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{{short description|1921–1926 war between Spain and Berber tribes of Morocco}}
{{redirect|War of Melilla|other wars fought in the Rif and around Ceuta and Melilla|List of Spanish colonial wars in Morocco}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Rif War
| partof            = the [[interwar period]]
| image             = Infobox collage for Rif War.jpg
| image_size        = 350px
| caption           = (clockwise from top left) {{flatlist|
* Spanish [[Renault FT|Renault FT-17]] stuck in a shellhole
* [[Alfonso XIII of Spain|Alfonso XIII]] reviewing troops destined in the Rif
* Charge of the [[Spanish Legion|legionarios]]
* Spanish generals overlooking combat from Mount Gurugú
* Soldiers of the San Fernando Regiment climbing a defense wall
* Class B submarines of the [[Spanish Navy|Spanish Armada]]
}}
| date              = 1921–1926
| place             = [[Rif|Rif region]], Morocco
| result            = Spanish-French victory
| territory         = Dissolution of the [[Republic of the Rif]]
| combatant1        = {{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[Spain under the Restoration|Spain]]<br>{{flagcountry|French Third Republic}} <small>(1924–1926)</small>
| combatant2        = {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of the Rif.svg}} [[Republic of the Rif]]
| commander1        = {{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[Manuel Fernández Silvestre|Manuel Silvestre]]{{KIA}}<br>{{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[Francisco Franco]]{{WIA}}<br>{{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[Dámaso Berenguer]]<br>{{nowrap|{{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[José Millán Astray|José Millán-Astray]]{{WIA}}}}<br>{{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[Miguel Primo de Rivera]]<br>{{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[Alfredo Kindelán]]<br>{{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[José Sanjurjo]]<br>{{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[Juan Yagüe]]<br>{{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[Leopoldo Saro]]<br>{{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[Emilio Mola]]<br>{{flagicon|French Third Republic}} [[Philippe Pétain]]<br>{{flagicon|French Third Republic}} [[Hubert Lyautey]]<br>[[Mulai Ahmed er Raisuni|M. Ahmed er Raisuni]]{{POW}}
| commander2        = {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of the Rif.svg}} [[Abd el-Krim]]{{surrendered}}<br>{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of the Rif.svg}} [[Abdel-Salam Mohammed Abdel-Karim|A.S. M. Abdel-Karim]]{{surrendered}}<br>{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of the Rif.svg}} [[Bu Lahya]] {{surrendered}}<br>{{nowrap|{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of the Rif.svg}} [[Mhamadi Bojabbar Mohamed, les Aït Ghannou|M.B.M. les Aït Ghannou]]}}<br />{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of the Rif.svg}} [[Ahmed Heriro Jebli]]{{KIA}}<br>{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of the Rif.svg}} [[Haddou Mouh-Ameziane|H. Mouh-Ameziane]]<br />{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of the Rif.svg}} [[Mohamed Cheddi]] {{POW}} {{surrendered}}<br />{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of the Rif.svg}} [[Caid Bohout]]<br />{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of the Rif.svg}} [[Caid Mohamed Na'ma Tanout|C.M. Na'ma Tanout]]
| strength1         = {{flagicon|Spain|1785}} 60,000–100,000 soldiers<ref name="steven">[http://www.balagan.org.uk/war/rif-wars/timeline_third.htm ''Timeline for the Third Rif War (1920–25)''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220013128/http://www.balagan.org.uk/war/rif-wars/timeline_third.htm |date=2011-12-20 }} Steven Thomas</ref><br>{{flagicon|French Third Republic}} 160,000<ref name="David S. Woolman page 186">David S. Woolman, p. 186 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press</ref> soldiers in northern Morocco 1925<ref name="steven"/><br>
Total [[Fighter aircraft|aircraft]]: +200<ref name="pennell1"/>
| strength2         = '''Spanish and French estimates:''' 75,000–125,000 men<ref name="steven"/><ref>David S. Woolman, pp. 149–151 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press</ref> (According to [[Charles Monteil]]: never more than 20,000 with firearms at the same time) including fewer than 7,000 "elites"<br>'''Other sources:'''<br>Autumn 1925: 35,000–50,000<ref name="omissi">David E. Omissi: ''Air Power and Colonial Control: The Royal Air Force, 1919–1939'', Manchester University Press, 1990, {{ISBN|0-7190-2960-0}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=D9BRAQAAIAAJ&q=%22a+force+which+had+dwindled+to+less+than%22&pg=PA188 p. 188].</ref><br>March 1926: fewer than 20,000<ref name="omissi"/>
| casualties1       = {{flagicon|Spain|1785}} 43,500–50,000 casualties<ref name="britannica"/><ref name="clodfelter"/><br>{{flagicon|France|1830}} 10,000–18,000 casualties<ref name="britannica">{{Cite web |title=Rif War|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Rif-War |access-date=2022-11-07|website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref name="clodfelter">Micheal Clodfelter: ''Warfare and armed conflicts: a statistical reference to casualty and other figures, 1500–2000'', McFarland, 2002, {{ISBN|0-7864-1204-6}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=TCZpAAAAMAAJ&q=%22including+940+Frenchmen;+the+rest+were+colonial+troops)+and+8,500+%22 p. 398].</ref>
| casualties2       = 30,000 casualties<ref name="clodfelter"/><small>(including 10,000 dead)<ref name="britannica"/><ref>Meredith Reid Sarkees, Frank Whelon Wayman: ''Resort to war: a data guide to inter-state, extra-state, intra-state, and non-state wars, 1816–2007'', CQ Press, 2010, {{ISBN|0-87289-434-7}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CvooAQAAMAAJ&q=%221926+Battle-Related+Deaths:+Spain%E2%80%9450,000;+France10,000%22 p. 303].</ref></small>
}}
{{Campaignbox Rif War}}
{{Campaignbox Spanish colonial wars in Morocco}}
{{Franco-Moroccan conflicts}}
The '''Rif War''' ({{langx|rif|ⴰⵎⴻⵏⵖⵉ ⵏ ⴰⵔⵉⴼ|Amenɣi n Arif}}, {{langx|ar|حرب الريف|ḥarb ar-rīf}}, {{langx|es|Guerra del Rif}}) was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between [[Spain]] (joined by [[History of France|France]] in 1924) and the [[Berbers|Berber]] tribes of the mountainous [[Rif]] region of northern [[Morocco]].

Led by [[Abd el-Krim]], the Riffians at first inflicted several defeats on the Spanish forces by using [[guerrilla tactics]] and with the help of captured European weapons. After France's military intervention against Abd el-Krim's forces and the major landing of Spanish troops at [[Alhucemas landing|Al Hoceima]], considered the first [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious]] landing in history to involve the use of [[tank]]s and [[aircraft]], Abd el-Krim surrendered to the French and was taken into exile.<ref>Douglas Porch, "Spain's African Nightmare," ''MHQ: Quarterly Journal of Military History'' (2006) 18#2 pp 28–37.</ref>

In July 1909, Spanish workers constructing a rail-bridge providing access to iron mines near [[Melilla]] were attacked by Riffian tribesmen.<ref>David S. Woolman, page 42 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press 1968</ref> 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.<ref>David S. Woolman, pp. 42–43 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press 1968</ref> The military operations in [[Jebala people|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 to a few fortified positions while Abd el-Krim ultimately created an entire independent state: the [[Republic of the Rif]]. The development of the conflict and its end coincided with the [[dictatorship of Primo de Rivera]], who took on command of the campaign from 1924 to 1927. In addition, and after the Battle of Uarga in 1925, the French intervened in the conflict and established a joint collaboration with Spain that culminated in the [[Alhucemas landing]], which proved a turning point. The Spanish also [[Spanish use of chemical weapons in the Rif War|used chemical weapons during the conflict]]. By 1926, the area had been pacified; Abd-el-Krim surrendered to the French that year, and Spain gained effective control of the protectorate's territory at last.

The Rif War still causes much disagreement among historians. Some see in it a harbinger of the [[Decolonisation of Africa|decolonization process in North Africa]]. Others consider it one of the last colonial wars, as it was the decision of the Spanish to conquer the Rif – nominally part of their Moroccan protectorate but ''de facto'' independent – that catalyzed the entry of France in 1924.<ref>[https://www.cairn.info/revue-strategique-2009-1-page-319.htm Jan Pascal, ''L'Armée française face à Abdelkrim ou la tentation de mener une guerre conventionnelle dans une guerre irrégulière 1924–1927''], Cairn.Info, 2009, p. 732.</ref> The Rif War left a deep memory                              both in Spain and in Morocco. The Riffian insurgency of the 1920s can be interpreted as a precursor to the [[Algerian War of Independence]], which took place three decades later.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Entelis|first1=John P.|title=La Guerre du Rif: Maroc (1925–1926)|journal=The Journal of North African Studies|date=9 March 2017|volume=22|issue=3|pages=500–503|doi=10.1080/13629387.2017.1300383|s2cid=151998348}}</ref>

==Origins==
Spain, 13 kilometers across the [[Straits of Gibraltar]] from Africa, claimed influence over the Morocco region at the [[Berlin Conference]] (1884–1885). By the early 20th century, Morocco was divided into protectorates ruled by France and Spain. The Rif region had been assigned to Spain, but given that the Sultans of Morocco had been unable to exert control over the region, Spanish sovereignty over the Rif was strictly ''[[de jure]]'', existing only in the text of the ''General Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa'',<ref name="Berlin Conference Act">{{cite act | title = General Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa|language=en|date={{date|1885-02-25|mdy}}|url=https://loveman.sdsu.edu/docs/1885GeneralActBerlinConference.pdf}}</ref> to which the Riffians, who had ''[[de facto]]'' control of the land were not a party. For centuries, the Berber tribes of the Rif had fought off any attempt of outsiders to impose control on them.<ref name="Perry, James page 273">Perry, James ''Arrogant Armies'', Edison: Castle Books, 2005 p. 273.</ref> While the Rif mountains were visible to Europeans from ships in the Mediterranean Sea, Europeans had rarely, if ever, ventured into the area.<ref name="Perry, James page 273"/> [[Walter Burton Harris]], the Morocco correspondent for ''[[The Times]]'', who covered the war, wrote that as late as 1912 only "one or two Europeans had been able to visit the cedar forests that lie south of Fez. A few had traveled in the southern Atlas and pushed on into the [[Sous|Sus]]...and that was almost all".<ref name="Perry, James page 273"/> As Harris wrote, the Berbers "were often as inhospitable to the Arab as they were to the foreigner", and generally killed any outsiders who ventured into their territory.<ref name="Perry, James page 273"/>

[[Vincent Sheean]], who covered the war for ''[[The New York Times]]'', wrote that the Rif was a truly beautiful countryside of "[c]rimson mountains flung against a sky of hieratic blue, gorges magnificent and terrifying, peaceful green valleys between protecting precipices", a place that reminded him of his native Colorado.<ref name="Perry, James page 273"/> The Rif was also rich in high-grade [[iron ore]], which could be easily extracted via [[open pit mining|open-pit mining]].<ref name="Perry, James page 274">Perry, James ''Arrogant Armies'', Edison: Castle Books, 2005 p. 274.</ref> The promise of the Spanish state collecting revenues in the form of taxes and royalties from iron mining here was an incentive for it to bring the Rif under its control.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

The Crown granted the concession to mine iron in the Rif to the millionaire Don [[Horacio Echevarrieta]]. By 1920 he had brought out 800,000 tons of valuable high grade iron through relatively inexpensive open-pit mining.<ref>Alvarez, José "Between Gallipoli and D-Day: Alhucemas, 1925" pp. 75–98 from ''The Journal of Military History'', Vol. 63, No. 1, January 1999 p. 77.</ref> Though profitable, iron mining caused much environmental damage and required the displacement of the native people. As they received no share of the profits, the Rifians soon began to oppose the mining in their territory.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

When [[Alfonso XIII of Spain|Alfonso XIII]] ascended to the throne in 1886, Spain was considered a world power, with colonies in the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific.<ref name="Perry, James page 274"/> But in the [[Spanish–American War]], Spain lost Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines in 1898, [[Spanish-German Treaty of 1899|and sold]] the [[Marianas Islands|Mariana]] and [[Caroline Islands]] to Germany the following year; reducing the once great [[Spanish Empire]] to only a few footholds on the Moroccan coast and [[Spanish Guinea]].<ref name="Perry, James page 274"/> To compensate for the losses in the Americas and Asia, there emerged a powerful ''[[Africanist (Spain)|Africanist]]'' faction in Spain led by Alfonso, who wanted a new empire in Africa.<ref name="Perry, James page 274"/> Finally, many within the politically powerful [[Catholic Church in Spain|Catholic Church]], preached the need for a new crusade to continue the ''[[Reconquista]]'' by conquering Morocco, adding their voices to the ''Africanist'' choir.<ref name="Perry, James page 274"/> For all these reasons, Spain began pushing into the Rif in 1909.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

==Forces involved==
===Rifian forces===
[[File:Combattants berbères.jpg|thumb|Riffian warriors]]
The Berber tribesmen had a long tradition of fierce fighting skills, combined with high standards of fieldcraft and marksmanship. They were capably led by [[Abd el-Krim]], who showed both military and political expertise. However, the Rifian regular army was never a very large force.<ref name="pennell"/> The elite of the Rifian forces formed regular units which according to Abd el-Krim, quoted by the Spanish general [[Manuel Goded Llopis|Manuel Goded]], numbered 6,000 to 7,000. Other sources put it much lower, at around 2,000 to 3,000.<ref name="pennell">C. R. Pennell – [https://archive.today/20121127041452/http://dtl.unimelb.edu.au/R/G6ASL7MRH56N6D62EU994G2H78TRSHEP44P8A82S36SQ5YGCSJ-01131?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=274378&pds_handle=GUEST ''A Country with a government and a Flag: The Rif War in Morocco, 1921–1926''], Outwell, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England: Middle East & North African Studies Press Ltd, 1986, {{ISBN|0-906559-23-5}}, p. 132; (University of Melbourne – University Library Digital Repository)</ref>

The remaining Rifians were tribal militia selected by their [[Qaid|Caids]]; they were not liable to serve away from their homes and farms for more than 15 consecutive days. General Goded estimated that at their peak, in June 1924, the Rifian forces numbered about 80,000 men,<ref name="woolman">"Rebels in the Rif" pp.&nbsp;149–152, David S. Woolman, Stanford University Press, 1968</ref> although [[Abd el-Krim]] was never able to arm more than 20,000 men at a time. However, this force was largely adequate in the early stages of the war.<ref>Woolman, p. 149</ref> In the final days of the war, Rifian forces numbered about 12,000 men.<ref name="pennell1"/> In addition, Rifian forces were not well armed, with weapons badly maintained and in poor condition.<ref name="pennell1">Pennell, C. R.; p. 214</ref>

[[File:Concentración de tropas en la playa de Ondarreta con destino a guerra de África (1 de 8) - Fondo Car-Kutxa Fototeka.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Spanish troops in [[San Sebastián]], prior to their departure to the war]]

===Spanish forces===
Initially, the Spanish forces in Morocco were largely composed of conscripts and reservists from Spain itself. These "Peninsular" troops were poorly supplied and prepared, few had marksmanship skills and proper battle training,<ref>David S. Woolman, p. 98 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press</ref> and widespread corruption was reported amongst the officer corps, reducing supplies and morale.<ref>David S. Woolman, p. 57 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press</ref> Of the Spanish troops in Morocco in 1921, well over half were completely illiterate conscripts from the poorest elements of Spanish society who had been sent to Morocco with minimal training.<ref>Perry, James ''Arrogant Armies Great Military Disasters and the Generals Behind Them'', Edison: Castle Books, 2005 p. 277</ref> Despite assurances from General [[Manuel Fernández Silvestre]] that his equipment was sufficient to defeat the Rifians, in fact about three-quarters of the rifles at the Melilla arsenal were in shoddy condition due to poor maintenance, and a report from late 1920, which Spanish commanders never bothered to read, warned that many of the rifles held there were either unusable or more of a danger to the soldier firing them than to the enemy.<ref name="Perry, James page 278">Perry, James ''Arrogant Armies Great Military Disasters and the Generals Behind Them'', Edison: Castle Books, 2005 p. 278</ref>

The average Spanish soldier in Morocco in 1921 was paid the equivalent of thirty-four US cents per day, and lived on a simple diet of coffee, bread, beans, rice and the odd piece of meat.<ref name="Perry, James page 278"/> Many soldiers bartered their rifles and ammunition at the local markets in exchange for fresh vegetables.<ref name="Perry, James page 278"/> The barracks that the soldiers lived in were unsanitary, and medical care at the few hospitals was very poor.<ref name="Perry, James page 278"/> Up in the mountains, Spanish soldiers lived in small outposts known as ''blocaos'', which the American historian Stanley Payne observed: "Many of these lacked any sort of toilet, and the soldier who ventured out of the filthy bunker risked exposure to the fire of lurking tribesmen".<ref name="ReferenceA">Perry, James ''Arrogant Armies Great Military Disasters and the Generals Behind Them'', Edison: Castle Books, 2005 p. 278.</ref>

[[File:General Silvestre en Melilla.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Manuel Fernández Silvestre|General Fernández Silvestre]] in [[Melilla]], 1921]]

Continuing a practice first begun in Cuba, corruption flourished amongst the venal Spanish officer corps, with goods meant for the troops being sold on the black market and the funds intended to build roads and railroads in Morocco ending up in the pockets of senior officers.<ref name="Perry, James page 278"/> A high number of Spanish officers could not read maps, which explains why Spanish units so frequently got lost in the Rif mountains.<ref name="Perry, James page 278"/> In general, studying war was not considered to be a good use of an officer's time, and most officers devoted their time in Melilla in words of the American journalist James Perry to "gambling and whoring, sometimes molesting the native Moorish women".<ref name="Perry, James page 278"/> Morale in the Army was extremely poor and most Spanish soldiers just wanted to go home and leave Morocco forever.<ref name="Perry, James page 278"/> Because of the prostitutes from Spain, who attached themselves in great number to the Spanish bases in Morocco, venereal diseases were rampant in the Spanish Army.<ref name="Perry, James page 278"/> Fernández Silvestre was well aware of the poor morale of his soldiers, but he did not regard this as a problem, believing that his enemy was so inferior that the problems afflicting his troops were not an issue.<ref name="Perry, James page 278"/>

Even with their numerical superiority, the "Peninsular" troops proved no match for the highly skilled and motivated Rifian forces. Accordingly, much reliance came to be placed on the mainly professional units comprising Spain's [[Army of Africa (Spain)|Army of Africa]]. Since 1911, these had included regiments of Moroccan [[Regulares]], who proved to be excellent soldiers.<ref>David S. Woolman, p. 44 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press</ref>

The initiative was unpopular in parts of Spain as well. In 1909, during early conflicts with the Rif tribesmen, an attempt by the Spanish government to call up reservists led to a working-class uprising in Barcelona known as [[Tragic Week (Catalonia)|Tragic Week]]. The Catalan trade unions, many led by anarchists, argued that the working class of Barcelona had no quarrel with the people of the Rif.<ref>Alvarez, Jose "Between Gallipoli and D-Day: Alhucemas, 1925" pp. 75–98 from ''The Journal of Military History'', Vol. 63, No. 1, January 1999 p. 77.</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-09412, Primo de Rivera und der König von Spanien.jpg|thumb|[[Miguel Primo de Rivera|Primo de Rivera]] (front row left) with King [[Alfonso XIII of Spain|Alfonso XIII]] and other high-ranking Spanish officers]]

After the Tragic Week of 1909, the Spanish government starting in 1911 tried to raise as many ''Regular'' units as possible to avoid further working class resistance to colonial wars as much of the Spanish working class had no desire to see their sons sent to Morocco, beginning a policy of what the Spanish historian Jose Alvarez called "Moroccanizing" the conquest of the Rif.<ref>Alvarez, Jose "Between Gallipoli and D-Day: Alhucemas, 1925" pp. 75–98 from The Journal of Military History, Vol. 63, No. 1, January 1999 p. 78.</ref> Following the difficulties and setbacks that it had experienced in 1909–11, the Spanish army began to adopt much in organization and tactics from the French North African forces garrisoning most of Morocco and neighboring Algeria. Particular attention was paid to the [[French Foreign Legion]] and a Spanish equivalent, the [[Spanish Legion|''Tercio de Extranjeros'']] ('Foreigners' brigade'), known in English as the Spanish Legion, was formed in 1920. The regiment's second commander was then-[[Colonel|Col]]. [[Francisco Franco]], having risen rapidly through the ranks.<ref>David S. Woolman, p. 68 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press</ref> In the Rif war, it was the ''Regulares'' and the Spanish Foreign Legion founded in 1919 that provided the elite forces that won Spain the war.<ref>Alvarez, Jose "Between Gallipoli and D-Day: Alhucemas, 1925" pp. 75–98 from The Journal of Military History, Vol. 63, No. 1, January 1999 p. 79.</ref> Less than 25% of this "Foreign Legion" were, in fact, non-Spanish. Harshly disciplined and driven, they quickly acquired a reputation for ruthlessness. As their number grew, the Spanish Legion and the Regulares increasingly led offensive operations after the disasters that had been suffered by the conscript forces.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

==Course of war==
[[File:República del Rif.svg|thumb|left|upright=1.8|Localisation of the Republic of the Rif.]]

===Early stages===
{{See also|Second Melillan campaign}}

As an outcome of the [[Treaty of Fez]] (1912) Spain gained possession of the lands around [[Melilla]] and [[Ceuta]]. In 1920, the Spanish commissioner, General [[Dámaso Berenguer]], decided to conquer the eastern territory from the Jibala tribes, but had little success. The second-in-command was General [[Manuel Fernández Silvestre]], who commanded the eastern sector. Fernández Silvestre had spread out his troops out in 144 forts and ''blocaos'' from Sidi Dris on the Mediterranean across the Rift mountains to an annual and Tizi Azza and on to Melilla.<ref name="Perry, James page 278"/> A typical ''blocao'' held about a dozen men, while the larger forts had about 800 men.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Fernández Silvestre, known for his boldness and impetuosity, had pushed his men too deep into the Rif mountains hoping to reach Alhucemas Bay without undertaking the necessary work to build a logistical support network capable of supplying his men out in the ''blocaos'' up in the Rif mountains.<ref name="Alvarez pages 75-98">Alvarez, Jose "Between Gallipoli and D-Day: Alhucemas, 1925" pp. 75–98 from  ''The Journal of Military History'', Vol. 63, No. 1, January 1999 p. 81.</ref> Krim had sent Fernández Silvestre a letter warning him not to cross the [[Amekran river]] or else he would die.<ref>Perry, James ''Arrogant Armies Great Military Disasters and the Generals Behind Them'', Edison: Castle Books, 2005 p. 279</ref> Fernández Silvestre commented to the Spanish press about the letter that: "This man Abd el-Krim is crazy. I'm not going to take seriously the threats of a little Berber ''caid'' [judge] whom I had at my mercy a short time ago. His insolence merits a new punishment".<ref>Perry, James ''Arrogant Armies Great Military Disasters and the Generals Behind Them'', Edison: Castle Books, 2005 p. 279.</ref> Abd el-Krim allowed Fernández Silvestre to advance deep into the Rif, knowing the Spanish logistics were in the words of the Spanish historian Jose Alvarez "tenuous" at best.<ref name="Alvarez pages 75-98"/>

On 1 July 1921, the Spanish army in north-eastern Morocco under Fernández Silvestre collapsed when defeated by the forces of [[Abd el-Krim]], in what became known in Spain as the [[disaster of Annual]], some 8,000 soldiers and officers reported killed or disappeared out of some 20,000. The final Spanish death toll, both at Annual and during the subsequent rout that took Rifian forces to the outskirts of Melilla, was reported to the [[Cortes Generales]] as totaling 13,192.<ref>David S. Woolman, p. 96 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press</ref> The Spanish were pushed back and during the following five years, occasional battles were fought between the two. The Rifian forces advanced to the east and captured over 130 [[Spanish people|Spanish]] military posts.<ref name="dirk"/>

[[File:Kaid Sarkash (Riffian leader) 1924.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Berbers]] carrying captured rifles. A [[Mauser|Spanish Mauser]] and a French [[Berthier rifle|Berthier Carbine]]]]

By late August 1921, [[Spain under the Restoration|Spain]] lost all the territories it had gained since 1909. Spanish troops were pushed back to Melilla, which was their biggest base in the eastern [[Rif]].<ref name="dirk"/> Spain still had 14,000 soldiers in Melilla.<ref name="dirk"/> However, [[Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi|Abd el-Krim]] ordered his forces not to attack the town. He subsequently told the writer J. Roger-Matthieu 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.<ref name="dirk"/> Other reasons included the dispersal of Rifian fighters from several loosely allied tribes following the victory at Annual; and the arrival in Melilla of substantial reinforcements from the Legion and other Spanish units recalled from operations in western Morocco.<ref>Arturo Barea, pp. 313–314 ''The Forging of a Rebel'', SBN 670-32367-5, The Viking Press 1974{{ISBN?}}</ref>  By the end of August Spanish forces at Melilla numbered 36,000 under General [[Jose Sanjurjo]] and the slow process of recovering the lost territory could begin.<ref>David S. Woolman, pp. 95–102 "Rebels in the Rif",  Stanford University Press 1968{{ISBN?}}</ref>

Thus the Spanish could keep their biggest base in the eastern [[Rif]]. Later Abd el-Krim would admit: "''I bitterly regret this order. It was my biggest mistake''. ''All the following tenor of events happened because of this mistake''."<ref name="dirk">Dirk Sasse, [https://books.google.com/books?id=tvcyZYwX0hcC&q=%22annual+disaster+1921%22 ''Franzosen, Briten und Deutsche im Rifkrieg 1921–1926''], Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2006, {{ISBN|3-486-57983-5}}, pp.&nbsp;40–41 (in German)</ref>

By January 1922 the Spanish had retaken their major fort at Monte Arruit (where they found the bodies of 2,600 of the garrison) and had reoccupied the coastal plain as far as Tiztoutine and Batel. The Rifian forces had consolidated their hold of the inland mountains and stalemate was reached.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

The Spanish military suffered losses even at sea; in March the transport ship ''Juan de Joanes'' was sunk in [[Al Hoceima|Alhucemas]] Bay by Riffian coastal batteries,<ref>{{Cite web|title = Juan de Joanes – Trasmeships|url = http://www.trasmeships.es/246.html|website = www.trasmeships.es|access-date = 2015-10-14|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150926235315/http://www.trasmeships.es/246.html|archive-date = 2015-09-26|url-status = dead}}</ref> and in August 1923 the [[Spanish battleship España|battleship ''España'']] ran aground off [[Cape Three Forks|Cape Tres Forcas]] and was eventually scrapped ''in situ''.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Spanish Dreadnoughts of the España class. Warship Internacional. Issue 41.|last = Fernandez|first = Rafael|publisher = International Naval Research Organization|year = 2007|location = Toledo, Ohio|pages = 63–117}}</ref>

In a bid to break the stalemate, the Spanish military turned to the use of [[Chemical weapons in the Rif War|chemical weapons against the Riffians]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZAdtAIMTReEC ''Strike from the Sky: The History of Battlefield Air Attack, 1910–1945''], Richard P. Hallion, [[University of Alabama Press]], 2010, {{ISBN|0-8173-5657-6}}, p. 67</ref>

[[File:Spanishbuildingruins.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.7|Ruins of a Spanish camp near [[Chefchaouen]]]]

The Rif War had starkly polarized Spanish society between the ''[[Africanist (Spain)|africanistas]]'' who wanted to conquer an empire in Africa vs. the {{Lang|es|abandonistas}} who wanted to abandon Morocco as not worth the blood and treasure.<ref name="Perry, James page 286">Perry, James ''Arrogant Armies Great Military Disasters and the Generals Behind Them'', Edison: Castle Books, 2005 p. 286.</ref> After the "Disaster of the Annual", Spain's war in the Rif went from bad to worse, and as the Spanish were barely hanging on to Morocco, support for the {{Lang|es|abandonistas}} grew as many people could see no point to the war.<ref name="Perry, James page 286"/> In August 1923, Spanish soldiers embarking for Morocco mutinied at the railway stations, other soldiers in Malaga simply refused to board the ships that were to take them to Morocco, while in Barcelona huge crowds of left-wingers had staged anti-war protests at which Spanish flags were burned while the flag of the Rif Republic was waved about.<ref name="Perry, James page 286"/>

With the ''africanistas'' comprising only a minority, it was clear that it was only a matter of time before the {{Lang|es|abandonistas}} forced the Spanish to give up on the Rif, which was part of the reason for General [[Miguel Primo de Rivera, 2nd Marquis of Estella|Miguel Primo de Rivera, 2nd Marqués de Estella]], seizing power [[1923 Spanish coup d'état|in a military coup d'état]] on September 13, 1923.<ref name="Perry, James page 286"/> General Primo de Rivera was in the words of the American journalist James Perry a "moderate dictator" who was convinced that the divisions between the ''africanists'' vs. the {{Lang|es|abandonistas}} had pushed Spain to the brink of civil war, and who had seized power to find a way out of the crisis.<ref name="Perry, James page 286"/> General Primo de Rivera soon concluded that the war was unwinnable, and considered pulling back his troops to the coast with the aim of at least temporarily abandoning the Rif.<ref name="Perry, James page 286"/><ref>David S. Woolman, p. 131 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press</ref> In late July 1924, Primo de Rivera visited a Spanish Foreign Legion post at [[Ben Taieb]] in the Rif, and was served a banquet of eggs in different forms. In Spanish culture, eggs are a symbol of the testicles, and the dishes were intended to send a clear message. Primo de Rivera responded calmly that the army would be required to abandon only the minimum of territory and that junior officers should not dictate the measures necessary to resolve the Moroccan problem.<ref>David S. Woolman, p. 132 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press</ref> However he subsequently modified the plans for withdrawal, pulling the Spanish forces back from [[Chefchaouen]] and the [[Oued Laou]] region to a prepared fortified boundary named the "Primo Line".<ref>David S. Woolman, p. 133 ''Rebels in the Rif'', Stanford University Press</ref>

===French intervention===
[[File:Rif cordon sanitaire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.65|Contemporary map showing border and French military posts]]

In May 1924, the French Army had established a line of out-posts north of the [[Oureghla]] River in disputed tribal territory. On 12 April 1925, an estimated 8,000<ref>Martin Windrow, p. 15 "French Foreign Legion 1914–1945, {{ISBN|1-85532-761-9}}</ref> Rifians attacked this line and in two weeks over 40 of 66 French posts had been stormed or abandoned. French casualties exceeded 1,000 killed, 3,700 wounded and 1,000 missing – representing losses of over 20 percent of their forces deployed in the Rif.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xlD0JS16w9oC&q=rif+war+french+posts ''The French empire between the wars: imperialism, politics and society''], Martin Thomas, [[Manchester University Press]], 2005, {{ISBN|0-7190-6518-6}}, p. 212</ref> The French accordingly intervened on the side of Spain, appointing [[Philippe Pétain|Marshal Pétain]] as commander-in-chief of an expeditionary force of up to 160,000<ref name="David S. Woolman page 186">David S. Woolman, p. 186 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press</ref> well-trained and -equipped troops from Metropolitan, Algerian, [[Senegalese tirailleurs|Senegalese]] and Foreign Legion units, as well as Moroccan regulars ([[tirailleurs]]) and auxiliaries ([[goumiers]]). With total Spanish forces at this point numbering about 90,000 the Rifian forces were now seriously outnumbered by their Franco-Spanish opponents.<ref name=EB>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Abd el-Krim|edition=15th|year=2010|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|volume=I: A-Ak – Bayes|location=Chicago|isbn=978-1-59339-837-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/18 18]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/18}}</ref> Final French deaths from battle and disease, in what had now become a major war, were to total 8,628.<ref>General R. Hure, p. 252 "L'Armee d'Afrique 1830–1962", Paris-Limoges, 1979</ref>

On September 17, 1925, [[Escadrille Cherifienne|a squadron of American mercenary flyers]] in the service of France [[Bombardment of Chefchaouen|bombarded Chefchaouen]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.yabiladi.com/articles/details/77701/history-when-american-squadron-violated.html|title=History : When an American squadron violated US neutrality laws, bombing Chefchaouen|last=Babas|first=Latifa  |website=en.yabiladi.com|language=en|access-date=2019-07-14}}</ref>

==Outcome==
[[File:Desembarco de Alhucemas, por José Moreno Carbonero.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|''Desembarco de Alhucemas'', 1929, an artistic interpretation of the [[Alhucemas landing]], by Spanish painter [[José Moreno Carbonero]]]]

For the final attack commencing on 8 May 1925, the French and Spanish had ranged 123,000 men, supported by 150 aircraft, against 12,000 Rifians.<ref name="pennell1"/> Superior manpower and technology soon resolved the course of the war in favour of France and Spain. The French troops pushed through from the south while the Spanish fleet and army secured Alhucemas Bay by a [[Alhucemas landing|landing operation]] in September (the first amphibious landing in history where tanks and seaborne air support were used) and began attacking from the north. After one year of bitter resistance, [[Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi|Abd el-Krim]], the leader of both the tribes, surrendered to French authorities, and in 1926 [[Spanish Morocco]] was finally retaken.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

However, the unpopularity of the war in Spain and the earlier defeats of the Spanish military contributed to the instability of the Spanish government and the [[Spain under the Restoration#Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923–1930)|military coup of 1923]].{{cn|date=December 2024}}

== Atrocities ==

=== Massacre of Monte Arruit ===
{{see also|Massacre of Monte Arruit}}
On August 9, 1921, the [[Massacre of Monte Arruit]] occurred, in which 2,000 soldiers of the Spanish Army were killed after surrendering the Monte Arruit garrison near [[Al Aaroui]] following a 12-day siege.<ref>[https://publicaciones.defensa.gob.es/media/downloadable/files/links/e/n/en_torno_a_annual_reimpresion.pdf Julio Albi de la Cuesta, ''En torno a Annual'']  (Ministerio de Defensa de España, 2016) pp. 432–439</ref> The atrocities subsequently committed by the Spanish Army of Africa were triggered by a 'compulsive spirit of revenge' of this and other massacres, and the desire to exact retribution on the rebel tribes.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Potì|first=Giorgio|url=https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/43865/Poti_2016.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=Imperial Violence, Anti-Colonial Nationalism and International Society: The Politics of Revolt across Mediterranean Empires,1919–1927|publisher=European University Institute: Department of history and Civilization|year=2016|location=[[Florence]]|page=202}}</ref>

=== Spanish atrocities and use of chemical weapons ===
{{see also|Spanish use of chemical weapons in the Rif War}}

[[File:Guerre du Rif massacre 1922.jpg|thumb|Spanish legionnaires holding up decapitated Moroccan heads, 1922]]

Beginning in 1924, the Spanish [[Spanish use of chemical weapons in the Rif War|used chemical weapons during the conflict]], which marked the first widespread employment of gas warfare in the post-WWI era.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/152104/0/supervivientes/bombardeos/rif/ |title=Los últimos de Alhucemas |access-date=2007-04-13 |last=Rada |first=Javier |date= September 2006 |publisher=20minutos.es |language=es |quote=Durante la guerra del Rif (1921–1927), la última pesadilla colonial, España fue una de las primeras potencias en utilizar armas químicas contra población civil. }}</ref> The Spanish army indiscriminately used [[phosgene]], [[diphosgene]], [[chloropicrin]] and [[mustard gas]] also against civilian populations, markets and rivers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cataluna/ERC/exige/Espana/pida/perdon/uso/armas/quimicas/guerra/Rif/elpepuespcat/20050703elpcat_12/Tes |title=ERC exige que España pida perdón por el uso de armas químicas en la guerra del Rif |access-date=2007-04-13 |last=Noguer |first=Miquel |date= July 2005 |newspaper=[[El País]] |language=es |quote=Tras tan estrepitosa derrota, el ejército español no tuvo reparos en utilizar productos como fosgeno, difosgeno, cloropicrina o el mismo gas mostaza contra la población civil. }}</ref><ref name="Enrique Cerro Aguilar">Enrique Cerro Aguilar. "España fue el primer país que utilizó armas químicas contra civiles en Marruecos en 1920". Revista Rebelión. 13 de enero de 2001. {{in lang|es}}</ref> While Spain signed the [[Geneva Protocol]] in 1925, which prohibited the use of chemical and biological weapons, such use was not illegal in internal conflicts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/the-rif-war-a-forgotten-war-923|title=The Rif War: A forgotten war?|author=Pascal Daudin|date=June 2023|publisher=[[International Review of the Red Cross]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nti.org/education-center/treaties-and-regimes/protocol-prohibition-use-war-asphyxiating-poisonous-or-other-gasses-and-bacteriological-methods-warfare-geneva-protocol/#:~:text=The%20Geneva%20Protocol%2C%20implicitly%2C%20does,cover%20internal%20or%20civil%20conflicts.|title=Geneva Protocol: Protocol For the Prohibition of the Use In War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous, or Other Gases, And of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (Geneva Protocol)|publisher=[[Nuclear Threat Initiative]]}}</ref><ref name="Enrique Cerro Aguilar"/>

Some have cited the Spanish chemical weapons as the main reason for a widespread [[cancer]] occurrence in the Rif region, which is still the highest in Morocco;<ref>{{Cite web|last=Yabiladi.com|title=حرب الريف: عريضة تدعو إسبانيا وفرنسا وألمانيا والولايات المتحدة لتحمل مسؤولياتهم|url=https://www.yabiladi.ma/articles/details/63500/حرب-الريف-عريضة-تدعو-إسبانيا.html|access-date=2021-05-06|website=www.yabiladi.ma|language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1770571.stm |title=Morocco bans historical conference |access-date=2007-04-11 |work=BBC News  | date=January 19, 2002}}</ref> for example, according to the Head of the Association of Toxic Gas Victims (ATGV) research has shown "there are strong indicators that the cancer is caused by the gases that were used against the resistance in the north."<ref>North Morocco Spanish government required to explain use of toxic gases in Rif, [[Morocco Times]], 8 September 2005.[https://web.archive.org/web/20060905220108/http://emazighen.com/breve.php3?id_breve=90]</ref> Writer [[Juan Pando]], however, pointed out that areas of France and Belgium, which were gassed far more heavily during World War I, do not have abnormal cancer rates.<ref>{{cite book |title= Guerrilla Warfare: Irregular Warfare in the Twentieth Century |author= William Weir |page=99 |publisher = Stackpole Books |year=2008}}</ref>

Miguel Alonso, Alan Kramer and Javier Rodrigo wrote in the book ''Fascist Warfare, 1922–1945: Aggression, Occupation, Annihilation'': "Although the Rif War was no 'fascist' war, several methods used to 'pacify' the population were applied in the post-colonial {{Lang|es|reconquista}} of godless [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican Spain]] ... Apart from deciding not to use chemical weapons, [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]'s campaign to 'cleanse Spain' resembled that in Morocco: intelligence-gathering through torture, summary executions, [[forced labour]], [[War rape|rape]], and the sadistic killing of military prisoners."<ref>{{cite book |title=Fascist Warfare, 1922–1945: Aggression, Occupation, Annihilation |author1=Miguel Alonso |author2=Alan Kramer |author3=Javier Rodrigo |page=32  |publisher=Springer International Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=978-3030276478}}</ref>

Spanish mutilations of captured Moroccans were also reported, including  severing heads as retribution to the mutilations inflicted on the Spanish troops initially.<ref name=Márquez>{{cite book |title=Disorientations: Spanish Colonialism in Africa and the Performance of Identity |author= Susan Martin-Márquez |page=193 |year=2008 |publisher= Yale Univ Pr}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
* The Rif War directly inspired [[Sigmund Romberg]]'s 1926 operetta ''[[The Desert Song]],'' which was later adapted several times into motion pictures.
* The 1929 romance novel ''La riffaine'', by Jewish-Algerian writer [[Elissa Rhaïs]], was set during the Rif War.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lorcin |first=Patricia M. E. |date=2012-12-01 |title=Manipulating Elissa: the uses and abuses of Elissa Rhaïs and her works |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2012.723436|journal=The Journal of North African Studies |volume=17 |issue=5|pages=903–922|doi=10.1080/13629387.2012.723436 |s2cid=143680947 |issn=1362-9387|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* The 1927 novel ''Amy Jolly'' and the 1930 film ''[[Morocco (film)|Morocco]]'' adapted from it are set against the background of the Rif War.
* The action of the 1931 novel [[La Bandera (novel)|''La Bandera'']] by [[Pierre Mac Orlan]] is set during the Rif War. The novel was also turned into [[La Bandera (film)|a 1935 movie]].
* The 1951 film ''[[Ten Tall Men]]'' is set in the context of the Rif War.
* The 1977 [[Dick Richards]] film ''[[March or Die (film)|March or Die]]'' shows Foreign Legionnaires fighting Arab rebels led by "el-Krim" in the Rif in 1925.
* The 1999 film ''[[Legionnaire (film)|Legionnaire]]'', starring [[Jean-Claude Van Damme]], is set in the war in 1925, with [[Kamel Krifa]] playing Abd el-Krim.
* The 2017 television miniseries ''[[Morocco: Love in Times of War]]'' follows Spanish nurses during the Rif War.

== See also ==
{{Spanish colonial campaigns}}
* [[Zaian War]], the 1914–21 conflict between the French and Berber tribesmen in Morocco.
* [[Kert campaign]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Further reading'''
* Balfour, Sebastian. ''Deadly Embrace: Morocco and the Road to the Spanish Civil War'' (Oxford 2002) [https://www.questia.com/read/119121044/deadly-embrace-morocco-and-the-road-to-the-spanish online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327170721/https://www.questia.com/read/119121044/deadly-embrace-morocco-and-the-road-to-the-spanish |date=2016-03-27 }}
* Chandler, James A. "Spain and Her Moroccan Protectorate 1898–1927," ''Journal of Contemporary History'' (1975) 10#2 pp.&nbsp;301–322 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/260149 in JSTOR]
* La Porte, Pablo.  "'Rien à ajouter': The League of Nations and the Rif War (1921—1926)," ''European History Quarterly'' (2011) 41#1 pp 66–87, [http://ehq.sagepub.com/content/41/1/66 online]
* Pennell, C. R. "Ideology and Practical Politics: A Case Study of the Rif War in Morocco, 1921–1926," ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'' (1982) 14#1, pp 19–33. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/163332 in JSTOR]
* Pennell, C. R. "How and why to remember the Rif War (1921–2021)." ''Journal of North African Studies'' 22.5 (2017): 798–820. [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13629387.2017.1361826 abstract]
* Pennell, C. R. "Women and Resistance to Colonialism in Morocco: The Rif 1916–1926," ''Journal of African History'' (1987) 28#1 pp.&nbsp;107–118 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/181451 in JSTOR]
* Pennell, C. R. ''Country with a Government and a Flag: The Rif War in Morocco, 1921–1926'' (1986)
* Porch, Douglas. "Spain's African Nightmare," ''MHQ: Quarterly Journal of Military History'' (2006) 18#2 pp 28–37.
* Sacanell, Enrique. "El general Sanjurjo". Editorial La Esfera de Los Libros, Madrid (2004) {{ISBN|978-84-9734-205-6}}
* Slavin, David H. "The French Left and the Rif War, 1924–25: Racism and the Limits of Internationalism." ''Journal of Contemporary History'' 26.1 (1991): 5–32. [http://www.tifraznarif.net/pdf/articles/The%20French%20Left%20and%20the%20Rif%20War,%201924-25%20Racism%20and%20the%20Limits%20of.pdf online]

==External links==
{{commons category|Rif War}}
* Steven Thomas, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081218211945/http://balagan.org.uk/war/iberia/1909/index.htm 1920–1927 Rif War / Second Moroccan War]
* [http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/romeo/rif1919.htm The Rif War 1893] (''sic'') on OnWar.com.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061229175812/http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/cw/cwindex.html Chemical Weapons: Tenth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the CWC 7–11 November 2005, The Hague, The Netherlands]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071209134013/http://www.historynet.com/historical_conflicts/3036686.html Rif war]
* David Montgomery Hart, ''The Aith Waryaghar of the Moroccan Rif : an ethnography and history''. Published for the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research [by] University of Arizona Press, c1976.  xxiii, 556 p. : ill. ; 28&nbsp;cm. {{ISBN|0-8165-0452-0}} : Series Viking Fund publications in anthropology; no. 55, Notes. Bibliography: pp. 533–546. Tucson, Arizona, (1976)

{{Franco-Spanish conquest of Morocco}}
{{French colonial campaigns}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rif War| ]]
[[Category:Wars involving France]]
[[Category:Wars involving Morocco]]
[[Category:Wars involving Spain]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1920]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1921]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1922]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1923]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1924]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1925]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1926]]
[[Category:20th century in Morocco]]
[[Category:Berber history]]
[[Category:Insurgencies in Africa]]
[[Category:Separatism in Morocco]]
[[Category:Spanish Africa]]
[[Category:1920s in Africa]]
[[Category:African resistance to colonialism]]
[[Category:Wars of independence]]