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Documented comparison

Bougafer & Baddou: Two mountain resistances of 1933

Two mountain sieges in the same year, two distinct peoples, the same headquarters. What links them according to the documents, and what no document allows us to claim.

Explore Bougafer →Jbel Baddou, 1933 →

Bougafer — Jbel Saghro
Jbel Baddou — Haut Atlas

Synchronised timelines, January–September 1933

⚠ No consulted source establishes any military coordination, meeting or alliance between Assou Oubasslam and Zayd ou-Skounti. The links shown here are those the documents allow: the same French high command, shared units and officers, the same encirclement method.

Bougafer
Haut Atlas · Baddou

Bougafer

  1. February 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Order to “reduce” the Saghro
  2. February 1933Contested information
    The forces involved: incompatible figures
  3. 11 February 1933 – 15 February 1933Contested information
    Start of operations: four dates depending on the source
  4. 11 February 1933 – 25 March 1933Contested information
    The human toll: contradictory estimates
  5. 13 February 1933 – 14 February 1933Unverified information
    Skirmishes: mules captured and aircraft shot down
  6. 13 February 1933 – 20 February 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Eight days of delaying actions, then retreat into the Bou Gafer
  7. 15 February 1933Unverified information
    Fighting at Tizi n'Oulili and first requests for aman
  8. 16 February 1933 – 17 February 1933Unverified information
    Huré takes command in the field; Giraud's plane accident
  9. 18 February 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    120 tents of the Ait Yazza obtain the aman
  10. 20 February 1933Unverified information
    Foothold south-east of the Needles plateau
  11. 21 February 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Capture of the peak called “la Chapelle”
  12. 22 February 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Capture of a shoulder to the north, three attempts
  13. 23 February 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    First assault on peak 6, repelled
  14. 24 February 1933 – 25 February 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Failure of the western assaults; the 34th goum loses half its strength
  15. 26 February 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    A twenty-four-hour truce, then refusal
  16. 27 February 1933Unverified information
    The Resident General orders the assault resumed
  17. 28 February 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    28 February: the assault on peak 6 fails
  18. 28 February 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Death of Captain Henry de Bournazel
  19. 28 February 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Assaults halted, blockade ordered
  20. 1 March 1933 – 24 March 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    The blockade: families and herds besieged, bombardment
  21. 10 March 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    150 families leave the Bou Gafer
  22. 21 March 1933 – 24 March 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Four days of talks between the lines
  23. 24 March 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Negotiations between the jemaa and the officers
  24. 25 March 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    25 March: end of the fighting and aman agreement
  25. April 1933 – May 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    The last independent fractions rally

Haut Atlas · Baddou

  1. 1 May 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Battle of Msedrid (Aït Hdiddou)
  2. 8 June 1933Unverified information
    Ou-Sidi killed in an ambush
  3. July 1933 – August 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Mobile groups converge on the eastern High Atlas
  4. August 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    The last stronghold of the Baddou
  5. 5 August 1933 – 6 August 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Tizi n-Hamdoun and the Ghriss defiles
  6. 25 August 1933Unverified information
    Assault of 25 August
  7. 29 August 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    End of the fighting on the Baddou
  8. September 1933Confirmed by a verified source
    Fall of the Kousser

Comparison grid

AspectBougaferBaddou
Length of the fightingContested information13 February - 25 March 1933 (“forty-two days” according to Huré)late July - 29 August 1933 (“more than 50 days” according to Yabiladi)

Sources — 3 sources cited · 3 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. Benargane, 2025Full text consulted · Moroccan press
  3. Le Matin (dépêche MAP / Haut-Commissariat aux anciens résistants), 2021Full text consulted · Moroccan historiography
TerrainConfirmed by a verified sourceVolcanic Bou Gafer massif, Jbel Saghro (eastern Anti-Atlas)Limestone Baddou massif, Ouksersou peak (eastern High Atlas, 2,921 m or “nearly 3,000 m”)

Sources — 3 sources cited · 2 independent documentary line(s)

  1. — « 'Atta (Ayt) » — § 5Full text consulted · Academic research
  2. Peyron, 2013Full text consulted · Academic research
  3. Benargane, 2025Full text consulted · Moroccan press
CommunitiesConfirmed by a verified sourceAit Atta fractions of the Saghro (Ait Aïssa ou Brahim, Ait Yazza, Ait Ouanebgui, Ilemchan…)Ait Merghad (Ayt Ayssa Izem), Ait Hdiddou, survivors of Tazizaout, Ait Yafelman confederation

Sources — 3 sources cited · 3 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. — « Merghad, Ayt (Ayt Merγad) »Full text consulted · Academic research
  3. Peyron, 2013Full text consulted · Academic research
LeadersConfirmed by a verified sourceAssou Oubasslam (Ilemchan)Zayd ou-Skounti; Ali ou Termoun; Ou-Sidi (killed in June)

Sources — 3 sources cited · 3 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. Peyron, 2013Full text consulted · Academic research
  3. Le Matin (dépêche MAP / Haut-Commissariat aux anciens résistants), 2021Full text consulted · Moroccan historiography
French commandConfirmed by a verified sourceHuré; Giraud (east) and Catroux (west) groupsHuré; mobile groups of Marrakech, the Confins, Tadla and Meknès; Giraud receives Ou-Skounti

Sources — 3 sources cited · 3 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. Peyron, 2013Full text consulted · Academic research
  3. Wikipédia (français) — « Zaïd Ou Hsaïn Ou Skounti »Full text consulted · Encyclopedic synthesis
MethodConfirmed by a verified sourceAssaults from 13 to 28 February, then blockade with artillery and aviation from 1 MarchEncirclement, seizure of water points, artillery and aviation

Sources — 3 sources cited · 2 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. Peyron, 2013Full text consulted · Academic research
  3. Benargane, 2025Full text consulted · Moroccan press
Families and civiliansConfirmed by a verified sourceFamilies and flocks in the massif; 150 families cross the lines on 10 MarchWomen killed at night at the water points (Peyron); no figure

Sources — 2 sources cited · 2 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983 — p. 60Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. Peyron, 2013Full text consulted · Academic research
Known lossesContested informationFrench side: 22 killed (23 Feb), 64 killed and 115 wounded (28 Feb). Ait Atta side: 327 dead including 117 women according to Benadada (not verified at source)French side: 13 killed and 31 wounded on 25 August (Voinot, quoted). Defenders: unknown

Sources — 3 sources cited · 3 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. Benadada, 1999Full text consulted · Moroccan historiography
  3. Voinot, 1939Known through indirect citations · Colonial military
End of the fightingConfirmed by a verified sourceAman agreement of 25 March at Khouia Brahim: weapons kept after census, amnesty, no confiscationEnd of the fighting: Zayd ou-Skounti lays down his arms (29 August according to Wikipedia and the press); terms unknown

Sources — 3 sources cited · 3 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983 — p. 62Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. Peyron, 2013Full text consulted · Academic research
  3. Wikipédia (français) — « Zaïd Ou Hsaïn Ou Skounti »Full text consulted · Encyclopedic synthesis
AfterwardsConfirmed by a verified sourceAssou appointed amghar n-ufella; Iknioun post; 550 families rallied within two monthsOu-Skounti under house arrest then caïd; Zayd ou-Hmad fights until 1936

Sources — 3 sources cited · 3 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983 — p. 62-63Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. Wikipédia (français) — « Zaïd Ou Hsaïn Ou Skounti »Full text consulted · Encyclopedic synthesis
  3. — « Merghad, Ayt (Ayt Merγad) »Full text consulted · Academic research
MemoryConfirmed by a verified sourceNational commemoration, Iknioun stele, Bougafer 33 documentary (2010)Commemorated every 29 December by the High Commission for Former Resistance Fighters

Sources — 3 sources cited · 3 independent documentary line(s)

  1. allAfrica (reprise de dépêche), 2026Abstract / detailed record consulted · Moroccan press
  2. Baidou et al., 2010Abstract / detailed record consulted · Oral tradition
  3. Benargane, 2025Full text consulted · Moroccan press
Links between the two resistancesConfirmed by a verified sourceThe High Atlas tribes “had their eyes fixed on the Bou Gafer” (Saulay)No documented coordination or alliance with Assou Oubasslam

Sources — 1 sources cited · 1 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983 — p. 63Full text consulted · Colonial military
Verifiable historyConfirmed by a verified source

The same command

General Huré, commander-in-chief of the troops in Morocco, directed both campaigns. At Bougafer, the eastern group was entrusted to General Giraud and the western one to General Catroux; Captain Spillmann served in the Marrakech group. At the Baddou, Peyron names the mobile groups of Marrakech, the Confins, Tadla and Meknès, and it was General Giraud who received Zayd ou-Skounti according to Wikipedia.

Gérardin notes that after the Saghro the operations targeted the High Atlas “island” held by the Ait Hdiddou and the Ait Merghad: both campaigns belong to the same final phase of the conquest, planned by the same headquarters.

Assisted translation, not validated

Cautions

⚠ General Catroux's exact role at the Baddou: named by the Arabic Wikipedia, not confirmed by a consulted source.

◎ Antoine Huré◎ Henri Giraud◎ Georges Catroux◎ Georges Spillmann

Sources — 4 sources cited · 4 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. Peyron, 2013Full text consulted · Academic research
  3. Gérardin, 1987Full text consulted · Colonial military
  4. Wikipédia (français) — « Zaïd Ou Hsaïn Ou Skounti »Full text consulted · Encyclopedic synthesis
Verifiable historyConfirmed by a verified source

An echo, not an alliance

No consulted source establishes any military coordination, meeting or alliance between Assou Oubasslam and Zayd ou-Skounti. The two peoples were, moreover, historical rivals.

The documented link is one of attention: according to Saulay, “all the tribes not yet subdued had their eyes fixed on the Bou Gafer and were only waiting for a success by Asso to raise the standard of revolt”; the agreement of 25 March led, within two months, to the rallying of 550 families of the upper Dadès and the Imdghas. This judgement is that of the French officers; it shows that Bougafer weighed far beyond the Saghro.

Assisted translation, not validated

April 1933 – May 1933 · The last independent fractions rally

Sources — 2 sources cited · 1 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983 — p. 63Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. — « Anti-Atlas » — § 42Full text consulted · Academic research
AnalysisA historian's interpretation

Same methods, different terrain

In both cases, fighters entrenched with their families and flocks in a massif reputed impregnable; costly assaults, then encirclement, artillery, aviation and control of water and food; an end brought about by hunger, thirst and negotiation more than by assault.

The terrain differs: the volcanic spires of the Saghro, an extension of the Anti-Atlas, on one side; the limestone cliffs of the eastern High Atlas, around 3,000 m, on the other. And the outcome is unevenly documented: the terms of the 25 March aman are known through Saulay, those of the Baddou through no consulted document.

Assisted translation, not validated

Sources — 3 sources cited · 3 independent documentary line(s)

  1. Saulay, 1983Full text consulted · Colonial military
  2. Peyron, 2013Full text consulted · Academic research
  3. — « 'Atta (Ayt) » — § 5Full text consulted · Academic research