Among the unresolved conflicts of the twentieth century is that of the Western Sahara, the last former African colony that is not yet free. Some indication of the bitterness of the conflict in this largely unforgotten country which is equivalent to Great Britain in size, may be gained by the publication of a third edition of this volume in the present series. The first edition of this work, published in 1982, was written by Tony Hodges, among the first to have carefully researched this area. His work was subsequently updated and expanded by Anthony G. Pazzanita, a specialist on Western Sahara and the Maghreb, and published in 1994 as no.55 in the present series. This third edition has been completely rewritten by the present author.
As Spain's dictator, General Franco, lay on his deathbed in 1975 one of the first acts of the new transitional government led by Adolfo Suarez, was to end the country's rule over its Western Sahara province in a hurried effort to avoid conflict with Morocco which might endanger the establishment of a new post‐fascist political system. Within a fortnight Spanish ministers had executed a complete about turn in policy and on 14 November 1975 the Madrid Agreement was signed providing for Spain's withdrawal from the territory and assumption of control by Morocco and Mauritania. Six days later General Franco lay dead.
Spanish control over the territory had been established formally on 10 July 1885 when a Spanish royal decree established the office of a royal commissioner to oversee the territory with direct responsibility to the Ministry of Overseas Affairs. From 1887 to 1901 control of the territory passed into the hands of the Captain General of the Canary Islands. By the early 1930s Spanish authority began to extend more and more into the hitherto neglected Western Saharan hinterland, a process that led to many Saharawis experiencing life under direct European rule for the first time. Throughout the colonial period Spanish rule was highly authoritarian as the territory was treated generally as a restricted military zone into which few outsiders were allowed access until the 1950s and 1960s. No attempt was made to provide representative government as Spain's governors and governors general were handpicked by the authorities in Madrid and accorded very wide‐ranging powers.
Pressure on Spain to release its authoritarian grip on its north African colonies of Morocco and Western Sahara had begun towards the end of the Second World War with the upsurge of nationalistic feeling in the developing world. The Franco regime fended off calls to leave Western Sahara by declaring the territory an integral part of Spain with town councils and mayors. Elections to the town councils were no more democratic than in Spain itself during this period, lists of candidates being chosen by the governor general who also had the power of veto over bylaws and ordinances enacted by such councils. An indication of the iron grip which Franco maintained over the region is given by the general belief that he retained control over Western Sahara partly out of a desire to provide a new mission for his famous, and no less feared, Foreign Legion following Morocco's independence in 1956.
In addition to lists of significant personalities, political groups and events involved in this long struggle for independence the present volume provides useful articles on Spanish involvement in the territory, as well as the administrative and social systems of the territory together with its geographical features. As literature on the Western Sahara is nowadays increasingly published in English and French the Spanish spelling of names and places used in previous editions of the work has been dropped in favour of the more‐generally recognised English and French forms. However, in certain cases adequate cross‐references are provided to avoid confusion.
The work is arranged in an encyclopedia format with articles ranging from a few lines to ten pages or more for important topics such as the Polisario Front. Bold typeface is used to link related articles and serves as a useful guide for readers through the maze of information provided. In addition to a list of acronyms used and a map of the territory there is a chronology (more extensive from 1974 onwards) and a useful 22‐page introduction summarising the conflict. Readers may gain some idea of the volatility of the area by the statement that “2001 January 1‐7: War almost erupts in Western Sahara as the annual Paris‐Dakar road rally is scheduled to pass through the territory and Polisario states that this is a violation of its sovereignty”. There are six pages of black and white illustrations of rather limited quality, including a photograph of the flag of the Polisario Front's Saharan Arab Democratic Republic. For the price of this volume (£89) one might have expected at least a colour photograph of the country's flag. More usefully the volume contains an excellent bibliography which includes both nineteenth century as well as the most up to date publications. An entire section of this useful bibliography is given over to reports and resolutions of the United Nations.
With the wealth of information covered this volume serves as more than a basic introduction to the subject. It will provide a useful reference source for both general and faculty‐based academic libraries as well as large reference libraries. Despite the specialist nature of the subject covered, it fully deserves to maintain the successful sales record of previous editions.
