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|image=
|image=
|caption=
|caption=
|date=October 1963
|date=October [[1963]]
|place=The former [[France|French]] colonial [[Departments of France|département]] of Saoura (Present-day [[Tindouf Province|Tindouf]], [[Béchar Province|Béchar]] Provinces.)
|place=The former [[France|French]] colonial [[Departments of France|département]] of Saoura (Present-day [[Tindouf Province|Tindouf]], [[Béchar Province|Béchar]] Provinces.)
|casus=[[Morocco|Moroccan]] claim of [[Tindouf Province|Tindouf]] and [[Béchar Province|Béchar]] provinces <ref>Karen Farsoun, Jim Paul (1976) "[http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0047-7265(197603)45%3C13%3AWITS1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2 War in the Sahara: 1963]" in MERIP Reports, No. 45 (Mar., 1976), pp. 13-16</ref> <ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3121363 ''The Conflict in Western Sahara''] - BBC.co.uk</ref>
|casus=[[Morocco|Moroccan]] claim of [[Tindouf Province|Tindouf]] and [[Béchar Province|Béchar]] provinces <ref>Karen Farsoun, Jim Paul (1976) "[http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0047-7265(197603)45%3C13%3AWITS1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2 War in the Sahara: 1963]" in MERIP Reports, No. 45 (Mar., 1976), pp. 13-16</ref> <ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3121363 ''The Conflict in Western Sahara''] - BBC.co.uk</ref>
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|notes=
|notes=
}}
}}
The '''Sand War''' or '''Sands War''' occurred along the [[Algeria]]n-[[Morocco|Moroccan]] border in October 1963, and was a Moroccan attempt to claim the [[Tindouf Province|Tindouf]] and the Bechar areas that [[France]] annexed to [[French Algeria]] a few decades earlier.
The '''Sand War''' or '''Sands War''' occurred along the [[Algeria|Algerian]]-[[Morocco|Moroccan]] border in October 1963, and was a Moroccan attempt to claim the [[Tindouf Province|Tindouf]] and the Bechar areas that [[France]] annexed to [[French Algeria]] a few decades earlier.


== Background ==
== Background ==
The problem of the borders between [[Algeria]] and [[Morocco]], started during the Algerian war for independence. The right wing of the Moroccan political elite represented by the [[Istiqlal]] party with [[Muhammad Allal al-Fassi]] <ref> [http://www.bookrags.com/biography/mohamed-allal-al-fassi/ Biography of Allal al-Fassi] </ref> at his head lied claims of what is known as the [[Great Morocco]] <ref> [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allal_El_Fassi Allal al-Fassi in French] </ref>. The claimed area contain parts of southwest Algeria, Western Sahara all of Mauritania and parts of northern Mali. The Argument behind these claims is that they were at some time in the past under Moroccan sovereignty. The Moroccan dynasty encouraged and manipulated these claims. It used them to assert its legitimacy and mussels against the opposition represented by [[Mehdi Ben Barka]] at his head.
Before the French colonization in the 19th century, parts of southern and western Algeria belonged to Morocco.<ref name="countrystudies"> [http://countrystudies.us/algeria/157.htm ''Security Problems with Neighboring States''] - Countrystudies.us</Ref> In the 1930s and later in the 1950s, France had integrated into what was known as the Overseas Departement of French Algeria, the areas of Tindouf and Bechar. When Morocco gained independence, it wanted to reassert sovereignty over these areas. In an effort to cut the support that the Algerian liberation movement was getting from Morocco, France offered to return those areas in exchange for Morocco stopping that support. King [[Mohammed V]] refused to make a deal with [[France]] behind the back of the "Algerian brothers", and agreed with the Algerian provisional governement's [[nationalism|nationalist]] leader [[Ferhat Abbas]], that once Algeria gained its independence it would renegotiate the status of the [[Tindouf]] and [[Bechar]] areas.


However, immediately after Algeria's independence, and before his agreement with King [[Muhammad V]] could be formally ratified, Abbas was purged from the [[National Liberation Front (Algeria)|Front de Libération Nationale]] (FLN) government by a military-backed coalition led by radical leader [[Ahmad Ben Bella]]. The last, bloody years of the FLN's rebellion had been fought essentially to prevent [[France]] from splitting off the Sahara regions from the emerging Algerian state, and thus neither Ben Bella nor the rest of the wartime FLN were inclined to give them up to Morocco when independence was achieved. The Algerians therefore recognized neither Morocco's historical nor its political claims. Instead, they perceived the Moroccan demands as an attempt to infringe the country's hard-won [[independence]] and pressure it when it was at its weakest. Algeria was still reeling from the enormous damage caused by the [[Algerian War]], and the government scarcely held control over its entire territory - significantly, a [[Berber people|Berber]] anti-FLN rebellion under the leadership of [[Hocine Aït Ahmed]] had recently flared up in the [[Kabylia|Kabyle]] mountains. Tension escalated, as neither side wanted to back down.
Immediately after Algeria's independence in 1962, Morocco moved to assert its claims on the region of Bechar and Tindouf in southwest Algeria. The Algerians perceived the Moroccan claims as an attempt to infringe the country's hard-won [[independence]] and pressure it when it was at its weakest. Algeria was still reeling from the enormous damage caused by the [[Algerian War]], and the government scarcely held control over its entire territory - significantly, a [[Berber people|Berber]] anti-FLN rebellion under the leadership of [[Hocine Aït Ahmed]] had recently flared up in the [[Kabylia|Kabyle]] mountains. Tension escalated, as neither side wanted to back down.


== The war ==
== The war ==
Skirmishes along the border eventually escalated into a full-blown confrontation, with intense fighting around the oasis towns of [[Tindouf]] and [[Figuig]]. The [[Military of Algeria|Algerian army]], just formed from the [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] ranks of the FLN's [[Armée de Libération Nationale]] (ALN) was still geared towards [[asymmetric warfare]], and had little heavy equipment <Ref> [http://www.usenet.com/newsgroups/soc.culture.african/msg01918.html ''How Cuba aided revolutionary Algeria in 1963''] - Usenet.com </Ref>. They were still battle-ready and had tens of thousands of experienced veterans, and strengthening the armed forces had been a top priority for the military-dominated post-war government. On the other hand, while the modern, western-equipped Moroccan army was superior on the battlefield, <ref>[http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/alpha/algmor1963.htm ''Armed Conflict Events Data''] - Onwar.com</ref> <ref name="countrystudies" /> it did not manage to penetrate into Algeria. The war stalemated with the intervention of the [[Organization of African Unity]] (OAU) and the [[Arab League]] and it was broken off after approximately three weeks. The OAU eventually managed to arrange a formal cease-fire on [[February 20]], [[1964]].<Ref> [http://arabworld.nitle.org/texts.php?module_id=4&reading_id=119&sequence=18 ''The 1963 border war and the 1972 treaty''] - Arabworld.nitle.org</Ref> A [[peace agreement]] was then made after [[Arab League]] mediation, and a [[demilitarized zone]] instituted but hostilities simmered.
Skirmishes along the border eventually escalated into a full-blown confrontation, with intense fighting around the oasis towns of [[Tindouf]] and [[Figuig]]. The [[Military of Algeria|Algerian army]], just formed from the [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] ranks of the FLN's [[Armée de Libération Nationale]] (ALN) was still geared towards [[asymmetric warfare]], and had little heavy equipment <Ref> [http://www.usenet.com/newsgroups/soc.culture.african/msg01918.html ''How Cuba aided revolutionary Algeria in 1963''] - Usenet.com </Ref>. They were still battle-ready and had tens of thousands of experienced veterans, and strengthening the armed forces had been a top priority for the military-dominated post-war government. On the other hand, while the modern, western-equipped Moroccan army was superior on the battlefield, <ref>[http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/alpha/algmor1963.htm ''Armed Conflict Events Data''] - Onwar.com</ref> <ref name="countrystudies"> [http://countrystudies.us/algeria/157.htm ''Security Problems with Neighboring States''] - Countrystudies.us</Ref> it did not manage to penetrate into Algeria. The war stalemated with the intervention of the [[Organization of African Unity]] (OAU) and the [[Arab League]] and it was broken off after approximately three weeks. The OAU eventually managed to arrange a formal cease-fire on [[February 20]], [[1964]].<Ref> [http://arabworld.nitle.org/texts.php?module_id=4&reading_id=119&sequence=18 ''The 1963 border war and the 1972 treaty''] - Arabworld.nitle.org</Ref> A [[peace agreement]] was then made after [[Arab League]] mediation, and a [[demilitarized zone]] instituted but hostilities simmered.


== Results ==
== Results ==
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* Stora, Benjamin (2004), ''Algeria 1830-2000. A Short History'', Cornell University Press (ISBN 0-8014-3715-6)
* Stora, Benjamin (2004), ''Algeria 1830-2000. A Short History'', Cornell University Press (ISBN 0-8014-3715-6)


== References and notes ==
==References and notes==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


⚫
[[Category:Conflicts in 1963]]
[[Category:History of Algeria]]
[[Category:History of Algeria]]
[[Category:Wars involving Morocco]]
[[Category:Wars involving Morocco]]
[[Category:Wars involving the states and peoples of Africa]]
[[Category:Wars involving the states and peoples of Africa]]
⚫
[[Category:Conflicts in 1963]]


[[ar:حرب الرمال]]
[[ar:حرب الرمال]]

Revision as of 18:02, 16 June 2008

Sand War
DateOctober 1963
Location
The former French colonial département of Saoura (Present-day Tindouf, Béchar Provinces.)
Result The closing of the border south of Figuig, Morocco/Béni Ounif, Algeria
Territorial
changes		 None
Belligerents
Morocco Algeria OAU
Arab League Arab League

The Sand War or Sands War occurred along the Algerian-Moroccan border in October 1963, and was a Moroccan attempt to claim the Tindouf and the Bechar areas that France annexed to French Algeria a few decades earlier.

Background

The problem of the borders between Algeria and Morocco, started during the Algerian war for independence. The right wing of the Moroccan political elite represented by the Istiqlal party with Muhammad Allal al-Fassi [1] at his head lied claims of what is known as the Great Morocco [2]. The claimed area contain parts of southwest Algeria, Western Sahara all of Mauritania and parts of northern Mali. The Argument behind these claims is that they were at some time in the past under Moroccan sovereignty. The Moroccan dynasty encouraged and manipulated these claims. It used them to assert its legitimacy and mussels against the opposition represented by Mehdi Ben Barka at his head.

Immediately after Algeria's independence in 1962, Morocco moved to assert its claims on the region of Bechar and Tindouf in southwest Algeria. The Algerians perceived the Moroccan claims as an attempt to infringe the country's hard-won independence and pressure it when it was at its weakest. Algeria was still reeling from the enormous damage caused by the Algerian War, and the government scarcely held control over its entire territory - significantly, a Berber anti-FLN rebellion under the leadership of Hocine Aït Ahmed had recently flared up in the Kabyle mountains. Tension escalated, as neither side wanted to back down.

The war

Skirmishes along the border eventually escalated into a full-blown confrontation, with intense fighting around the oasis towns of Tindouf and Figuig. The Algerian army, just formed from the guerrilla ranks of the FLN's Armée de Libération Nationale (ALN) was still geared towards asymmetric warfare, and had little heavy equipment [3]. They were still battle-ready and had tens of thousands of experienced veterans, and strengthening the armed forces had been a top priority for the military-dominated post-war government. On the other hand, while the modern, western-equipped Moroccan army was superior on the battlefield, [4] [5] it did not manage to penetrate into Algeria. The war stalemated with the intervention of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Arab League and it was broken off after approximately three weeks. The OAU eventually managed to arrange a formal cease-fire on February 20, 1964.[6] A peace agreement was then made after Arab League mediation, and a demilitarized zone instituted but hostilities simmered.

Results

The Sand War laid the foundations for a lasting and often intensely hostile rivalry between Morocco and Algeria, exacerbated by the differences in political outlook between the conservative Moroccan monarchy and the revolutionary, Arab nationalist Algerian military government[5][7]. Final border demarcation in the Tindouf area was not reached until many years later, in a negotiation process stretching from 1969 to 1972, with Algeria offering Morocco shares in the iron ore earnings from Tindouf for recognition of its borders.

Both in Morocco and Algeria, the governments used the war to describe opposition movements as unpatriotic. The Moroccan UNFP and the Algerian-Berber FFS of Aït Ahmed both suffered as a result of this. In the case of UNFP, its leader, Mehdi Ben Barka, sided with Algeria, and was sentenced to death in absentia as a result. In Algeria, the armed rebellion of the FFS in Kabylie fizzled out, as commanders defected to join the national forces against Morocco.

Many have argued that the Sand War and its bitter legacy was a factor in the attitude of Algeria towards the conflict in Spanish Sahara in the early 1970s. In 1975, Morocco took control of this territory, now known as Western Sahara, while Algeria began backing politically and militarily an independence-minded Sahrawi guerrilla organization, the Polisario Front.

Further reading

  • Pennell, C. R. (2000), Morocco since 1830. A History, New York University Press (ISBN 0-8147-6676-5)
  • Stora, Benjamin (2004), Algeria 1830-2000. A Short History, Cornell University Press (ISBN 0-8014-3715-6)

References and notes

  1. ^ Biography of Allal al-Fassi
  2. ^ Allal al-Fassi in French
  3. ^ How Cuba aided revolutionary Algeria in 1963 - Usenet.com
  4. ^ Armed Conflict Events Data - Onwar.com
  5. ^ a b Security Problems with Neighboring States - Countrystudies.us
  6. ^ The 1963 border war and the 1972 treaty - Arabworld.nitle.org
  7. ^ Algiers and Rabat, still miles apart - Le Monde Diplomatique
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