french foreign legion in the rif

As an outcome of the Treaty of Fez (1912) Spain gained possession of the lands around Melilla and Ceuta. In 1920 the Spanish commissioner, General Dámaso Berenguer, decided to conquer the eastern territory from the Jibala tribes, but had little success. In 1921 the Spanish army in north-eastern Morocco collapsed when defeated by the forces of Abd el-Krim, in what became known in Spain as the disaster of Annual. The Spanish were pushed back and during the following five years, occasional battles were fought between the two. In a bid to break the stalemate, the Spanish military turned to the use of chemical weapons against the Riffians.
The Berber tribesmen had a long tradition of fierce fighting skills, combined with high standards of fieldcraft and marksmanship. They were capably led by Abd el-Krim who showed both military and political expertise. The elite of the Rifian forces formed regular units which according to Abd el-Krim, quoted by the Spanish General Manual Goded, numbered 6-7,000. The remaining Rifians were tribal militia selected by their Caids and not liable to serve away from their homes and farms for more than fifteen consecutive days. General Goded estimated that at their peak the Rifian forces numbered about 80,000 men.^[1].
The Spanish forces in Morocco were initially composed mainly of conscripts. While capable of enduring much hardship, these "Peninsular" troops were poorly supplied and prepared (few had marksmanship skills and proper battle training), with widespread corruption being reported amongst the officer corps. Accordingly much reliance was placed on the limited number of professional units comprising the Spanish "Army of Africa". Since 1911 these had included regiments of Moorish Regulares.
With the difficulties it faced the Spanish army began to adopt much from the French Foreign Legion and, as a result, a Spanish equivalent, the Tercio de Extranjeros ("Regiment of Foreigners", generally known in English as the "Spanish Legion"), was formed in 1920. The regiment's second commander was the General Francisco Franco, having risen rapidly through the ranks. Less than 25% of this "Foreign Legion" were, in fact, foreign. Harshly disciplined and driven, they acquired a reputation for ruthlessness.
In May 1924, the French Army had established a line of posts north of the Oureghla River in disputed tribal territory. On 13 April 1925, an estimated 8,000 Rifs attacked this line and in two weeks 39 of 66 French posts had been stormed or abandoned. The French accordingly intervened on the side of Spain, employing up to 300,000 well trained and equipped troops from Metropolitan, North African, Senegalese and Foreign Legion units. French deaths in what had now become a major war are estimated at about 12,000 Superior manpower and technology soon resolved the course of the war in favour of France and Spain. The French troops pushed through from the south while the Spanish fleet secured Alhucemas Bay by an amphibious landing, and began attacking from the north. After one year of bitter resistance, Abd el-Krim, the leader of both the tribes, surrendered to French authorities, and in 1926 Spanish Morocco was finally retaken.
The unpopularity of the war in Spain, however, and the humiliating initial failure of the Spanish military, contributed to the instability of the Spanish government and the military coup of 1923.