In North Africa

News from the Spanish zone in Morocco continued to be grave. Director Primo Rivera, head of the military directorate that rules Spain, caused the War Ministry to issue an insignificant communication which purported to be significant:

“There is but one way out of the situation, and that is to fight the audacious Moor until he is beaten and his morale broken. We must meet every attack of the Moors with counterattack.

“This means war, and the only way to reply is by war, not only because of our dignity but also because of our spirit of solidarity and our instinctive sense of self-preservation.”

Both Spanish public and Moors have long since become used to such statements from a long succession of Spanish Governments. The Moorish rebels showed their contempt for such drivel by cutting Spanish communications between Tetuan, capital of Spanish Morocco, and Tangier, international zone lying at the extreme northwest corner of Morocco and opposite the great rock of Gilbraltar. This was by far the most decisive victory for the rebels in this year’s fighting* and a serious setback to the Spaniards.

The failure of Spain to pacify the Moors is due, from a military standpoint, to the mountainous country in the hinterland of Spanish Morocco. Movement of troops, maintenance of communications, so vital to distant garrisons, are some of the tremendously difficult problems with which Spain has to contend.

The inability of the Spaniards to quell the rebels in their area of Morocco caused grave apprehension in France and Italy. The map of Northern Africa depicts four areas whose inhabitants are under the suzerainty of foreign Powers: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya. Morocco is mainly under French dominion and is a remarkable example of how low the great Shereefian Empire has fallen; for, still a monarchy, it is subjected to the French Republic and is now of little or no political importance. Algeria and Tunisia are likewise French possessions, while the greater part of Libya belongs to Italy under the name of Tripolitania.

At heart, many of the inhabitants of these countries do not view with equanimity the rule of foreigners, although the world is led to think differently. Encouraged by the rebels’ success in Spanish Morocco, part of the native population under the sway of France and Italy began to growl. France and Italy claimed that the constant disorders in Spanish Morocco imperiled the peace of their North African possessions; the implication was that Spain must either keep her Moroccan house in order or get out.

*Fighting has continued sporadically since 1920.