The Coral Reef War is the last major confrontation in the centuries-old conflict between the people of the coral reefs in northern Morocco and the Spaniards. The Rif War, also known as the Second Moroccan War, occurred in the early 1920s between the Spanish colonial country (later supported by France) and the Moroccan Berbers in the Rif Mountains. From June to July 1921, tensions between the Spanish colonial army and the people of Del Reif in northern Morocco eventually led to a series of guerrillas led by Berber leader Abdul Krim attacking Spanish fortifications. In June 1911, the Spanish army launched an inland invasion to establish control over the Jebar, Gomala, and Rif Mountains (Scurr, 1985).
When the war entered its heaviest phase in 1924-1926, hundreds of European soldiers fled to Tangier from the ranks of both armies, because, in theory, the city’s international regime provided a safe haven outside the laws of the French protectorates and Spain and thus gave deserters the ability to avoid appropriate sanctions and ultimately return to their country of origin. As the case of Gouveia shows, the international city was the final destination of most of the deserters in the Rif War, not just Tercio, but other units of the Spanish Army, the French Foreign Legion, and the French army in general. Since 1925, after the forces of the Reef entered the French possessions in Morocco, the Spanish and French forces coordinated their actions against the Reef.
After a year of fierce resistance, the leader of the two tribes, Abdul-Krim, surrendered to the French authorities, and Spain and Morocco were finally conquered in 1926. Despite the victory, controversy over the war within Spain led to the military coup of General Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1923 and heralded the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. During the war, the Spanish army also carried out a thorough reform. With the establishment of the Spanish Legion and the recruitment of soldiers from the Moroccan regular army, the efficiency reached a new level. The annual campaign means the complete failure of the African campaign and the establishment of the Spanish Legion (Tercio de Extranjeros).
After the annual battle and subsequent clashes, Abd el-Krim cornered the Spanish troops even outside the Reef. The Spanish forces were driven back to Melilla, which was their largest base in the eastern part of the Reef. France decided to intervene and deployed its forces along the borders of Spain. They are attacked by the forces of the Reef, and the Battle of Ouargue takes place, which allows the French to enter the war. They attack the Reef forces from the south using controversial chemical weapons.
The Rif War, also called the War of Melilla, the Rif also wrote The Reef (1921-26), a conflict between the Spanish colonial forces and the peoples of the Reef led by Muhammad Abd el-Krim. It is no exaggeration to say that the participation of Portuguese soldiers in the so-called Rif War – a brutal armed conflict led by Spain and France against local rebels led by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi (Abdelkrim for short), which erupted in the Amazonian territory of northern Morocco between 1921 and 1927, is one of the most forgotten episodes in modern Portuguese military history. Others consider it one of the last colonial wars, as it was Spain’s decision to conquer the Reef – nominally part of their Moroccan but de facto independent protectorate – that catalyzed France’s 1924 accession.
On July 1, 1921, the Spanish army in northeastern Morocco was defeated by Abd el-Krim’s forces in what became known in Spain as the Annual Disaster, with some 8,000 soldiers and officers killed or some 20,000 missings. Led by Abd el-Krim, the reefs initially inflicted several defeats on the Spanish forces using guerrilla tactics and capturing European weapons.
In February 1923, Crimea proclaimed itself Emir of Rif, and in the summer he launched an attack on the Spanish outpost of Tizi Azza, stubbornly defended by the Americans, as Thersios was often called because many of their recruits were supporters. -Spanish Cuban refugees. The resulting stalemate, coupled with the fact that the Spanish high command clearly had no plans to win the war, led to negotiations between the Rithian and Spanish delegates at Melilla. This incident led to the call for reinforcements from Spain itself. They forced the Spaniards to dig for the winter and inflicted 2,000 casualties during the siege.
In a little over a year, the Spanish forces had almost regained their former positions, but Abd al-Karim used the supplies they left behind to equip the regular army. In June 1921, Spanish military intelligence warned that Abd al-Karims’ supporters might resist further Spanish advance despite 25,000 troops in the east. Abd al-Krim, who led the Reef campaign, laid siege to Sidi Drys, but this time Spain’s course of action was more successful: only 10 wounded against 100 killed Reefs. Reef’s attacks on Spanish garrisons and settlements continued throughout 1924.
On the southern border, French and Spanish authorities began to covertly collaborate to stop the flow of smuggling into the Republic of the Reef (Fleming, 1991). The Spanish zone was essentially the Reef, and the Franco-Spanish border ran north of the Ouarga / Verga River (Furneaux, 1967). Spain received some territories in the form of a protectorate in the land of North Africa, known as Spanish Morocco, which stretched over Tangier, Reef, and Ifni. This area bordered the ancient Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta and reflected Spain’s desire to re-establish a colonial presence after humiliating losses in the Spanish-American War (1898).
But in 1919, the Spanish army began to advance westward from Melilla to the Rif Mountains and formed a loosely organized coalition against it. Abd-el-Krim organized a large Caid del Rif committee in the Kama but was unable to persuade them to adopt a general policy against Spanish aggression (Furneaux, 1967). They demanded Crimea to hand over the strategic importance of Reeve to the French occupation and refused to compromise on the issue of autonomy, a position aimed at sabotaging negotiations. Acting against the will of the army, the Spanish government paid Abd al-Krim to return the prisoners of war at an annual event in July-August 1921 (Fleming, 1921).
The Spanish tank company (12 French Renault FT-17) was used to protect Tizzi Asa’s convoy (Renault FT-17 tanks in the Reeve War). Gera Reef; Spanish tanker Protegido (armored vehicle) before being sent to Melilla. 1921 Soon, five columns of French and Spanish armies passed through the canyons and valleys of the Great Barrier Reef and accepted the obedience of the villagers. This ceremony was marked by the cutting of the calf’s throat. At the end of August, the Spanish army in Melilla reached 36,000 under the command of General José Sanjurgio, and the slow process of rebuilding lost ground began.