This thesis examines the course and political
action of the war in the Rif mountains in northern Morocco
between 1921 and 1926.
After the declaration of a joint Franco-Spanish
Protectorate over Morocco in 1912, the Spanish army
attempted to impose its authority over the part of north
Morocco which was included in its zone. After the end of
the First World War the Spanish were opposed in their
efforts by a slowly growing coalition of tribes in the
central Rif mountains. After the emergence of Mubammad
bin 'Abd al-Karim al-Khattdbl as leader of the coalition,
it was able to inflict a series of military defeats on the
Spanish in the summer of 1921, a success which led to the'
expansion of the coalition and, in 1923, to the announcement
of an independent state in the Rif under the leadership of
bin 'Abd al-Karim.
This state was able to defeat another Spanish army
in 1924 and, in 1925, to inflict a series of defeats upon
the French army in that, country's zone of Protectorate,
before an alliance between France and Spain crushed the new
state in 1926.
Previous work has concentrated more on the
military aspects of the conflict from a European point of
view, and examination of the Moroccan side has dwelt almost
exclusively on the personality of the Rifi leader, bin 'Abd
al-Karim. This thesis, however, is concerned with the
political and social aspects of the war from the Moroccan
point of view. While it recognises the importance of bin
'Abd al-Karim, it tries to explain his role in terms of his
political position in Rifi society as'a whole. It examines
his political, social. and religious reforms'l not only from
the point of view of their importance in the overall--
movement for Islamic reform, but also from that of their
practical necessity and effects.