253: Alfonso the African

Abd el-Krim on the cover of Time magazine in 1925.

The Algeciras Conference in 1911 awarded Spain control of the Rif region of northern Morocco, known afterward as Spanish Morocco in the West.

Spain did not make a serious effort to secure control over the Rif until after the Great War. The 1920s saw a bloody conflict that eventually subdued the Rifians, but also led to the end of constitutional rule in Spain.

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Opening Theme

“Danse espagnole” from La vida breve
Composed in 1905 by Manuel de Falla. Public domain.
Performed by Carrie Rehkopf. Recording used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

3 thoughts on “253: Alfonso the African

  1. Mark, wonderful episode, with a concise but thorough explanation of complicated Spanish politic pre Civil War, something that is hard to find and rarely done. Thank you

    • In my rectilinear way of thinking about Spanish geography, I mentally label the Atlantic coast the “north” of Spain and the Mediterranean coast the “south,” but that twist in the neck of the Iberian Peninsula messes with my coordinates. Still, I would not call it northeastern Spain. I would call the Basque country the northeast. I probably should have just said eastern Spain.

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