Rif War

The Rif War was an anti-colonial war fought from 1921 to 1926 between the indigenous Berber tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco and Spain (joined by France in 1924). Led by Abd el-Krim, the Riffians attacked workers at 'Minas del Rif', an extremely rich, nearly pure magnetite iron mine, and at first inflicted several defeats on the Spanish forces by using guerrilla tactics with the help of captured European weapons. After an unprecedented large landing of Spanish troops at Al Hoceima, considered the first amphibious landing in history to involve the use of tanks and aircraft, as well as France joining the conflict, Abd el-Krim surrendered and was put into exile. In July 1909, some Riffians attacked Spanish workers constructing a rail-bridge to provide access to iron mines near Melilla. This incident led to the summoning of reinforcements from Spain itself. A series of skirmishes over the following weeks cost the Spanish over a thousand casualties. By September, the Spanish Army had 40,000 troops in northern Morocco and had occupied the mountainous tribal regions to the south and southeast of Melilla. The military operations in Jebala, in the Moroccan west, began in 1911 with the Larache landing. Spain worked to pacify a large part of the most violent areas until 1914, a slow process of consolidation of frontiers that lasted until 1919. The following year, after the signing of the Treaty of Fez, the northern Moroccan area was adjudicated to Spain as a protectorate. The Riffian populations strongly resisted the Spanish, unleashing a conflict that would last for several years. In 1921, in an attempt to consolidate control of the region, the Spanish troops suffered the catastrophic Disaster of Annual in addition to a rebellion led by Riffian leader Abd el-Krim. As a result, the Spanish retreated...