Melilla is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of 12.3 km2 (4.7 sq mi). It was part of the Province of Málaga until 14 March 1995, when the Statute of Autonomy of Melilla was passed.
Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Karīm al-Khaṭābī, better known as Abd el-Krim, was a Moroccan political and military leader and the president of the Republic of the Rif. He and his brother M'Hammad led a large-scale revolt by a coalition of Riffian tribes against the Spanish and French Protectorates of the Rif and the rest of Morocco. His guerrilla tactics, which included the first-ever use of tunneling as a technique of modern warfare, directly influenced Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong and Che Guevara. He also became one of the major figures of Arab nationalism, which he actively supported.
The Rif or Riff, also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. It is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the Rifians and the Jebala people. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterranean to the north, and by the Ouergha River to the south. The Rif mountains are separated into the eastern Rif mountains and western Rif mountains.
Lalla Fatma N'Soumer was an Algerian anti-colonial leader during 1849–1857 of the French conquest of Algeria and subsequent Pacification of Algeria. She led several battles against the French forces, until her capture in July 1857. She was imprisoned until her death six years later. She is an Algerian national hero.
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 Spain and the Berber (Amazigh) tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco.
The Ait Ouriaghel or Ait Waryaghar is one of the biggest Riffian tribes of the Rif region of the north-eastern part of Morocco and one of the most populous. Ait Waryagher means "those who do not back off/ those who do not retreat". They inhabit most of the territory around the city of Al Hoceima. The Ait Waryaghar speak the "Western-Tarifit" dialect of the Riffian language.
The First Melillan Campaign, also called the Melilla War or the Margallo War in Spain, was a conflict between Spain and the Riffian tribes of northeastern Morocco, and later the Sultan of Morocco, that began in October 1893, was openly declared November 9, 1893, and was resolved by the Treaty of Fez in 1894.
The Second Melillan campaign was a conflict in 1909 in northern Morocco around Melilla. The fighting involved local Riffians and the Spanish Army.
Riffians or Rifians are a Berber ethnic group originally from the Rif region of northeastern Morocco. Communities of Riffian immigrants are also found in southern Spain, Netherlands and Belgium as well as elsewhere in Western Europe. They are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims, but retain their pre-Islamic traditions such as high status for Riffian women.
Moha ou Said El Wirrawi was a Moroccan tribal leader who opposed French rule of the protectorate of Morocco. He formerly served as a caïd of the Moroccan sultans and fought for Sultan Abdelaziz against Bou Hmara in 1905. After the Treaty of Fes and the start of the French protectorate he opposed the French through military action. He participated in several battles with French forces in the Zaian War but was eventually forced into the High Atlas mountains where he died in action in 1924. His followers continued to resist the French over the next ten years.
Ait Touzine is one of the biggest Riffian tribes from the central Rif region in Morocco.
Ait Oulichek is an Amazigh Riffian tribe located in the North-Eastern province of Morocco. Ayt or Beni is referred to as 'Descendants of' with the latter being the most common form of address of the Oulichek tribe until the recent Arabization in Morocco initiative.
’Mohammed Lhaj Slam Amzian' was a Moroccan politician, a member of the Democratic Independence Party and a veteran of the pre-independence guerilla Army of Liberation. He led the Rif Revolt (1958-1959).
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.
The Kert campaign was a conflict in northern Morocco between Spain and insurgent Riffian harkas led by Mohammed Ameziane, who had called for a jihad against the Spanish occupation in the eastern Rif. It took place between 1911 and 1912.
Abd el-Kader bel Hach Tieb was a Riffian tribal leader, caïd of the Bni Chiker, in northeastern Morocco.
1958 Rif riots, Rif Revolt or Rif uprising took place in the northern Rif region of Morocco by tribes rebelling against the Moroccan government, motivated by the region's marginalization. The revolt, led by Sellam Amezian, had a clear set of demands: political and social rights, the departure of foreign troops from the country, the return of the resistance leader Abd el-Krim from exile, the dissolution of political parties, the liberation of political prisoners, and the installation of a "people's government". The coups and protests aimed at overthrowing the monarchy of the sultan and king Mohammed V of Morocco and his Alaouite dynasty in Morocco and forming a democratic republic.
Zawiyet Sidi Amar Cherif, or Zawiyet Sidi Daoud, is a zawiya school located in Boumerdès Province in Algeria.
