The Rif War was a colonial war in northern Morocco, in which Spain, and later France, fought the Berber tribes of the Rif mountains led by Abd el-Krim. The Spanish zone of the protectorate had been poorly controlled, and in 1921 a large Spanish column was annihilated at Annual, a disaster that shook Spain. Abd el-Krim then set up the Republic of the Rif and used guerrilla tactics to hold off the Spanish army. Spain used chemical weapons, including mustard gas, against civilians as well as fighters. When the Rifians attacked the French zone, France joined the war, and the combined Franco-Spanish force, with air power, forced Abd el-Krim to surrender in 1926.
Before and after
- c. 1921Birth of Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
- 19211st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
- 1921Publication of İstiklâl Marşı
- from 1921 to 19221921–1922 famine in Tatarstan
- from 1921 to 1927Rif War
- from February 1921 to April 1921February Uprising
- 22 February 1921Birth of Jean-Bedel Bokassa
- from 25 February 1921 to 1 January 1991Georgian SSR
- from 1 March 1921 to 18 March 1921Kronstadt rebellion
More in Wars, politics & history
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- from February 1919 to March 1921Polish–Soviet War
- 4 June 1920Treaty of Trianon
- 24 July 1923Treaty of Lausanne
- from 1 September 1939 to 2 September 1945World War II
- from 6 June 1944 to 29 August 1944Normandy landings
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.