Spanish Military Presence in Morocco: 1904-1923

The War in Morocco: Development and Consequences

The Origins of Spanish Military Presence in North Africa

The origin of the Spanish military presence in North Africa can be traced back to the Franco-British agreements of 1904. Spanish colonial intervention in the Maghreb was the outcome of the game of alliances and competing interests between Britain and France.

• Britain wished, for geostrategic and economic reasons, to maintain control of the Strait of Gibraltar.
• France sought to extend its domination over the Maghreb, securing and expanding its position in Algeria.

The signing of the Anglo-French agreements of 1904 meant the resolution of old colonial diplomatic differences. According to this commitment, the English government would support the territorial claims of France in Morocco against any expansion attempt by Germany, while the French government would back the British shares in Egypt. Both colonial powers reserved for Spain a small area north of Morocco, thus preserving the commercial and strategic interests of Britain.

Spanish Colonial Expansion in Morocco

The limits of Spanish colonial expansion in Morocco were dependent on the purposes and decisions taken by the British and French governments. Spain only wanted to ensure the safety of Ceuta and Melilla and exploit the mineral wealth of iron, lead, and zinc in the Moroccan underground.

At the Algeciras International Conference held in 1906, all European states and the U.S. acknowledged the agreements of 1904 and confirmed the rights of France and Spain over Morocco. However, the actual allocation of Moroccan territory was not done until the Franco-Spanish treaty of 1912.

Military Occupation and Challenges

The center and south were placed under French control, and the small northern area under Spanish control. The military occupation of this territory proceeded slowly because of its difficult topography. In 1909, Moroccan natives attacked the railway built near Melilla to exploit mineral deposits in this region. The Spanish troops were defeated in the Gurugú and Barranco del Lobo forests, suffering around 1,000 casualties. These events ended with the violent events of the Tragic Week of Barcelona.

Between 1912 and 1921, progress was slow, and the army proved unable to subdue northern Morocco. The main problem was that the three enclaves that Spain possessed—Melilla, Ceuta, and Larache—were isolated from each other.

The Annual Disaster

Finally, in 1921, the colonial army was defeated at Annual by Moroccan natives led by Abd el-Krim. About 12,000 Spanish soldiers died, and a large part of the territories conquered during the previous twelve years were lost, even threatening the city of Melilla.

The Annual disaster was a new colonial frustration for Spain, becoming one of the reasons argued by General Primo de Rivera to justify the coup in 1923.