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to some 400,000 square miles. Boundary
disputes with British and German colonies
continued until the early 1900s, and there
were periodic uprisings among the indige-
nous population until the eve of World War
I. The Salazar regime, building upon initia-
tives commenced during the B
RAGANÇA
period, endeavored to increase the number
of Portuguese colonists and to exploit the
natural resources that Angola possessed in
abundance. In 1951 the territory was pro-
claimed an “overseas province” of Portu-
gal. These measures were not sufficient to
preserve unchallenged sovereignty, and by
1961 an anticolonialist revolt had begun.
A massive deployment of troops and a
heavy expenditure of funds to sustain Por-
tuguese control proved ruinous to the
“mother country” as well as devastating to
Angola herself. Finally in 1974 revolution
in Portugal, precipitated in large part by
frustration with the African war, toppled
the regime. In 1975 the new Portuguese
government recognized the independence
of Angola.
Melilla region, General Manuel Fernández
Silvestre (who had repeatedly told superi-
ors that he had no need of help in conquer-
ing the “Moors”), made his first visit to
Anual in the last days of July to find the
situation rapidly deteriorating. After per-
sonally leading a failed cavalry attack to
relieve a nearby outpost he reluctantly
came to the same conclusion that Anual
was untenable. Word that a major rebel
force was advancing on the camp led to a
panicky flight by all but the general, who
apparently committed suicide rather than
leave his post. In the desperate and disor-
derly flight toward Melilla, most of the
Moroccan colonial troops deserted their
Spanish masters, who were overtaken and
slaughtered by the thousands. Melilla itself
was threatened by a rebel attack with only
an exiguous remnant of Spanish soldiers to
defend it. The prompt arrival of reinforce-
ments, notably a battalion of the Spanish
Foreign Legion under F
RANCISCO
F
RANCO
,
averted a final disaster.
The total collapse of the Anual cam-
paign, with all of its attendant circum-
stances of poor planning, incompetent
leadership, and inadequate support at
every level of authority, became a national
scandal. The Spanish political parties, from
Left to Right, denounced the government
and demanded inquiries into the inadequa-
cies of the army. There were increasing
hints that King A
LFONSO
XIII himself might
be publicly blamed for having encouraged
the reckless colonial adventure. Before the
full story of Anual could be laid bare, a
coup d'état was approved by the king and
carried out by General M
IGUEL
P
RIMO
DE
R
IVERA
. His dictatorship during the later
1920s preserved the prestige of the army
and, thanks to the cooperation of France,
Anual, campaign of
(1921)
In spring 1921 Spain launched a major
offensive against the Moroccan resistance
forces in the interior of its North African
protectorate. A total of 27,000 men was
deployed from the base at M
ELILLA
, with an
attack force sent into the interior to strike at
the major rebel leader, Abd el-Krim. By
July the bulk of this force, some 8,000
troops, was encamped at Anual (about 45
miles from Melilla). Poorly entrenched,
inadequately equipped, and lacking in sup-
plies of food, water, and ammunition, the
garrison at Anual found its situation increas-
ingly untenable. The commander of the
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