Rif War The Rif War , also called the Second Moroccan War , was fought in the early 1920s between the colonial power Spain ( later assisted by France ) and the Moroccan Berbers of the Rif mountainous region . Spain and France in combined action in 1926 won a decisive victory . Douglas Porch says the rebellion against Spanish rule was a precursor to the nationalistic , radical , anticolonial revolutions in the Third World after World War II . Led by Abd al - Karim , the Rifs at first defeated the Spanish forces by using guerrilla tactics and captured European weapons . After France ' s entry into the conflict and the massive landing of Spanish troops at Al Hoceima , el - Krim surrendered to the French and went to exile . Despite victory , controversy in Spain over the conduct of the war led to a military coup by General Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1923 and foreshadowed the Spanish Civil War of 1936 - 39 . Forces involved . Rifian forces . The Berber tribesmen had a long tradition of fierce fighting skills , combined with high standards of fieldcraft and marksmanship . They were capably led by Muhammad Ibn ' Abd al - Karim al - Khattabi , commonly called Abd al - Karim , who showed both military and political expertise . However , the Rifian regular army was never a very large force . The elite of the Rifian forces formed regular units which according to Abd el - Krim , quoted by the Spanish General Manuel Goded , numbered 6 , 000 to 7 , 000 . Other sources put it much lower , at around 2 , 000 to 3 , 000 . The remaining Rifians were tribal militia selected by their Caids and not liable to serve away from their homes and farms for more than fifteen consecutive days . General Goded estimated that at their peak , in June 1924 , the Rifian forces numbered about 80 , 000 men , although Abd el - Krim was never able to arm more than 20 , 000 men at a time . In the final days of the war Rifian forces numbered about 12 , 000 men . In addition Rifian forces were not well armed , with weapons badly maintained and in poor condition . Spanish forces . Initially , the Spanish forces in Morocco were largely composed of conscripts and reservists from Spain itself . These " Peninsular " troops were poorly supplied and prepared , few had marksmanship skills and proper battle training , and widespread corruption was reported amongst the officer corps , reducing supplies and morale . Even with their numerical superiority , they proved no match for the highly skilled and motivated Rifian forces . Accordingly , much reliance came to be placed on the mainly professional units comprising Spain ' s " Army of Africa " . Since 1911 , these had included regiments of Moroccan Regulares , who proved to be excellent soldiers . Following the difficulties and setbacks that it had experienced , the Spanish army began to adopt much in organization and tactics from the French North African forces garrisoning most of Morocco and neighboring Algeria . Particular attention was paid to the French Foreign Legion and a Spanish equivalent , the Tercio de Extranjeros ( " Regiment of Foreigners " ) , known in English as the " Spanish Legion " , was formed in 1920 . The regiment ' s second commander was General Francisco Franco , having risen rapidly through the ranks . Less than 25 % of this " Foreign Legion " were , in fact , non - Spanish . Harshly disciplined and driven , they quickly acquired a reputation for ruthlessness . As their number grew , the Spanish Legion and the Regulares increasingly led offensive operations after the disasters that had been suffered by the conscript forces . Course of war . Early stages . As an outcome of the Treaty of Fez ( 1912 ) Spain gained possession of the lands around Melilla and Ceuta . In 1920 , the Spanish commissioner , General Dámaso Berenguer , decided to conquer the eastern territory from the Jibala tribes , but had little success . On 1 July 1921 , the Spanish army in north - eastern Morocco collapsed when defeated by the forces of Abd el - Krim , in what became known in Spain as the disaster of Annual , some 8 , 000 soldiers and officers reported killed or disappeared out of some 20 , 000 . The Spanish were pushed back and during the following five years , occasional battles were fought between the two . The Rifian forces advanced to the east and captured over 130 Spanish military posts . By late August 1921 , Spain lost all the territories it had gained since 1909 . Spanish troops were pushed back to Melilla , which was their biggest base in the eastern Rif . Spain still had 14 , 000 soldiers in Melilla . However Abd el - Krim ordered his forces not to attack the town . He subsequently told the writer J . Roger - Matthieu that since citizens of other European nations were residing in Melilla , it was feared they would intervene in the war should their citizens come to harm . Other reasons included the dispersal of Rifian fighters from several loosely allied tribes following the victory at Annual ; and the arrival in Melilla of substantial reinforcements from the Legion and other Spanish units recalled from operations in western Morocco . By the end of August Spanish forces at Melilla numbered 36 , 000 under General Jose Sanjurjo and the slow process of recovering the lost territory could begin . Thus the Spanish could keep their biggest base in the eastern Rif . Later Abd el - Krim would admit : " " I bitterly regret this order . It was my biggest mistake . All the following tenor of events happened because of this mistake . " " By January 1922 the Spanish had retaken their major fort at Monte Arruit ( where they found the bodies of 2 , 600 of the garrison ) and had reoccupied the coastal plain as far as Tistutin and Batel . The Rifian forces had consolidated their hold of the inland mountains and stalemate was reached . Even Spanish command of the sea was uncertain and in March a Spanish warship was sunk in Alhucemas Bay by Rifian artillery . In 1924 , during fighting at Dar Aquba , Abd el - Krim ' s men inflicted a staggering loss on the Spanish colonial forces , killing over 10 , 000 men . In a bid to break the stalemate , the Spanish military turned to the use of chemical weapons against the Riffians . French intervention . In May 1924 , the French Army had established a line of posts north of the Oureghla River in disputed tribal territory . On 12 April 1925 , an estimated 8 , 000 Rifians attacked this line and in two weeks over 40 of 66 French posts had been stormed or abandoned . French casualties exceeded 1 , 000 killed , 3 , 700 wounded and 1 , 000 missing - representing losses of over 20 percent of the French forces deployed in the Rif . The French accordingly intervened on the side of Spain , employing up to 160 , 000 well trained and equipped troops from Metropolitan , North African , Senegalese and Foreign Legion units . With total Spanish forces now numbering about 90 , 000 the Rifian forces were now seriously outnumbered by their Franco - Spanish opponents . French deaths in what had now become a major war are estimated at about 12 , 000 . Outcome . For the final attack commencing on 8 May 1926 , the French and Spanish had ranged 123 , 000 men , supported by 150 aircraft , against 12 , 000 Rifians . Superior manpower and technology soon resolved the course of the war in favour of France and Spain . The French troops pushed through from the south while the Spanish fleet and army secured Alhucemas Bay by an amphibious landing , and began attacking from the north . After one year of bitter resistance , Abd el - Krim , the leader of both the tribes , surrendered to French authorities , and in 1926 Spanish Morocco was finally retaken . However , the unpopularity of the war in Spain and the earlier humiliations of the Spanish military contributed to the instability of the Spanish government and the military coup of 1923 . References . SACANELL , Enrique . " El general Sanjurjo " . Editorial La Esfera de Los Libros , Madrid ( 2004 ) ISBN 978 - 84 - 9734 - 205 - 6 Series Viking Fund publications in anthropology ; no . 55 , Notes . Bibliography : pages 533 - 546 . " Tucson , Arizona , ( 1976 )