Battle of Annual
The disaster for the Spanish Army in Morocco in the Summer of 1921, which included the defeat at the Battle of Annual and the ensuing slaughter of about 2,000 Spanish soldiers in Monte Arruit, murdered by the Riffians after their surrender, delivered a "coup de grâce" to the regime of the Restoration. The Armed forces polarised to great lengths between "africanistas" vs. "junteros" and "responsibilists" vs. "impunists". Berenguer sanctioned the deployement of chemical weapons against civilians during the Rif War, stating in a telegram communication directed to the War Minister in August 1921 that "I have been obstinately refractary to the use of suffocating gases against these indigenous peoples but after what they have done, and of their treacherous and deceptive conduct, I have to use them with true joy."