Independence.2C Ould Daddah era.2C and the Saharan War History of Mauritania

as country gained independence on november 28, 1960, capital city nouakchott founded @ site of small colonial village, ksar, while 90% of population still nomadic. independence, larger numbers of ethnic sub-saharan africans (haalpulaar, soninke, , wolof) entered mauritania, moving area north of senegal river. before independence, sedentary lifestyle of these groups made them more receptive , useful in state formation, , came dominate state administration, if moorish groups built french remained in charge of political process. moors reacted change increasing pressures arabization, arabicize many aspects of mauritanian life, such law , language, , ethnic tension built - helped common memory of warfare , slave raids.

president moktar ould daddah, helped post french, rapidly reformed mauritania authoritarian one-party state in 1964, new constitution. daddah s own parti du peuple mauritanien (ppm) became ruling organization. president justified decision on grounds considered mauritania unready western-style multi-party democracy. under one-party constitution, daddah reelected in uncontested elections in 1966, 1971 , 1976.

to take advantage of country s sizable iron ore deposits in zouérat, new government built 675-km railway , mining port. production began in 1963. mines operated foreign owned consortium paid approximately 3,000 expatriate workers handsomely - salaries accounted two-thirds of country s entire wages bill. when mauritanian miners went on two-month strike in late 1960s army intervened , 8 miners killed. left-wing opposition government mounted , miners formed clandestine marxist union in 1973. president ould daddah survived challenge left-wing opponents nationalising company in 1974 , withdrawing franc zone, substituting ouguiya cfa.

in 1975, partly nationalist reasons , partly fear of moroccan expansionism, [1] mauritania invaded , annexed southern third of former spanish sahara (now western sahara) in 1975, renaming tiris al-gharbiyya. however, after 3 years of raids sahrawi guerrillas of polisario front, mauritania s economic , political stability began crumble. despite french , moroccan military aid[2], polisario raids against zouerate railway , mines threatened bring economic collapse, , there deep misgivings in military saharan adventure. ethnic unrest contributed disarray. black africans south conscripted front-line soldiers, after northern sahrawi minorities , moorish kin had proven unreliable in fight against polisario, many of southerners rebelled against having fight considered inter-arab war. after government quarters in nouakchott had twice been shelled polisario forces, unrest simmered, daddah s response further tighten hold on power.

on july 10, 1978, col. mustafa ould salek led bloodless coup d état ousted president, later go exile in france. power passed military strongmen of military committee national recovery (cmrn). polisario declared cease-fire, , peace negotiations began under sponsorship of polisario s main backer, algeria. cmsn s leader reluctant break france , mauritania, country refused give in polisario demands troop retreat, , ould salek s careless handling of ethnic issue (massively discriminating against black africans in nominating government posts [3]) contributed further unrest. in 1979, pushed aside group of officers, renamed junta military committee national salvation (cmsn). col. mohamed khouna ould haidalla emerged main strongman.