All Topics  
Italian Libya

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Italian Libya
 
 
  Topics Italian Libya Topic Home

Italian Libya was a unified colony of Italian North Africa
Italian North Africa

Italian North Africa was the aggregate of territories and colonies controlled by Italy in North Africa from 1912 until World War II. Italian North Africa, unlike Italian East Africa existed in two phases: from 1912 to 1934, as Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, and after 1934, as Italian Libya....
 (Africa Settentrionale Italiana, or ASI) established in 1934 in what represents present-day Libya
Libya

Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
. Italian Libya was formed from the colonies of Cyrenaica
Italian Cyrenaica

Italian Cyrenaica was formed in 1927, after it and Italian Tripolitania became independent colonial entities within Italian North Africa. Cyrenaica includes the eastern half of Libya....
 and Tripolitania
Italian Tripolitania

Italian Tripolitania was formed in 1927, after it and Italian Cyrenaica became independent colonial entities within Italian North Africa. Tripolitania includes the western half of Libya. In 1934, Tripolitania became part of Italian Libya....
 which were taken by Italy from the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
 in 1912 after the Italo-Turkish War
Italo-Turkish War

The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy from September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912....
 of 1911 to 1912.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Italian Libya'
Start a new discussion about 'Italian Libya'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Italian Libya was a unified colony of Italian North Africa
Italian North Africa

Italian North Africa was the aggregate of territories and colonies controlled by Italy in North Africa from 1912 until World War II. Italian North Africa, unlike Italian East Africa existed in two phases: from 1912 to 1934, as Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, and after 1934, as Italian Libya....
 (Africa Settentrionale Italiana, or ASI) established in 1934 in what represents present-day Libya
Libya

Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
. Italian Libya was formed from the colonies of Cyrenaica
Italian Cyrenaica

Italian Cyrenaica was formed in 1927, after it and Italian Tripolitania became independent colonial entities within Italian North Africa. Cyrenaica includes the eastern half of Libya....
 and Tripolitania
Italian Tripolitania

Italian Tripolitania was formed in 1927, after it and Italian Cyrenaica became independent colonial entities within Italian North Africa. Tripolitania includes the western half of Libya. In 1934, Tripolitania became part of Italian Libya....
 which were taken by Italy from the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
 in 1912 after the Italo-Turkish War
Italo-Turkish War

The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy from September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912....
 of 1911 to 1912. Both Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, along with Fezzan
Fezzan

Fezzan is a south-western region of modern Libya. It is largely desert but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise inhospitable Sahara....
, were merged into Italian Libya in 1934. The colony expanded after concessions were made from the British colony of Sudan
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan referred to the manner by which Sudan was administered between 1899 and 1956, when it was a condominium of Egypt and the United Kingdom....
 and a territorial agreement with Egypt
Kingdom of Egypt

The Kingdom of Egypt was the first modern Egypt, lasting from 1922 to 1953. The Kingdom was created in 1922 when the British granted independence to Egypt, a de facto colony, in order to suppress growing nationalism....
. Libya was lost as a colony in 1943 when it was occupied by the Allied powers in World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
.

Colonial Policy under Fascism

Initially the Fascist regime took a hard line against Libyan Arab nationalists who had been fighting a civil war for independence for many years under the leadership of Omar Mukhtar
Omar Mukhtar

Omar Mukhtar was from the wiktionary:tribe of Mnifa, born in a small village called Janzour located in the eastern part of Barqa. He was the leader of the resistance movement against the Kingdom of Italy colonization of Libya for more than twenty years....
. Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, Order of the Bath Sovereign Military Order of Malta Order of the Tower and Sword was an Italy politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
 sent Rodolfo Graziani
Rodolfo Graziani

Rodolfo Graziani, Marquess di Neghelli , was an officer in the Kingdom of Italy Regio Esercito who led military expeditions in Africa before and during World War II....
 to lead military forces to crush Mukhtar's resistance. The Arab resistance movement was violently crushed and Mukhtar was executed in 1931. In the aftermath of the violence, Mussolini attempted to improve the image of his government to Libyan Arabs and pursued policies to woo the trust of Arab leaders there. In December 1934, individual freedom, inviolability of home and property, right to join the military or civil administrations, and the right to freely pursue a career or employment were guaranteed to Libyans
Libyans

The Libyans are a female-fronted hardcore punk band formed in early 2007 in Somerville, Massachusetts, Massachusetts. The band uses a completely-DIY approach to music, having self-released every recording....
. and in a famous trip to Libya in 1937, a propaganda event was created when on March 18 he posed with Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 dignitaries who gave him an honorary "Sword of Islam" (that had actually been made in Florence
Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
) which was to symbolize Mussolini as a protector of the Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
 Arab peoples there. In 1939, laws were passed that allowed Muslims to be permitted to join the National Fascist Party
National Fascist Party

The National Fascist Party was an Italy party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Fascism . The party ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under an authoritarian system....
 and in particular the Muslim Association of the Lictor
Muslim Association of the Lictor

The Muslim Association of the Lictor was created in 1939 as the Muslim branch of the National Fascist Party of Italy found largely in Italian Libya....
 (Associazione Musulmana del Littorio), and the 1939 reforms allowed the creation of Libyan military units within the Italian army.

During the Fascism
Fascism

Fascism is a Political radicalism, Authoritarianism Nationalism ideology that aims to create a single-party state with a government led by a dictator who seeks national unity and development by requiring individuals to subordinate self-interest to the collective interest of the nation or Race ....
 many Italians moved to Libya and colonized the coastal areas. In 1940 the Libyan Italians
Libyan Italians

Italian Libyans typically refers to Italians, and their descendants, who have resided or have been born in Libya....
 were nearly 110,000, or 12% of the total population of Libya. The governor Italo Balbo
Italo Balbo

Italo Balbo was an Kingdom of Italy Blackshirt leader, Marshal of the Air Force , Governor-General of Italian Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa , and the "heir apparent" to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini....
 developed the Italian Libya from 1934 to 1940, creating a huge infrastructure (from 4,000 km of roads to 400 km of narrow gauge
Narrow gauge

A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of or less....
 railways to new industries and to dozen of new agricultural villages).

World War II

A number of major battles took place in Libya during the North African campaign
North African campaign

During World War II, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 16 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libya and Egypt deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia ....
 of World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
. In September 1940, the Italian invasion of Egypt
Italian invasion of Egypt

The Italian Invasion of Egypt was an Kingdom of Italy offensive action against United Kingdom, Commonwealth of Nations, and Free French Forces forces during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II....
 was launched from Libya. Starting in December of the same year, the British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 launched a counterattack
Counterattack

A counterattack is a military military tactics used by some or all of a defense against their attackers. The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy in attack and the specific objectives are usually to regain lost ground or to destroy attacking enemy units....
 called Operation Compass
Operation Compass

Operation Compass was the first major Allies of World War II military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during World War II. It resulted in United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations forces pushing across a great stretch of Libya and capturing almost all of Cyrenaica and over 113,000 Italian soldiers and over 700 guns with very few c...
 and the Italian forces were pushed back into Libya. After losing all of Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica

Cyrenaica or Cirenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya and also an ex-province or state of the country in the pre-1963 administrative system....
 and almost all of its Tenth Army, Italy asked for German assistance to aide the failing North African Campaign
North African campaign

During World War II, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 16 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libya and Egypt deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia ....
.

With German support, the lost Libyan territory was regained and by the conclusion of Operation Brevity
Operation Brevity

Operation Brevity was a limited offensive conducted in mid-May 1941, during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. Conceived by the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Command, General Archibald Wavell, Brevity was intended to be a rapid blow against weak Axis powers front-line forces in the Sallum?Fort Capuzzo?Bardia, Libya a...
, German and Italian forces were entering Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
. The Siege of Tobruk
Siege of Tobruk

The Siege of Tobruk was a lengthy confrontation between Axis Powers and Allies of World War II forces in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II....
 in April 1941, where German General Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel

Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , was perhaps the most famous Germany Generalfeldmarschall of World War II. He was the commander of the Afrika Korps and became known for the skillful military campaigns he waged on behalf of the Wehrmacht in North Africa....
's forces were defeated, marked the first failure of Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg

Blitzkrieg is "a headline word applied retrospectively to describe a military doctrine of an all-mechanized force concentration its attack on a small section of the enemy front then, once the latter is pierced, proceeding without regard to its flank." As British military historian Sir John Keegan has noted, it was an idea which owed its cre...
 tactics. Defeat during the Second Battle of El Alamein
Second Battle of El Alamein

The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. The battle lasted from 23 October to 5 November 1942....
 in Egypt spelled the doom of the Axis forces in Libya and meant the end of the Western Desert Campaign
Western Desert Campaign

The Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War was the initial stage of the North African Campaign of World War II.From the start, the Western Desert Campaign was a continuous back-and-forth struggle....
.

In February 1943, retreating German and Italian forces were forced to abandon Libya as they were pushed out of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania
Tripolitania

Tripolitania or Tripolitana is a historic region and former province of Libya, situated alongside Cyrenaica and Fezzan). The system of administrative divisions that included Tripolitania was abolished in the early 1970s in favour of a system of smaller-size municipality or baladiyah ....
, thus ending Italian jurisdiction and control over Libya.

After WWII


Italy surrendered in the Peace Treaty of 1947 all his colonies, including Libya.

The final defeat of Italy in World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 and the era of international decolonization
Decolonization

Decolonisation refers to the undoing of colonialism, the establishment of governance or authority through the creation of settlements by another country or jurisdiction....
 fostered an exodus of Italians from Libya when Libya became a country
Country

Country may refer to the territory of a state, or to a smaller, or former, political division of a geographical region. In another meaning of the word, the country is also a term used to refer to rural areas....
.

The Italian population virtually disappeared after Libyan president Muammar al-Qaddafi ordered the expulsion of Italians in 1970.

Only a few hundred of them have been allowed to return to Libya in the 2000s.

See also

  • Italian invasion of Libya
  • History of Libya as Italian Colony
    History of Libya as Italian Colony

    The attempted Italian colonization of the Ottoman Empire provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica was initially not successful and only in the 1930s did the Kingdom of Italy took full control of the area....
  • Frontier Wire (Libya)
    Frontier Wire (Libya)

    The Frontier Wire was 271 kilometer obstacle in Libya, near the border of Egypt, running from El Ramleh down to Al-Jaghbub. It was built by Kingdom of Italy , under the command of General Rodolfo Graziani, in the winter of 1931/1932 due the History of Libya as Italian Colony with Omar Mukhtar's Senussi resistors....
  • Italian North Africa
    Italian North Africa

    Italian North Africa was the aggregate of territories and colonies controlled by Italy in North Africa from 1912 until World War II. Italian North Africa, unlike Italian East Africa existed in two phases: from 1912 to 1934, as Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, and after 1934, as Italian Libya....
  • Italian Libyans