Humanitarian assistance during the Rif War (Morocco, 1921–6): the International Committee of the Red Cross and ‘an unfortunate affair’

This article focuses on the role of the International Committee of the Red Cross (I.C.R.C.) in the Rif War (Morocco, 1921–6) and places humanitarian action in three inter-related contexts: the complexity of the international scenario after the First World War, the institutional architecture of the Red Cross and the developments in international humanitarian law. Challenging simplistic approaches to an otherwise historically overlooked affair, the article argues that the rather undignified role of the I.C.R.C. during the conflict was a result both of Eurocentric assumptions and international manipulation.