Western Sahara War

Wars in Africa - • Africa
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The Western Sahara War was an armed struggle between the Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991 (and Mauritania from 1975 to 1979), being the most significant phase of the Western Sahara conflict. The conflict erupted after the withdrawal of Spain from Spanish Sahara in accordance with the Madrid Accords, which transferred administrative control (but not sovereignty) of the territory to Morocco and Mauritania. A cease-fire agreement was reached between the Polisario and Morocco in September 1991.
The conflict has since shifted from military to civilian resistance. A peace process, attempting to resolve the conflict has not yet produced any permanent solution to Sahrawi refugees and territorial agreement between Morocco and the Sahrawi Republic.
WESTERN SAHARA WAR - Timeline
1880s - Spain gains possession of the region around Villa Cisneros, a small Spanish trading post; in the following years, the Spanish expand their control along the coastal and inland areas
1936 - Spain consolidates the territory into what it calls “Spanish Sahara”
1930s - Spain signs border treaties with France, the dominant European colonizer in the region
1940s - Large quantities of phosphate deposits are found in Spanish Sahara and the prospect of discovering petroleum piques Spain’s interest to hold onto the territory
1958 - Spain annexes Spanish Sahara as an “overseas province”, which comes amid the growing wave of anti-colonialism sweeping across Africa since the end of World War II
1960 - The UN passes Resolution 1514 establishing the principle of decolonization, and Spanish Sahara is placed on the UN’s list of territories still under colonial rule
1970s - The UN exerts pressure on Spain to decolonize Spanish Sahara
1973 - An indigenous nationalist guerilla militia, the Polisario Front, launches an independence war in Spanish Sahara against Spanish rule; Morocco and Mauritania also claim ownership of Spanish Sahara, while Algeria opposes this and supports the Polisario’s war of independence
1974 - International and regional pressures force Spain to acquiesce, and the Spanish government states that it would grant self-determination to the Sahrawi people; Spain then conducts a population count of Spanish Sahara, which creates a voters list to be used in a forthcoming referendum to determine the territory’s political future
May-June 1975 - A UN fact-finding mission is sent to Spanish Sahara, Morocco, and Mauritania, as well as Algeria, which finds overwhelming support for Sahrawi independence in Spanish Sahara and Algeria but broad support for annexation in Morocco and Mauritania
October 1975 - An opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), rather than settling the territorial dispute as intended, instead further complicates the matter and radicalizes the competing parties to Spanish Sahara
November 1975 - Morocco launches the “Green March”, which further pressures Spain to decolonize Spanish Sahara
October 1975 - The Madrid Accords are signed, where Spain cedes administration of Spanish Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania
February 1976 - Spain fully withdraws from the territory, which is then called Western Sahara, and Morocco and Mauritania occupy their respective zones
1976 - War then breaks out with Moroccan and Mauritanian forces against the Polisario Front guerillas
August 1979 - Mauritania gives up the fight, ends its claim to Western Sahara, and soon withdrew its forces; Morocco then occupies the formerly Mauritanian-held zone and annexes it as part of Morocco
September 1991 - Fighting between Morocco and the Polisario ends in an impasse, and a ceasefire is signed; the UN and regional organizations have since sought but failed to bring about a negotiated settlement to the Western Sahara issue

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[@turbokek2205]

Very informative and interesting

[@tommybee8181]

What ethnicity are you?

[@avencolar9111]

France controlled Mauritania's economy at this time. From a source:
"During the Zouérat raid, the Polisario Front attackers killed two and abducted six French nationals. For this reason and because of the large French (and other European) commercial interests in the Zouérat iron mines, France entered the war at the request of the Mauritanian government. The French intervened mainly to control the sky, and in December 1977, the French Air Force carried out air strikes in Boulanouar, Choum, and Tmeimichatt against Polisario Front raiding teams."