Abstract EN:

Moroccan southern Saharan policy from 1956 to 1984. From 1956 to 1984, Moroccan southern saharan policy was facing tribulations related to territorial claims. The Moroccan successive governments tried to find simple ways to withstand these demands from the southern saharan region ; our study covers three periods : in the first part, we show that history of the almoravides and the saadians constitued a historical reference for the Moroccan political elite who used it to legitimate their territorial claims, particularly in Mauritania and the western Sahara. In the second part, we analyse how the Mauritanian question contributed in the reinforcement of interafrican divisions between the moderates and the progressists through the groups known as groups from Brazzaville, Monrovia and Casablanca. We study the Moroccan intervention in the 1960's Katangese crisis. The Mauritanian question influenced the elaboration of the OAU charter 1963, as far as the principle of the inviolability of inherited colonial borders is concerned. The third part examines, among other things, the Moroccan seducing policy towards southern saharan moderate countries in order to gain their support in the western saharan crisis. Morocco wants to appear as the leader of moderate African countries, capable to assure their security against "the danger of communism". That is the reason of its two military interventions in Zaïre in 1977-1978. However, Morocco failed in the saharan affair for three reasons : - the southern saharan countries wish to preserve the existence of the oau. - the disappointment of the moderates in regard to the oujda treaty. - and lastly because of the limits of its diplomatic implantation and its cooperation in the southern sahara