The Riffian Republic: Morocco's Forgotten Mountain State

In 1921, a Berber confederation in Morocco's Rif Mountains defeated the Spanish army at Annual — the worst colonial defeat since Isandlwana. For five years, the Riffian Republic, led by Abd el-Krim al-Khattabi, fielded its own army, minted its own currency, and nearly won independence. But his revolution also crushed local rivals, enforced strict Islamic law, and sold captured Spanish guns for gold. When France and Spain finally crushed the republic with chemical weapons — including mustard gas dropped by Spanish aircraft and possibly supplied by Germany — Abd el-Krim surrendered, but his tactics inspired Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara. This episode unpacks the forgotten republic: the battle of Annual, the siege of Melilla, the use of gas, and the legacy of a man who built a state from a mountain tribe. #RiffianRepublic #AbdElKrim #RifWar #Annual #Berber #Amazigh #SpanishColonialism #ChemicalWeapons #MustardGas #Melilla #Alhucemas #Morocco #20thCentury #Decolonization #GuerrillaWarfare #ColonialHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo