The Battle of Annual was a battle fought in Spanish Morocco between the Spanish Army of Africa and combattants of the Rif region. It was a major military defeat suffered by the Spanish army on July 22, 1921 at Annual in northeastern Morocco during the Rif War. The defeat, almost always referred to by the Spanish as the Disaster of Annual, led to major political crises and a redefinition of Spanish colonial policy toward the Rif. MIA is a three-letter acronym that is most commonly used to designate a combatant who is Missing In Action, and has not yet returned or otherwise been accounted for as either dead (KIA) or a prisoner of war (POW). ... Spanish Morocco, was the area of Morocco ruled by Spain from up to 1956, when France and Spain recognised Moroccan independence. ... The Spanish Army of Africa was a Spanish field army that garrisoned Spanish Morocco until Moroccos independence. ... This is about a region in Morocco: RIF is also an acronym/initialism. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Annual is a settlement in northeastern Morrocco about 120 km west of Melilla. ... Combatants Spain France Republic of the Rif Commanders Manuel Silvestre Dámaso Berenguer José Millán Astray Miguel Primo de Rivera Philippe Pétain Abd el-Krim Strength 465,000 regulars 15,000 irregulars Casualties 31,000 dead or wounded 54,000 dead or wounded The Rif War of 1920... This is about a region in Morocco: RIF is also an acronym/initialism. ...

In early 1921 the Spanish army commenced an offensive into north-eastern Morocco from the coastal regions previously held. The advance took place without the extended lines of communication being adequately established or the complete subjugation of the areas occupied.

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 destroyed 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 Aith Ouriaghel (known as 'Aith Urriaguel' in Spanish). is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Manuel Fernández Silvestre y Patinga and Pantiga (El Caney, Cuba, December 16, 1871 - Annual, Morocco, July 22, 1921) was a Spanish military general. ... 199. ... Aith Uriaghel (also called Aith Waryaghar in Tarifit; other variants include Aîth Waryaguil, Ait Ouriaghel and Ait ouriaghel is an Amazigh tribe of the region of Rif, in the North coast of Morocco. ...

General Silvestre disappeared and his remains were never found. The over-extended Spanish military structure in the Western Spanish Protectorate in Morocco crumbled. More than twenty Spanish posts were overrun and their garrisons massacred. At Afrau on the coast Spanish warships were able to take off the garrison and at Zoco el Telata de Metalsa in the south Spanish troops and civilians were able to retreat to the French Zone. Spanish Morocco, was the area of Morocco ruled by Spain from up to 1956, when France and Spain recognised Moroccan independence. ...

The surviving Spanish troops retreated some 80 km to the encampment of Monte Arruit where a stand was attempted under the command of General Felipe Navarro y Ceballos-Escalera. This position was however surrounded and cut off from supplies. Accordingly, 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 killed many of the refugees within the fort. General Navarro, along with some six hundred others was taken prisoner. Dámaso Berenguer y Fusté (4 August 1873 – 19 May 1953) was a Spanish soldier and politician. ... This article is about states protected and/or dominated by a foreign power. ... is the 221st day of the year (222nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Melilla was only some 40 km away, but was in no position to help: the city 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. Capital Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked  20 km²   Population  â€“ Total (2006)  â€“ % of Spain  â€“ Density Ranked  66,871    3,343. ...

Spain quickly assembled elite units of the Army of Africa which had been operating south of Tetuan in the Western Zone and had not accompanied Silvestre's forces in the advance to Annual. These mainly comprised the newly raised (1920) Spanish Legion and Morrocan Regulares. Transferred to Melilla by sea these reinforcements enabled the city to be held and Monte Arrut to be retaken by the end of November. The Spanish Legion (Spanish: Legión Española or simply La Legión), formerly Spanish Foreign Legion, is an elite unit of the Spanish Army. ... Regulares (Spanish for Regulars, officially called the Fuerzas Regulares Indígenas) was the name commonly used to designate the volunteer infantry and cavalry units of the Spanish Army recruited in Spanish Morocco. ...

The final casualty report to the Spanish Cortes listed 13,363 dead and missing (10,973 Spanish and 2,390 auxiliaries). Rifeños dead are estimated at about 1,000. Material lost by the Spanish included more than 20,000 rifles and 400 machine guns and 129 cannons.

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." Indalecio Prieto Tuero (April 30, 1883 - February 11, 1962) was a Spanish politician, one of the leading figures of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) in the years before and during the Second Spanish Republic. ... The Spanish Congress of Deputies (Spanish: Congreso de los Diputados) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spains legislative branch. ...

The Minister of War ordered 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 responsibility 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. Juan Picasso González (Málaga, August 22, 1857 - Madrid, April 5, 1935) was a Spanish military man and general who participated in the Rif Wars with the Spanish Army of Africa in late 19th century and early 20th century. ... Alfonso XIII (May 17, 1886 – February 28, 1941), King of Spain, posthumous son of Alfonso XII of Spain, was proclaimed King at his birth. ...

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. For the documentary series, see Monarchy (TV series). ... Anthem El Himno de Riego Capital Madrid Language(s) Spanish Government Republic President  - 1931–1936 Niceto Alcalá-Zamora  - 1936–1939 Manuel Azaña Legislature Congress of Deputies Historical era Interwar period  - Monarchy abolished April 14, 1931  - Spanish Civil War 1936–1939  - Surrender to Franco April 1, 1939 Currency Spanish peseta...

The Disaster of Annual is described in two famous novels -Iman, by Ramón J. Sender; and La Ruta by Arturo Barea-. Iman is an Arabic word meaning faith also a common name. ... Ramón José Sender Garcés (February 3, 1901 – January 16, 1982) was a writer born in Chalamera, Huesca in the autonomous region of Aragon in Spain. ... Arturo Barea Ogazón (b. ...

External links

• The Disaster of Annual (in Spanish).
• "La Guardia Civil en el Desastre de Annual", an article on this topic from the official site of the Spanish Guardia Civil (in Spanish).
• Rif War of 1919-1926 on OnWar.com

Río Nervión patrol boat, in Bilbao. ...

References

Much of the material in this article comes from the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia.

• Rebels in the Rif - Abd El Krim and the Rif Rebellion. David S. Woolman, Stanford University Press 1968.
• Next publication of Abd el-Krim`s biography in base of official spanish documents