#morocco

General Silvestre pictured in 1921, before his death, along with much of his army, at Annual.

July 22 1921, Annual–Spain had received a protectorate over portions of northern Morocco in 1912, but had not consolidated their power in the mountainous Rif, away from their strongholds in Ceuta and Melilla.  Many in Spain were opposed to colonial adventures in Morocco, and the First World War may have postponed Spanish action there, both due to economic hardship caused by the war and perhaps by uncertainty over Morocco’s status should Germany win the war.  However, by 1920, with Allied victory secure, King Alfonso XIII pushed for a Spanish military conquest of the region.

However, Spain would face severe opposition in the Rif, led primarily by Abd el-Krim, who had been imprisoned during the war for alleged pro-German intrigues.  The limited Spanish presence in the east outside Melilla was confined to blockhouses with limited ability to support each other and with unreliable water supplies.  Abd el-Krim’s men seized an outlying blockhouse and laid siege to another at Igueriben.  Spanish General Silvestre brought a relief expedition to the larger fort at Annual, arriving on July 21.  Igueriben fell that night, and the Rifians then surrounded Annual.  Silvestre finally realized that he had overextended his forces, and on the morning of the 22nd ordered an immediate evacuation and retreat back to the east.  However, the retreat almost immediately turned into a rout, and the Rifians, despite being numerically weaker than the Spanish, killed or captured at least 90% of the Spanish forces. Silvestre was killed in or committed suicide during the battle.

In the coming weeks, the Rifians overran most of the Spanish positions outside Melilla, killing at least 13,000 Spanish soldiers.  The “Disaster of Annual” launched Spain into an immediately unpopular war in Morocco, and much of the blame was placed on King Alfonso.  Abd el-Krim, in the meantime, was able to declare an independent Republic of the Rif in September.