France and the Rif War: Lessons from a Forgotten Counterinsurgency War (Northern Morocco - April 1925 - May 1927)

The Rif War Northern Morocco 1925-1927 experience is relevant to fuel the debate on contemporary counter insurgency, especially because of the numerous and obvious analogies between the Rif and the Afghan theater of operations. The Rif War was neither a small war among others, nor a WWI type battle it was one of the first examples of modern irregular and asymmetric warfare. The French Army had to synthesize its colonial warfare and its conventional operational art to defeat the Riffans. Experts in guerilla tactics and able to leverage modern weapons and propaganda, Abd EI Krims partisans were both the followers of the Berber warriors and the forerunners of the modern revolutionary fighters. Therefore, the Rif War unquestionably provides useful insights for contemporary warfighters, especially with regard to the simultaneous conduct of military and political operations.