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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.

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 granted independence. Mauritania to the south argued similarly that the territory was in fact Mauritanian. But from 1973 onwards, a Sahrawi guerrilla war led by the Polisario Front had 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. The ICJ stated that while there were some historical ties between Sahrawi tribes and the Sultan of Morocco, as well as between Mauritania and these same tribes, these contacts were not extensive enough to support either country's claim to the Spanish Sahara. The court further stated that the indigenous population possesses the right of self-determination. A UN visiting mission had concluded on October 15 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, and within hours of the ICJ verdict's release, he 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, 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 Southern Provinces, 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.

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, and invaded the territory militarily. 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, now 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.

See also

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

• History of Western Sahara
• History of Morocco