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Period: to
Background of the war
In 1909, the rif tribes hurted some Spanish men working at the mines over there near Melilla. This led to the involvement of the Military Spanish Force.
Also in 1911, they had started with some military operations at Yebala(west of Morocco), the Larache landing -
Start of the Rif War
It was originated by the Rif Tribes, who were from a mountainous region of Morocco.
It was a war against the colonial spanish authorities and the France colonial empire. It was against them because Morocco was part of both of them due to the treaties signed at Teutan(1860), Madrid(1880), and Algeciras(1906) -
Outcome of the Treaty of Fez
On March the Treaty of Fez was signed. It was a treaty between France and Morocco about the organization of the French Protectorate.
But as an outcome of this treaty, Spain gained possession under some lands near Ceuta and Melilla. -
Damaso Berenguer
He was a general Spanish commissioner who decided that in 1920, was a good time for conquering the eastern part of the Jibala Tribe territory. Unlucky him, this mission didn't have many success. -
Manuel Fernandez Silvestre
He was the general who commanded the eastern sector.
He had a special technique, which was separing his men.
He spread them in 144 different forts(800 men) and blocaos(12 men). Manuel pushed them into the Rif mountains wanting them to reach the Alhucemas Bay -
The Spanish were pushed back/Jose Sanjurjo
Spain lost all the territories it had gained since 1909. They were pushed back to Melilla(biggest base). Spain still had 14,000 soldiers in Melilla.However, Abd el-Krim ordered his forces not to attack the town. They thought that since citizens of other European nations were residing in Melilla, it was feared they would intervene in the war should their citizens come to harm.By the end of August, the general Jose Sanjurjo had joined 36,000 soldiers. -
Disaster of Annual
The Spanish army in north-eastern Morocco(under Fernández Silvestre) was defeated by the forces of Abd el-Krim.
From 20,000 soldiers participating, 8,000 were reported as killed or disappeared. We also add the subsequent rout, and between the two of them more than 13,000 soldiers were reported. As a result to all this, the Spanish were pushed back by the Rif tribes,and during the next 5 years many battles were fought between them two. Finally, they conquered 130 military Spanish posts. -
Losses at sea
The transport ship called Juan de Joanes was sunk by the Riffian coastal batteries, in the Alhucemas Bay -
Spanish retake
By the beginning of the 1922, Spain had retake their major fort at Monte Arruit(here they found more than 2,000 bodies) and had reoccupied the coastal plain as far as Tistutin and Batel. -
Battleship España
This battleship run aground of Cape Three Forks(northern Morocco) and was scrapped at the moment -
Miguel Primo de Rivera
He was a general and the 2nd Marquess of Estella.
He seized power by a coup d'etat(some people said that he only made this to find something out of the crisis)
He finally concluded that the war was unwinnable, and thought about pulling back his troops to the coast. -
Visit to Ben Tieb
Primo de Rivera visit this(title) Spanish foreign legion in the Rif.
Here he said that his army would abandon the minimum territory and that the officers shouldn't dictate any measures.
Finally, he changed his mind and set other plan. The army would return to a prepared fortified boundary named as The Primo Line. -
Period: to
France enters
This is the time when the French's enter into the war. -
Alhucemas Landing
The French troops pushed from the south. At the same time the Spanish fleet and army secured Alhucemas Bay by a landing operation in September, which was the first landing in history where tanks and seaborne air support were used, and they began attacking from the north.
Finally in 1926, Spanish Morocco was finally retaken. -
French bombarded
In 1925, a squadron of American mercenary flyers in the service of the French army bombarded Chefchaouen, a city located in the rif mountain, at the north west of Morocco -
End of the Rif War
Finally Abd-el-Krim gave up of the situation.
At the end, the war ended by Spain gaining the effective control of its protectorate -
Consequences
It was bad seen by many people, and the Spanish society was unhappy about it.
Other consequence was that a commission was created(the Picasso comisión)