Friday July 22, 1921. The Disaster at Annul.

Spanish forces in Morocco, fighting in the Rif War, sustained a defeat at the Battle of Annul.   The defeat was crushing and involved the loss of the entire Spanish command right down to senior leadership.  Only a cavalry unit was able to maintain order and extract itself in a fighting retreat. Most of the command being made up of Spanish conscripts, they lost order quickly and were mowed down by Moroccan forces.

Bodies of Spanish soldiers killed in the battle being observed in January, 1922.

The disaster led to a Spanish retreat that would feature additional disasters.  Losses at Annul amounted to at least 13,000 Spanish dead out of a command of 20,000.

Spain was in Morocco, as was France, as part of an effort to expand its colonies into Africa.  Spain had, of course, a long association with Morocco, and it was frequently not a pleasant one.  Morocco had proven politically weak, but Berber tribes were highly organized and fielded what amounted to a regular army.  Spain in contrast garrisoned conscripts in the country who did not wish to be there, and its officer corps spent most of its time in non-military, and often low, pursuits.  Spain's military leadership believed that its forces would prevail, when the Rif Berbers went into war with them, simply because they were Spanish.

As an added comment on this disaster, It's interesting to note that it didn't instantly destroy the Spanish government and bring it down.  It actually did contribute to that, and a coup resulted in 1923, but it was a military coup, not a coup that tossed out the monarchy right that moment. That would take until 1931 when a democratic regime, albeit a very shaky one, was restored.

Additionally, for those who romanticize monarchy, and there are those who do, the Spanish crown was a Catholic monarchy but the military mission to Morocco was a moral sewer.  Prostitution was rife in the territory with Spanish prostitutes following the Spanish army into the region, resulting in a high social disease infection rate.  Officers were far from immune from this and the molestation of Moroccan women was common, which no doubt contributed to the rebellion.

Friday, July 22, 1921. The Douglas Aircraft Company founded.

On this day in 1921 the legendary Douglas Aircraft Company was founded in Santa Monica, California.

A manufacturer of legendary aircraft, particularly the DC-3, the company merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967.  The new McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997.