Africanists (Spanish : Africanistas) were the people who encouraged a strong colonial involvement of Spain in Africa, particularly in the early 20th century. Although Spain had been present in African territory for numerous centuries, it was not until the arrival of New Imperialism and the Berlin Conference in 1884 that the colonial power set its interests in African soil. Africanism emerged mainly from the loss of Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and various other islands in 1898 as a consequence of the Spanish–American War. Africanists sought to compensate for these losses by consolidating their possessions in Africa. Spain's colonizing Africa was smaller when compared to other European colonizers, even after losing their colonies in the Americas and Pacific, because there was a lack of public support to re-establish themselves as an empire. [1] Spain's economy recovered quickly after the loss of their colonies during the Spanish-American War, and the general population lost their fervor for maintaining an empire. [2] Countries like Italy which had started colonizing in the late nineteenth century colonized more than Spain because Italy had much more public support to create an empire. [3]
Within the army, Africanist officers espoused chiefly a conservative worldview with extreme-right views being common. [4] The extreme nationalism and anti-democratic views enabled a potential linkage with Fascism. [5] According to Sebastian Balfour, Africanist practices, intertwined with ideas on the "degeneration" of the Spanish masses, would become a core tenet of the ideology of "crusade" present in the 1936 coup d'etat. [6]
Spain decided to establish a protectorate in Morocco in 1912, and the government used the Spanish military to administer their new territory. After Spain's evolvement in Morocco, Africanism evolved into a military mentality found within the army that occupied the Moroccan territories. Much of the army, especially the officer class, developed an interest in Spanish occupation because it was easier for both officers and infantry to get promoted as promotion was based on merit and military accomplishments. Many of the officers in the army desired a distinguished military career which led to a growth of support of the movement. [7]
There was a growing rivalry within the Spanish military between the soldiers stationed in Africa, the Africanists, and the soldiers stationed on the Iberian Peninsula, the Junteros. Another difference between the two groups was that the Africanists were composed of infantry and cavalry, while the Junteros were composed of artillery units and the majority of the officers in the military. The rivalry began when a conflict of interest arose. After the Spanish-Moroccan wars, the government began to reward the army stationed in Morocco higher pay and quicker promotion. Many Junteros felt envy that they were paid less and lost prestige. The Junteros blocked any support directed to help the soldiers stationed in Africa as an attempt to weaken the Africanists. This rivalry also took different sides in the Spanish Civil War, with Junteros supporting the Republicans, while the Africanists supported the rebels. Francisco Franco was an important figure in the Africanist movement. [8]
Many Africanists supported the concept of empire due to a sense of nationalism. One of the justifications for Spanish imperialism in Africa was Hispanidad. This was the idea of racial superiority of the Spanish linguistic-cultural people over those of non-Europeans. The other justification that Africanists used to justify imperialism, specifically in Morocco, was Parentesco. This was the idea that claimed that the Spanish and Moroccans were racially similar, and thus they should be unified. [9]
The general Spanish public had no interest in imperialistic actions such as the administration of Spanish Morocco. [10] The public also felt resentment not only toward the Africanists, but the military in its entirety. This was due to the military's role to put down populist revolts. The growing alienation from the Spanish mainland pushed Africanists to adopt many Berber traditions found in Morocco, and they respected the Berber's military might and bravery. [11]
Alfonso XIII, also known as El Africano or the African due to his Africanist views, was King of Spain from his birth until 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He became a monarch at birth as his father, Alfonso XII, had died the previous year. Alfonso's mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as regent until he assumed full powers on his sixteenth birthday in 1902.
Emilio Mola y Vidal was one of the three leaders of the Nationalist coup of July 1936 that started the Spanish Civil War.
The Battle of Annual was fought on 22 July 1921 at Annual, in northeastern Morocco, between the Spanish Army and Rifian Berbers during the Rif War. The Spanish suffered a major military defeat, which is almost always referred to by the Spanish as the Disaster of Annual which is widely considered to be the worst defeat suffered by the modern Spanish Army.
The Ifni War, sometimes called the Forgotten War in Spain, was a series of armed incursions into Spanish West Africa by Moroccan insurgents that began in October 1957 and culminated with the abortive siege of Sidi Ifni.
Dámaso Berenguer y Fusté, 1st Count of Xauen was a Spanish general and politician. He served as Prime Minister during the last thirteen months of the reign of Alfonso XIII.
The Army of Africa, also known as the Moroccan Army Corps, was a field army of the Spanish Army that garrisoned the Spanish protectorate in Morocco from 1912 until Morocco's independence in 1956.
The Rif War was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between the occupying colonialists of Spain and the Berber tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco. The Rif Republic alone was able to keep a European middle power and great power in check for a time.
Amghar Sharif Mohammed Ameziane was a Qaid (Amghar) of the Rif Tribes and the main figurehead of the Riffian resistance against the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco before Abd el-Krim.
José Enrique Varela Iglesias, 1st Marquis of San Fernando de Varela was a Spanish military officer noted for his role as a Nationalist commander in the Spanish Civil War.
Manuel Fernández Silvestre was a Spanish general.
Francisco Gómez-Jordana y Sousa, 1st Count de Jordana, was a Spanish soldier and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the rule of Francisco Franco.
The Spanish Republican Army was the main branch of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939.
Alfonso Carlos Comín Ros was a Spanish industrial engineer, politician, and polygraph who carried out his work in Catalonia.
The Alhucemas landing was a landing operation which took place on 8 September 1925 at Alhucemas by the Spanish Army and Navy and, in lesser numbers, an allied French naval and aerial contingent, that would put an end to the Rif War. It is considered the first amphibious landing in history involving the use of tanks and massive seaborne air support. Alhucemas is seen as a precursor of the Allied amphibious landings in World War II, and the first successful combined operation of the 20th century.
The Guardia Mora, officially the Guardia de Su Excelencia el Generalísimo was Francisco Franco's personal ceremonial escort. It was formed in February 1937 from Moroccan personnel drawn from the Guardia Civil in Tétouan and the II Tabor of Grupo de Regulares de Tetuan No.1. Their white and red hooded cloak, based on the djellaba, was worn over the white parade uniform of Regulares officers.
Don Emilio Bonelli y Hernando was a Spanish military officer, author, explorer, colonial administrator and Africanist.
Guillermo Pintos Ledesma was a Spanish Army officer. He took part in the Third Carlist War, the Ten Years' War, the Moro conflict, and the 1895–1898 Cuban War. Promoted to brigadier general in 1905, he was killed in action at a ravine called Barranco del Lobo, during the Second Melillan campaign, leading a column of light infantry that was ambushed by Riffians at the foothills of the Mount Gurugu.
Emilio Blanco Izaga (1892–1949) was a Spanish military comptroller, ethnographer and architect, who developed his career in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco. He published a number of ethnographic and architectural essays on the Rif region.
The Spanish armored vehicle Schneider-Brillié model 1909 was the first armored vehicle to ever enter battle.
The 1926 Spanish coup d'état, also known as the Sanjuanada because it was planned to take place on the night of June 24, the Night of San Juan, was an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, who had been installed in Spain by another coup d'état in September 1923. It was the first coup d'état attempt against the regime.
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