Republic of the Rif جمهورية الريف (Arabic) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921–1926 | |||||||||
 Flag  Coat of arms | |||||||||
| Anthem: National Anthem of the Republic of the Rif | |||||||||
 Territory ofSpanish Morocco under control of the Rif Republic. | |||||||||
| Capital | Ajdir | ||||||||
| Official languages | Arabic[1] | ||||||||
| Common languages | Jebli Arabic,Tarifit | ||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||
| Government | ConfederalpresidentialIslamic republic under aTribalmilitary dictatorship | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1921–1926 | Abd el-Krim | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1921–1926 | Hajj Hatmi | ||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
• Established | 18 September 1921 | ||||||||
• Rif War | 8 June 1921 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 27 May 1926 | ||||||||
| Currency | Rif Republic Riffan | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Morocco | ||||||||
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TheRepublic of the Rif (Arabic:جمهورية الريفJumhūriyyatu r-Rīf) was aconfederate republic in theRif,Morocco, that existed between 1921 and 1926. It was created in September 1921, when a coalition ofRiffians andJebala led byAbd el-Krim revolted in theRif War against theSpanish protectorate in Morocco. TheFrench would intervene on the side of Spain in the later stages of the conflict. A protractedstruggle for independence killed many Rifians and Spanish–French soldiers, and witnessed theuse of chemical weapons by the Spanish army—their first widespread deployment since the end of theWorld War I. The eventual Spanish–French victory was owed to the technological and manpower advantages despite their lack of morale and coherence. Following the war's end, the Republic was ultimately dissolved in 1926.[2][3][4]
TheFrench andSpanish empires both colonized Morocco, and in 1912 theTreaty Between France and Spain Regarding Morocco establishedSpanish andFrench protectorates there.
France's general approach to governing the protectorate of Morocco was a policy of indirect rule, where they co-opted existing governance systems to control the protectorate.[5] Specifically, the Moroccan elite andthe sultans of Morocco were both left in control while being strongly influenced by the French government.[5]
French and Spanishcolonialism in Morocco was discriminatory against the nativeRifians andSahrawis and was highly detrimental to the Moroccan economy.Moroccans were treated assecond-class citizens and discriminated against in all aspects ofcolonial life.[6]
Infrastructure was discriminatory in colonial Morocco. The French colonial government built 36.5 kilometers of sewers in the new neighborhoods created to accommodate new French settlers, while only 4.3 kilometers of sewers were built in indigenous Moroccan communities.[6] Additionally, land in Morocco was far more expensive for Moroccans than for French settlers. For example, while the average Moroccan had a plot of land 50 times smaller than their French settler counterparts, Moroccans were forced to pay 24% more per hectare.[6] Moroccans were additionally prohibited from buying land from French settlers.[6]
Colonial Morocco's economy was designed to benefit French businesses at the detriment of Moroccan laborers. Morocco was forced to import all of its goods from France despite higher costs.[6] Additionally, improvements to agriculture and irrigation systems in Morocco exclusively benefited colonial agriculturalists while leaving Moroccan farms at a technological disadvantage.[6] It is estimated that French colonial policies resulted in 95% of Morocco's trade deficit by 1950.[6]
Following the allowance of its interests and recognition of its influence in northern Morocco through the 1904Entente Cordiale, 1906Algeciras Conference and 1907Pact of Cartagena,Restoration-era Spain occupiedRas Kebdana, a town near theMoulouya River, in March 1908[7][8] and launched theMelillan andKert campaigns against theRiffian tribes between 1909 and 1912.[9][10] In June 1911, Spanish troops occupiedLarache andKsar el-Kebir.[11]
The Moroccan independence presidentAbd el-Krim (1882–1963) organized an armed revolution, theRif War, against the Spanish and French colonial control of Morocco. The Spanish had faced unrest off and on from the 1890s, but in 1921 Spanishcolonial troops were massacred at theBattle of Annual. Abd el-Krim founded an independentRepublic, the Rif Republic, which operated until 1927 but had no formal international recognition.[12]
France and Spain did not recognize the Republic and collaborated to destroy it. They sent in 200,000 soldiers, forcing Abd el-Krim to surrender in 1926. He was exiled in the Pacific until 1947. Morocco became quiet, and in 1936 became the base from whichFrancisco Franco launched thefascist coup of July 1936.[13]
In 1921, localRifians, under the leadership of Abd el-Krim, crushed a Spanish offensive led byGeneral Manuel Fernández Silvestre at the Battle of Annual, and soon after declared the creation of an independent republic on 18 September 1921.[14] The republic was formally constituted in 1923, with Abd el-Krim ashead of state, and Ben Hajj Hatmi asprime minister.[15]
Abd el-Krim handed the Spanish numerous defeats, driving them back to coastal outposts. With the war ongoing, he sent diplomatic representatives to London and Paris, in an ultimately futile attempt to establish legitimate diplomatic relations with other European powers.[citation needed]
In late 1925, the French and Spanish created a joint task force of 500,000 men, supported by tanks and aircraft.[16] After 1923, the Spanish employed the use ofchemical weapons imported from Germany.[17] The Republic was dissolved by Spanish and French occupation forces on 27 May 1926, but many Rifguerrillas continued to fight until 1927.[18]
In April 1925, Abd el-Krim proclaimed the independent Republic in theRif region of Spanish Morocco.[19] He advanced south into French Morocco, defeating French forces and threatening the capital,Fes.[20] Theresident-general,Hubert Lyautey, was replaced as military commander byPhilippe Pétain on 3 September 1925.[21] On 11 October 1925,Théodore Steeg replaced Lyautey as resident-general with the mandate of restoring peace and making the transition from military to civilian government.[22] Lyautey received very little recognition for his achievement in securing Morocco as a colony.[23] Steeg would have been willing to give autonomy to the people of the Rif, but was overruled by the army.[24]
Abd el-Krim surrendered toPhilippe Pétain on 26 May 1926 and was deported toRéunion in the Indian Ocean, where he was held until 1947.[25] Théodore Steeg said Abd el-Krim was a great leader andnational andfolk hero, but Abd el-Krim wanted "neither [to be] exalted nor humiliated, but in time forgotten."[26]
Indeed, Abdelkrim, recognizing the inherent weakness of the short-lived Berber nation, sought to bolster his strength by making Arabic the language of his government, and evolving Arab administrative arrangements and rules of procedure.
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