In the early 1940's, the Moroccan nationalist party - Istiqlal - used the concept of "Greater Morocco" as a propaganda tool to rally support of Moroccan citizens against French colonial rule. After Morocco gained independence in 1956, and the death of much-beloved King Mohammed V, the monarchy of King Hassan II revived the "Greater Morocco" notion to divert national attention away from the flagging economy. This was successful, as long as Morocco (re)acquired possessions such as Ifni, the Tarfaya Strip, and much of the territory between Ceuta and Melilla (although he was unable to regain the two cities or take the Canary Islands from the Spanish - they hold them as dependencies to this day).
The area of "Greater Morocco" composed a far larger territory than current Morocco, though, including: all of Spanish West Africa, the majority of Algeria, the entirety of Spanish Sahara, the whole of Mauritania, the northwestern tip of Mali, and a small portion of northern Senegal. Only at rare high points of Moroccan expansion, such as the originally Mauritanian Almoravid empire or Morocco's short-lived conquest of the Songhai Empire, has there been any territorial entity with similar borders. After a brief border war between Morocco and Algeria in 1963 (immediately after Algeria became independent from France), Hassan turned his attention from the sovereign entities, and focused on the Spanish Sahara. Defined by border negotiations between Spain and France in 1900, 1904, and 1912, the territory was only incorporated after an invasion in 1957 and its ruling council, the Djema'a, was only created a few years before Spain decided to divest itself of the territory. Since the colonial power there was weak, and the nomadic people there had little political capital, Hassan negotiated the Madrid Accords in 1975 between Spain and Mauritania to partition the territory.
Morocco was willing to cede the lower one-third in favor of the rich phosphates in the north - this acquisition could at once revive nationalistic confidence in the monarchy and give the economy a shot in the arm. In return for its complicity, Spain received (and still receives) 35% of the income from phosphate mining, primarily in Laayoune and Bou Craa. This nationalism lead to Morocco's Green March across the border, a sign of solidarity in the face of the Polisario, a guerilla group who fought Spain for independence starting in 1973. Fighting commenced with Morocco and Maurtinia versus the Polisario, but by 1978, Mauritania proved too weak economically and militarily to keep an interest in the territory, and formally gave up its claim in 1979, which was promptly annexed by Morocco.
Since that time, the term "Greater Morocco" is occasionally used in the press and royal proclamations as a sign of political unity between the Kingdom of Morocco proper and the so-called "Southern Provinces." Criticism of the notion of "Greater Morocco" and the implication of a Saharawi right to self-determination are illegal in Morocco.
