Editing Western Sahara (section)

=== Spanish province ===
{{Main|Spanish Sahara}}
[[File:Western Sahara 1876.png|thumb|upright=1.8|Western Sahara 1876]]

The Spanish presence in the region of modern-day Western Sahara lasted from 1884 to 1975. While initial Spanish interest in the Sahara was focused on using it as a port for the [[Slavery in Spain|slave trade]], by the 1700s [[Spain]] had transitioned economic activity on the Saharan coast towards commercial fishing.<ref>Besenyo, Janos. ''Western Sahara''. Publikon, 2009, P. 49.</ref> By the 19th century, Spain had claimed the southern coastal region and penetration of the hinterland gradually followed; later in 1904 the northern region was acquired. After an agreement among the [[Colonialism|European colonial powers]] at the [[Berlin Conference]] in 1884 on the division of [[scramble for Africa|spheres of influence in Africa]], the same year Spain seized control of Western Sahara and established it as a Spanish colony.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/sahara.htm |title=ICE Conflict Case ZSahara |publisher=.american.edu |date=17 March 1997 |access-date=13 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125165704/http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/sahara.htm |archive-date=25 January 2012}}</ref> Despite establishing their first colony in the region at Río de Oro Bay in 1884, the Spanish were unable to pacify the interior of the region until the 1930s. Raids and rebellions by the indigenous Saharan population kept the Spanish forces out of much of the territory for a long time. The territory was eventually subdued by joint Spanish and [[France|French]] forces in 1934, the same year the Spaniards divided their Saharan territories into two regions named after the rivers: [[Saguia el-Hamra|Saguía el-Hamra]] and [[Río de Oro]]. After 1939 and the outbreak of [[World War II]], this area was administered by [[Spanish Morocco]]. In 1958, Spain joined the district of [[Saguia el-Hamra]] (the "Red River") in the north with the [[Río de Oro]] (in the south) to form the province of Spanish Sahara, following Morocco's claiming these regions in 1957. As a consequence, [[Ahmed Belbachir Haskouri]], the Chief of Cabinet, General Secretary of the Government of Spanish Morocco, cooperated with the Spanish to select governors in that area. The Saharan lords who were already in prominent positions, such as the members of [[Ma al-'Aynayn|Maa El Ainain]] family, provided a recommended list of candidates for new governors. Together with the Spanish High Commissioner, Belbachir selected from this list.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} During the annual celebration of [[Muhammad]]'s birthday, these lords paid their respects to the caliph to show loyalty to the Moroccan monarchy.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}[[File:Morocco Protectorate.svg|thumb|Spanish and French protectorates in Morocco and Spanish Sahara, 1912]]As time went by, Spanish colonial rule began to unravel with the general wave of decolonization after [[World War II]]; former North African and sub-Saharan African possessions and protectorates gained independence from European powers. Spanish decolonization proceeded more slowly, but internal political and social pressures for it in mainland Spain built up towards the end of [[Francisco Franco]]'s rule. There was a global trend towards complete [[decolonization]]. Spain abandoned most territories within neighboring Morocco in 1956, but resisted encroachment by the [[Moroccan Liberation Army]] within [[Ifni]] and Spanish Sahara from 1956 to 1958. In 1971, Sahrawi (an [[Arabic language|Arabic]] term for those from [[Sahara]]) students in Moroccan universities began organizing what came to be known as The Embryonic Movement for the Liberation of Saguía el Hamra and Río de Oro. The movement tried without success to gain backing from several Arab governments, including Algeria and Morocco. Spain began rapidly to divest itself of most of its remaining colonial possessions. By 1974–75 the government issued promises of a referendum on independence in Western Sahara.

At the same time, Morocco and [[Mauritania]], which had historical and competing claims of sovereignty over the territory, argued that it had been artificially separated from their territories by the European colonial powers. [[Algeria]], which also bordered the territory, viewed their demands with suspicion, as Morocco also claimed the Algerian provinces of [[Tindouf Province|Tindouf]] and [[Béchar Province|Béchar]]. After arguing for a process of decolonization to be guided by the [[United Nations]], the Algerian government under [[Houari Boumédiènne]] in 1975 committed to assisting the Polisario Front, which opposed both Moroccan and Mauritanian claims and demanded full independence of Western Sahara.

The UN attempted to settle these disputes through a [[UN visiting mission to Spanish Sahara|visiting mission]] in late 1975, as well as a [[International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara|verdict]] from the [[International Court of Justice]] (ICJ). It acknowledged that Western Sahara had historical links with Morocco and Mauritania, but not sufficient to prove the sovereignty of either State over the territory at the time of the Spanish colonization. The population of the territory thus possessed the right of [[self-determination]]. On 6 November 1975 Morocco initiated the [[Green March]] into Western Sahara; 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 the border in a peaceful march. A few days before, on 31 October, Moroccan troops invaded Western Sahara from the north.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=János|first1=Besenyő|title=Western Sahara|date=2009|publisher=Publikon Publishers|location=Pécs|isbn=978-963-88332-0-4|url=http://www.kalasnyikov.hu/dokumentumok/besenyo_western_sahara.pdf}}</ref>