiarities due to the particular structure of the state. The central power was exerted by the Sultan, as "Commander of the Believers". Ties of allegiance to the Sultan by the believers is made through the "Beyaa", or a pledge of allegiance. The Sultan, representative of the supreme spiritual and political authority, is in charge of, among others, the protection of the population and the relationship with foreign powers. It was argued that the allegiance act is consequently synonymous with sovereignty. Only one of the 15 judges, Ammoun, found this argument persuasive.

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, approximately 350,000 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, banners calling for the return of the 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 - even though the majority never crossed it - Spanish troops were ordered not to fire to avoid bloodshed.

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 formally annexed the parts they had been alloted in the Accords. Morocco claimed the northern part, i.e. Saguia el-Hamra and minor parts of Río de Oro, while Mauritania proceeded to occupy the southern third of the country under the name Tiris al-Gharbiyya. The Polisario, with Algerian backing, refused the Madrid Accords, and demanded that the ICJ's opinion on Sahrawi self-determination be respected; and so began a long, still unsettled war. Currently, there is a UN-brokered cease-fire.

See also

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

• History of Western Sahara
• History of Morocco