Disaster of Annual

The "Disaster of Annual" was a grave military defeat suffered by the Spanish army on July 22, 1921 at Annual in northeastern Morocco during the Rif War or War of Melilla. The defeat led to a redefinition of Spanish colonial policy toward the Rif.

Related Topics:
Spanish - July 22 - 1921 - Annual - Morocco - Rif War - War of Melilla - Rif

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On July 22, 1921, after five days of siege, Spanish forces garrisoning the encampment of Annual under the command of general Manuel Fernández Silvestre after the contiguous position of Igueriben had fallen, were attacked and decimated by the Riffi irregular forces under the command of Mohammed Ben Abd el-Krim El Khattabi, a former functionary of the Spanish administration in the Office of Indigenous Affairs in Melilla and one of the leaders of the tribe of the Ait Waryaguil (known as 'Beni Urriaguel' in Spanish).

Related Topics:
July 22 - Manuel Fernández Silvestre - Igueriben - Abd el-Krim - Ait Waryaguil

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General Silvestre disappeared; his remains were never found. The whole Spanish military structure in the Western Spanish Protectorate in Morocco crumbled and fell into pieces. The majority of Spanish troops fleed in panic: Cannons, rifles, ammunition, hospital equipment… everything was abandoned to allow a faster escape. The behaviour of many officers did not set any standard of heroism or professionalism.

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Those few posts that tried to hold were massacred by the Riffian warriors. Only a few units maintained what ressembled some military discipline and chain of comand. Notably among those was the cavalry unit called Cazadores de Alcántara, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Fernando Primo de Rivera (who was wounded by a cannon in the Monte Arruit siege and died shortly after).

Related Topics:
Cazadores de Alcántara - Fernando Primo de Rivera

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The few Spanish forces who escaped alive retreated some 80 km to the encampment of Monte Arruit, under the command of general Felipe Navarro y Ceballos-Escalera, but this position, too, was surrounded and cut off from supplies, because of which, looking at the conditions, general Dámaso Berenguer Fusté, Spanish High Commissioner in the protectorate, authorized surrender on August 9. Nonetheless, the Rifeños did not respect the conditions of surrender and entered with blood and fire into the camp, killing many soldiers and taking General Navarro prisoner, along with some six hundred others.

Related Topics:
Monte Arruit - Felipe Navarro y Ceballos-Escalera - Dámaso Berenguer Fusté - Protectorate - August 9

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Melilla was only some 40 km away, but was in no position to help: Melilla itself was almost defenceless and lacked properly trained troops. The refusal of the adjoining tribe of Beni Sicar to join Abdelkrim (and perhaps some luck) saved Melilla.

Related Topics:
Melilla - Beni Sicar

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Spain quickly assembled its shock troops (La Legion and Regulares), which were deployed in the Eastern Zone of the Spanish Protectorate in Northern Morocco to save the city of Melilla from what would otherwise have been a certain fate.

Related Topics:
La Legion - Regulares

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In total, during the fighting took the lives of between 10,000 and 20,000 Spanish soldiers and about 1,000 Rifeños.

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The political crisis brought about by this disaster led Indalecio Prieto to say in the Congress of Deputies: "We are at the most acute period of Spanish decadence. The campaign in Africa is a total failure, absolute, without extenuation, of the Spanish Army."

Related Topics:
Indalecio Prieto - Congress of Deputies

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The Minister of War orderd the creation of an investigative commission, directed by the honored general Juan Picasso González, which developed the report known as the Expediente Picasso, which, despite calling out numerous military mistakes, owing to the obstructive action of various ministers and judges did not go so far as to lay political responsiblility for the defeat, which popular opinion widely placed upon King Alfonso XIII, who according to several sources had encouraged Silvestre's irresponsible penetration of positions far from Melilla without having adequate defenses in his rear.

Related Topics:
Juan Picasso González - Alfonso XIII

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This crisis was one of the many that, over the course of the next decade, undermined the Spanish monarchy and led to the rise of the Second Spanish Republic.

Related Topics:
Monarchy - Second Spanish Republic

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The Disaster of Annual seems to have been consciously erased from the collective Spanish memory, but two novels written in the immediate aftermath give a very good idea of the events: Iman, by Ramón J. Sender; and La Ruta by Arturo Barea.

Related Topics:
Iman - Ramón J. Sender - La Ruta - Arturo Barea

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