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Comparative Analysis of the Decolonisation of The Enrique Solé León Student No. 512633 [email protected] Supervisor: Dr. Liesbeth Rosen Jacobson Second Reader: Dr. Alex van Stipriaan Luïscius COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DECOLONISATION OF THE SPANISH PROTECTORATE IN MOROCCO AND THE FRUSTRATED ATTEMPT IN WESTERN SAHARA (1945-1976): CULTURAL CLASH, INHABITANTS AND ADMINISTRATION 0 Front page: Actress Carmen Sevilla supporting to the Spanish troops at the Ifni-Sahara War during the New Year’s Eve 1958. Source: Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/pin/354728908144892167/ Accessed May 27th, 2019. Content CHAPTER 1: General introduction ................................................................................................5 1.1 Setting the context: a common process of decolonisation in Morocco versus a unique situation in Western Sahara .....................................................................................................5 1.1.1 Protectorate of Morocco .............................................................................................5 1.1.2 Western Sahara ...........................................................................................................8 1.2 Research question and sub-questions ..............................................................................12 1.3 Scientific relevance of this topic and innovative aspects..................................................13 1.4 Main theoretical concepts with a brief explanation .........................................................14 1.5 Historiography and literature report ................................................................................17 1.5.1 Nature of the sources ................................................................................................17 1.5.2 The “Ifni-Sahara” War ...............................................................................................19 1.5.3 About the Spanish withdrawal from Sahara ..............................................................21 1.6 Methodology and source criticism ...................................................................................23 CHAPTER 2: Ideological approach to the Spanish colonialism at the Maghreb: “Africanismo”, orientalisation and citizenship ...................................................................................................26 2.1 “Africanismo”: The concept of “Moorish” and its evolution.............................................26 2.2 The impact of colonial othering in the citizenship ............................................................31 CHAPTER 3: Administrative inclusion of Western Sahara and the Protectorate within Spain (1945-1976) ................................................................................................................................39 3.1 Protectorate of Morocco ..................................................................................................39 3.1.1 Internal organisation .................................................................................................39 3.1.2 Fitting the colonial administration in the mother country ........................................41 3.1.3 Territorial division .....................................................................................................42 3.2 Western Sahara ................................................................................................................43 3.2.1 Internal organisation .................................................................................................43 3.2.2 Fitting the colonial administration in the mother country ........................................46 3.2.3 Territorial division .....................................................................................................47 CHAPTER 4: Nationalist struggles for independence ..................................................................49 4.1 Protectorate of Morocco ..................................................................................................49 4.1.1 Nationalism in the Protectorate until the Second World War ...................................49 4.1.2 International scenario and its impact at the Protectorate of Morocco (1945-1951). 51 4.1.3 Impact of the international situation in the Spanish Protectorate: the rule of the High Commissioner Varela (1945-1951). ............................................................................52 4.1.4 Situation in the French protectorate and independence of Morocco (1951-1956). ..54 4.1.5 Lieutenant General García-Valiño as High Commissioner (1951-1956) and the Spanish positions towards the overthrown of Muhammad V. ...........................................58 4.1.6 The situation in new-born Morocco ..........................................................................61 4.2 The Ifni-Sahara War ..........................................................................................................62 4.2.1 The events .................................................................................................................62 4.2.2 Consequences of the War .........................................................................................64 4.3 Western Sahara ................................................................................................................67 4.3.1 The first nationalist movements: the impact of the independence of Morocco in the Saharan national identity ...................................................................................................67 4.3.2 Social changes ...........................................................................................................68 4.3.3 The modern Saharan national movement .................................................................70 4.3.4 Reactions to the modern nationalist movement: the UN, Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania ..........................................................................................................................72 4.3.5 The Green March and the Tripartite Agreements of Madrid .....................................79 4.3.6 Explanations of the Spanish behaviour......................................................................81 CHAPTER 5: Memories of the social impact of decolonisation ...................................................83 5.1 Protectorate of Morocco ..................................................................................................83 5.1.1 Seen by the indigenous people .................................................................................83 5.1.2 Seen by the Spanish people .......................................................................................85 5.2 Western Sahara ................................................................................................................87 5.2.1 Seen by the indigenous people .................................................................................87 5.2.2 Seen by the Spanish people .......................................................................................89 CHAPTER 6: Conclusion ..............................................................................................................93 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...........................................................................................................................96 Primary sources ......................................................................................................................96 Secondary sources................................................................................................................101 Timeline Source: Own work CHAPTER 1: General introduction 1.1 Setting the context: a common process of decolonisation in Morocco versus a unique situation in Western Sahara This research compares two different processes of withdrawal of the same colonial power from two similar African and Arabic territories in the Maghreb. The cases that are compared are the process of decolonisation of the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco and how Western Sahara tried to obtain its independence in a similar way. The period of this research begins in 1945 given that after the Second World War the colonial powers got aware that the end of colonialism was near1 and it ends in 1976 when Spain withdrew from Western Sahara.2 This investigation aims to bring light over the reasons that drove these territories towards independence from Spain, as it is striking that the Spanish Protectorate already obtained its independence in 1956, before the big wave of decolonisation of Africa during the 1960s, but Western Sahara was only freed from European control in 1976. However, the Saharan movements for independence did not succeed and after the European rule, the territory did not turn into a State as happened in many other cases in the continent and it is still an occupied territory nowadays.3 These remarkable differences are important enough to deserve a comparative analysis. The process of the withdrawal of Spain from this territory may have some answers about the origins of this exceptional situation in a world where colonialism seems to be ideologically overtaken. Thus, the main research question of this master thesis is to find out why the decolonisation of the Spanish protectorate in Morocco was so soon while the decolonisation of Western Sahara has not been fulfilled yet. For understanding the exceptional nature of this situation, it is required to make a summarised introduction to the political framework of both territories for contextualising
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