Rif War (1909)
Photos of the Plaza fuerte de Melilla around 1909.
| date | July 9, 1909 to January 1910 |
|---|---|
| place | Rif Mountains , near Melilla |
| output | Spanish Pyrrhic victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Sherif Mohamed Amezian El Chadly |
|
| Troop strength | |
| 35,000 men | 1500 |
| losses | |
|
2517 soldiers dead or wounded |
unknown |
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The 1909 Rif War, or War for Melilla, was a military conflict between the Rifabyls and Spain and took place over Melilla in 1909 .
This war was the second in a series of conflicts involving the name , after the Rif War (1893) . The Rif War 1921–1926 followed ; Spain won in it through the illegal use of mustard gas .
prehistory
In the Spanish-American War (April 25 to August 12, 1898) Spain lost its last significant colonies (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines). Spain then sought compensation for the lost prestige by expanding its influence in North Africa . The Compañía Española de Minas del Rif had concluded an agreement on the development and use of the local mines with Muley Mohamed, a competing caliph , whom Sultan Abd al-Aziz referred to as Bou Hamara ("father, owner of the donkey"). Abu Himara was kidnapped on August 8, 1908 by the most powerful Berber tribe in the region, the Banu Waryaghal (Aith Waryaghar in the Berber language). General Marina, the military commander of Melilla, made an unsuccessful request for troops in Madrid .
Another attack took place on July 9, 1909. Tribal members killed six Spanish railroad workers.
Spanish defeat
Following the events of July 9th, the Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Maura Montaner increased the troop strength of the Melilla garrison from 5,000 to 22,000 men.
The next day, Spanish troops came under fire from snipers near Melilla . General Marina decided to station six companies in Ajdir under the command of Colonel Álvarez Cabrera . The troops left Melilla in the evening but got lost on the way. At dawn, the soldiers were in the Barranco de Alfer (Alfer Gorge) when they came under fire from the slopes. Colonel Cabrera and 26 men were killed and 230 other men were wounded.
On June 26, the Spaniards suffered a second defeat in the Barranco del Lobo (Wolf's Gorge) when Marina sent another detachment to Segunda Caseta under the command of General Pinto . General Pinto and 153 men were killed and 600 wounded in an ambush.
Spain mobilizes
In Spain, 40,000 drafting orders were served on reservists in July 1909. When the defeat in the Wolfsschlucht in Spain became known, many Spaniards protested (" tragic week ") against this war. After the military defeat, all Spanish military operations initially had a defensive or preparatory character, the troop strength was increased to 35,000 men and heavy artillery was brought in from Spain. At the end of August the Spaniards began a new offensive and thanks to their now superior forces they managed to subdue the eastern tribes by January 1910.
The Spaniards enlarged the territory of the Melilla enclave towards Ras Tileta Madari and south towards Mar Chica . Another 2,517 Spanish soldiers were killed in these fighting.
consequences
Spain succeeded in expanding its dominion, but large parts of northern Morocco remained undisturbed. After the Treaty of Fez , Spain established the Protectorate of Spanish Morocco in northern Morocco in 1912 , but it was not until the Third Rif War (1921) that the Spanish were able to gain control of these areas.
Individual evidence
- ^ CR Pennell: Morocco Since 1830. A History . C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, London 2000, ISBN 1-85065-273-2 , p. 140.