Some Moroccans dream of the glory of being a great empire and perhaps even the opportunity to rebuild what was once Al-Andalus. However, few proposals are as serious as that of the “Greater Morocco”, the main current of irredentism (the political attitude which favors the annexation of territories) and nationalism in the neighboring country.
The thesis of “Greater Morocco” was born in the 1920s, precisely at the time when Europe was going through the interwar period in disarray. At that time, no one gave any importance to what was happening in North Africa but there, the climate of rejection towards French and Spanish colonialism He built an almost subversive identity that dreamed of a great and independent Morocco.
The theory was born in the mind of Allal El Fasi, an Islamist politician who later founded, more precisely in 1943, the Isqiqlal Party or Independence Party.
Continuity or the creation of a dynasty
“Greater Morocco” is part of the salafism (the most extreme Sunni current in the Koran) and pan-Arabism (the struggle for the political union of the Arab States). The intention was therefore to restore glory to the Muslim dynasties that once ruled North Africa, particularly Sultanate of Benimerin (1215-1465) and Almohad Empire (1121-1269).
This, under current conditions, would involve the annexation of Western Sahara, all of Mauritania, western Algeria, northern Mali and Mali.the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as other places of Spanish sovereignty such as the island of Perejil, Vélez de la Gomera, Alhucemas and Chafarinas.
Certain currents of “Greater Morocco” also claim the Canary Islands within the framework of the annexable territories. However, the map published in 1956 by the official newspaper of the Independence Party does not reflect the intention to seize said Spanish territory.
The integration of “Greater Morocco” into current politics
The dream of “Greater Morocco” has spread among the country’s political elites. In fact, with the dissolution of the European protectorates and the founding of the Alawite kingdom in 1956, the nationalists spread like wildfire and The ideas of Allal El Fasi soon became part of the thinking of the new monarchy, according to historian Maati Monjib in statements for The Independent.
The death of King Mohamed V did not kill the nationalist dream. His son Hasan II used it as a banner during the independence process of Cap Juby, Spain’s last war in Africa and, today, the irredentists also appeal to Greater Morocco to justify the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.
The Green March of 1975
The Green March is probably the most important action promoted by the Moroccan irredentist and nationalist movement. In November 1975, King Hassan II, taking advantage of the political chaos reigning in Spain after the last days of the Franco regime, put Spain in check by forcing it to abandon Western Sahara, a territory that he had administered since the end of the 19th century.
The master plan included send more than 350,000 civilians, many transported in military busesso they crossed the border unarmed and advanced towards El Aaiún, the Sahrawi capital, in what was presented as a “peaceful march”. The result was the signing of Madrid Accordsby which Spain left the territory without organizing the self-determination referendum demanded by the UN.
Currently, the Sahrawi population is represented by the Polisario Front which launched the resistance and proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic of exilebased in the Tindouf refugee camps (Algeria).
Are the Canary Islands in danger?
The Polisario Front warned Spain last Wednesday that once Morocco manages to consolidate its occupation of Western Sahara, “the next target will be the Canary Islands”, unless Spain puts an end to it and allows it to continue setting the agenda as it has done in recent years.
However, the Moroccan state has been in harmony with Spain regarding the sovereignty of the islands. Indeed, in 1978, before a meeting of the former Organization of African Unity (OAU), Algeria has been at the forefront of decolonizing the Canary Islands, and in response to this initiative, the Moroccan government issued an official statement refusing to recognize the island. MPAIAC (the Canarian separatists who established their operational base in Algeria) as a liberation movement.
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