Chapter 77: The Ouster of the Tyrant and Butcher, High Commissioner General Berenguer
General Dámaso Berenguer: The disgraced Spanish High Commissioner whose brutal tactics in the Rif failed to crush Moroccan resistance.
Chapter 77: The Ouster of the Tyrant and Butcher, High Commissioner General Berenguer
The Collapse of the Spanish High Commissioner
After realizing the immense danger confronting his forces—a direct consequence of his insistence on occupying the rugged mountain peaks—General Dámaso Berenguer submitted his resignation from the post of High Commissioner. This came sixty days after the Spanish occupation of Tazarout, when Berenguer found himself completely powerless to rescue his army from the relentless threats posed by the Moroccan Mujahideen (freedom fighters).
Back in Spain, public sentiment had turned fiercely hostile. The Spanish public began viewing Berenguer not as a commander, but as a criminal responsible for disaster, demanding he face trial before a military court. Outraged by their government's strategic failures, the Spanish people felt helpless to save their stranded soldiers trapped in the perilous heights of Jbel Abi Hashim. The Spanish troops, left without relief, were forced to seek negotiations with the regional leader, Sharif Moulay Ahmed El-Raisuni, whose base was situated within the caves of Jbel Abi Hashim.
Despite the fall of Tazarout to Spanish forces, the city was left battered and broken. Berenguer departed northern Morocco with no lingering hope of returning. Yet, right up until his retreat, he continued to watch the miserable state of his troops from his retreat in the mountains. Before his final departure, the butcher General sent a menacing surrender ultimatum to Sharif El-Raisuni, giving him a strict 72-hour deadline. Berenguer addressed Bouselham El-Ramiqi, saying:
"Your friend will be captured tomorrow and slaughtered in this valley just like a rooster. If he fails to surrender, I am capable of leveling this entire mountain over his head."
However, these threats were mere bravado. Arrogant and delusional, Berenguer soon found himself empty-handed—like someone attempting to grasp water with open fingers. He had dragged the Spanish forces deep into the treacherous terrain of the Rif and Jbala mountains, exposing them to freezing cold, starvation, and constant sniper fire from the Mujahideen. Ultimately, General Berenguer departed northern Morocco carrying overwhelming disappointment, leaving behind his shattered dreams of military glory. His original plan to fully subjugate northern Morocco from Melilla in the east to the French borders near Ksar El-Kebir by late 1921 had collapsed entirely. Thus, the tyrant was ousted from the North, defeated and stripped of his authority.
The Political and Military Shift (1922)
The reign of the tyrant General Berenguer officially came to an end on July 10, 1922. On July 15, 1922, General Burguete took over as the new High Commissioner, officially assuming his duties in Tetouan on July 20. Sent by the Spanish government under the guise of restoring order, Burguete attempted to repair the extensive damage caused by his predecessor's brutal policies.
The Spanish army in the northern mountains had fallen into dire straits. Supply lines were heavily disrupted; troops depended on mules to transport provisions from the cities to the occupied peaks, but Moroccan tribesmen consistently blocked these roads. It became virtually impossible for supplies to reach the front lines. Out of desperation, the Spanish military resorted to indiscriminate aerial bombardment, targeting innocent civilians in villages, markets, and fields. They slaughtered livestock, burned crops, and devastated agricultural lands to starve the population.
Despite using heavy artillery and modern airpower, Spain's military strategies failed to secure the region. Planes dropped supplies to stranded soldiers, but strong winds and fierce resistance from the Mujahideen caused most of these supplies to fall directly into the hands of the Moroccan fighters. Observing this strategic failure, local observers mocked Berenguer’s efforts, asking: "Where are your armies now, Berenguer? You have left them stranded in the mountain peaks with neither safety nor sustenance."
Propaganda, Resistance, and Strategic Failure
Following the temporary capture of Tazarout, Berenguer had initially enjoyed widespread praise among uninformed circles in Spain. The Spanish government hailed him as a national hero who had subdued the mountain tribes through what they described as "flawless military tactics." In reality, these tactics relied on terrorizing defenseless civilians—women, children, and the elderly—in rural villages and public markets.
However, the Mujahideen turned the tide through effective guerrilla warfare. Armed with basic rifles and weapons captured from Spanish forces, they established tight blockades along key mountain passes. Intercepting supply caravans, the Mujahideen seized vital food, arms, and ammunition, leaving Spanish garrisons completely isolated.
Spanish aircraft attempted to bypass these blockades by dropping food and military supplies from the air. Yet, due to poor navigation, adverse weather, and accurate ground fire from the Mujahideen, these air drops consistently missed their targets, falling into enemy hands instead.
This string of military failures threw the Spanish leadership into utter chaos. The grand strategy designed by General Silvestre and High Commissioner Berenguer had completely backfired. Capturing Tazarout yielded no strategic advantage; instead, it plunged the Spanish army deeper into an unwinnable war of attrition.
Eyewitness Account: The Terror of Aerial Bombardments
The sheer confusion and panic among the Spanish high command grew exponentially following the humiliating defeat and death of General Silvestre. Both commanders had shared a brutal strategy that inflicted massive civilian casualties through indiscriminate aerial and artillery bombardments on homes, farmlands, markets, and livestock. Spanish warplanes relentlessly hunted human targets across forests, valleys, and roads day and night.
The author shares a deeply personal account illustrating the human cost of this conflict:
"I must mention here the story of my late mother. A bomb was dropped from one of Berenguer’s warplanes while she was carrying lunch to my father, who was working in our family's farmland near the village. The bomb landed nearby and exploded violently, throwing her to the ground and covering her in dirt and debris.
The early bombs used in these raids created deep craters—about a meter and a half deep and three meters wide—blasting shrapnel upwards. Later bomb designs were modified to explode upon impact with the surface, spreading shrapnel horizontally to inflict maximum casualties on anyone standing nearby or hiding among trees and rocks.
When my mother regained consciousness from the shock of the blast, she checked her limbs to see if she was uninjured. Finding herself unharmed, she stood up and continued walking until she reached my father, relating the terrifying incident to him. Thanking God for her survival, she remained remarkably composed. It was not her habit to panic; while other women and children in the village would run to hide in caves beneath large boulders whenever they heard the roar of approaching warplanes, my mother calmly finished her daily household chores without fear. When we asked her about her courage, she would reply with unshakable faith: 'If God has decreed my survival, I am safe; and if death is written for me, no hiding place can save me.'"
The Final Retreat from Tazarout
On July 22, 1922 (corresponding to the 1340 AH calendar), General Berenguer returned from an inspection tour in Melilla and issued a final order to lift the siege on Sharif El-Raisuni at Tazarout.
The retreating Spanish force—consisting of approximately 60,000 soldiers stationed at the Khamis Bani Arouss military base—was fully equipped with heavy military hardware and combat gear. Under direct orders from the high command, the army executed a secretive, hasty retreat from the northern mountains, marking the definitive end of Berenguer’s disastrous campaign in the region.
See also the previous episodes linked below
The Raisuni Archives: Uncovering the History of the Northern Moroccan Resistance
Translated and Edited by Jaafar Lhioui
🌐 Digital Archive: northern-morocco-archive.blogspot.com
المشرف على منصة "أرشيف شمال المغرب" للتوثيق والبحث التاريخي.
تعليقات
إرسال تعليق
We value your valuable feedback on these archive documents. Feel free to leave a comment—signing in with Google is optional if you'd like your name attached to your contribution