The Spanish-Moroccan Military Campaigns in the Context of European Colonial History

Abstract

This essay explores ways of contextualizing the Spanish army’s Moroccan campaigns during the first decades of the twentieth century and the relatively peaceful period of occupation thereafter.  It does so by comparing aspects of the military history of Spain in Morocco with that of other countries.  The characteristics of colonial military history that this essay examines include the frequently inconclusive nature of imperial wars, the relationship between “hard” and “soft” military methods of conquest and occupation, and the role of cultural perceptions in shaping military behavior after the major combat operations have ended.   It argues that the Spanish military leaders shared with their European counterparts a tendency to think in conventional terms, seek decisive battles, elevate tactics to the level of strategy, and to neglect the political components of modern war, especially in its colonial manifestations.  The essay also makes an argument for studying military conquest and post-conflict occupation and administration as part of the same historical process, and it explores the relationship between kinetic and non-violent methods employed by the armed forces throughout this process.