France, Spain and the Rif

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This is a rare English account of an important but largely forgotten 20th century colonial conflict: the Rif War in which Spain, and to a lesser extent France, battled a persistent rebellion in their Moroccan colonies in the 1920s by Berber tribesmen under their charismatic leader Abdel Krim. Centred on the Rif mountains of northern Morocco, the rebellion featured ground breaking guerilla warfare in which the Rif rebels turned captured weapons on their colonial masters. As author Walter Harris observes, the war was a cruel conflict, featuring atrocities on both sides, and it prefigured many anti-colonial conflicts of the post World War Two period. The war also brought to prominence Francisco Franco, the future dictator of Spain, who became Spain’s youngest General during the fighting. Krim himself after surrendering, was forcibly exiled by France and never returned to his homeland before his death in 1963. However, his rebellion influenced other 20th century guerilla leaders including Giap, Guevara and Castro.