Italian Libya
Encyclopedia
Italian Libya was a unified colony of Italian North Africa
(Africa Settentrionale Italiana, or ASI) established in 1934 in what represents present-day Libya
. Italian Libya was formed from the colonies of Cyrenaica
and Tripolitania
which were taken by Italy from the Ottoman Empire
in 1912 after the Italo-Turkish War
of 1911 to 1912.
After the Italian Empire's
conquest of Ottoman Libya
in the 1911-1912 Italo-Turkish War
, much of the early colonial period had Italy waging a war of subjugation against Libya's population. Ottoman Turkey surrendered its control of Libya in the 1912 Treaty of Lausanne, but fierce resistance to the Italians continued from the Senussi
political-religious order, a strongly nationalistic group of Sunni Muslims. This group, first under the leadership of Omar Al Mukhtar and centered in the Jebel Akhdar Mountains of Cyrenaica, lead the Libyan resistance movement
against Italian settlement in Libya. Italian forces under the Generals Pietro Badoglio
and Rodolfo Graziani
waged punitive pacification campaigns which turned into brutal and bloody acts of repression. Resistance leaders were executed or escaped into exile. The forced migration of more than 100,000 Cyrenaican people ended in Italian concentration camps
. After two decades Italy predominated.
In the 1930s the policy of Italian Fascism toward Libya began to change, and both Cyrenaica
and Tripolitania
, along with Fezzan
, were merged into Italian Libya in 1934.
and a territorial agreement with Egypt
. The Kingdom of Italy
at the 1919 Paris "Conference of Peace" received nothing from German
colonies, but as a compensation Great Britain
gave it the Oltre Giuba and France agreed to give some Saharan territories to the Italian Libya.
After prolonged discussions through the 1920s, it was not until 1935 that the Mussolini-Laval agreement was reached and Italy received the Aouzou strip that was added to Libya (but this agreement was not ratified later by France
).
.
Ironically considering his later career, when Italy originally embarked on the 1911 war to conquer Libya, the future dictator Benito Mussolini
strongly denounced it as "an imperialist war" and spent five months in prison for that opposition.
On that, as on other issues, Mussolini's views underwent a complete reversal after his founding the Fascist Party and taking dictatorial power. He sent Rodolfo Graziani
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 designed to win the trust of Arab leaders there. He and Italo Balbo
were successful to the extent that in 1940 nearly 30,000 Libyan Arabs and Berbers joined the Italian Army and fought bravely for the Fourth Shore of Greater Italia between 1940 and 1943.
In a famous Duce
trip in 1937, a propaganda event was created when on March 18 he posed with Arab
dignitaries, who gave him an honorary sword (that had actually been made in Florence
) which was to symbolize Mussolini as a protector of the Muslim
Arab peoples there.
In 1939, laws were passed that allowed Muslims to be permitted to join the National Fascist Party
and in particular the Muslim Association of the Lictor
(Associazione Musulmana del Littorio), and the 1939 reforms allowed the creation of Libyan military units within the Italian army.
Indeed in march 1940 two divisions of Libyan colonial troops (for a total of 30,090 native Muslim soldiers) were created and in summer 1940 the first and second Divisions
of Fanteria Libica (Libyan infantry) participated in the Italian offensive against British Empire
's Egypt: 1 Libyan Division Sibelle
and 2 Libyan Division Pescatori
.
Mussolini wanted to assimilate even the Arabs of Libya (whom he called "Muslim Italians") and so in 1939 there were 10 villages created for Arabs and Berbers: "El Fager" (Alba), "Nahima" (Deliziosa), "Azizia" (Profumata), "Nahiba" (Risorta), "Mansura" (Vittoriosa), "Chadra" (Verde), "Zahara" (Fiorita), "Gedina" (Nuova), "Mamhura" (Fiorente), "El Beida" (La Bianca). All those new villages had their mosque, school, social center (with sport installations and cinema) and little hospital. This was even a compensation for the military performance, in favor of Italy, of the colonial Libyan troops: in 1936 Savari
and other Libyan units took part in the Italian invasion of Ethiopia and received a "Gold Medal of Honor" for their distinguished performance in battle
many Italians moved to Libya and colonized the coastal areas. In 1940 the Libyan Italians
were nearly 110,000, or 12% of the total population of Libya. They were concentrated on the Mediterranean coast around the city of Tripoli
(constituting 37% of the city's population) and Benghazi
(31% of the city's population) and enjoyed a huge development in architecture. In 1938, the governor Italo Balbo brought 20,000 Italian farmers to colonize Libya, and 26 new villages were founded for them, mainly in Cyrenaica.
developed the Italian Libya from 1934 to 1940, creating a huge infrastructure (from 4,000 km of roads to 400 km of narrow gauge
railways to new industries and to dozen of new agricultural villages)
The Libyan economy nearly "boomed", mainly in the agricultural sector. Even some manufacturing activities were developed, mostly related to the food industry. Building construction increased in a huge way. Furthermore, the Italians made modern medical care available for the first time in Libya and improved sanitary conditions in the towns.
By 1939 the Italians had built 400 kilometres (248.5 mi) of new railroads and 4000 kilometres (2,485.5 mi) of new roads. The most important and largest highway project was the Via Balbo
, an east-west coastal route connecting Tripoli in western Italian Tripolitania
to Tobruk
in eastern Italian Cyrenaica
. Most of these projects and achievements were completed between 1934 and 1940 when Italo Balbo
was governor of Italian Libya, as it became the Fourth Shore.
The last railway development in Libya done by the Italians was the Tripoli-Benghazi line that was started in 1941 and was never completed because of the Italian defeat during World War II.
even as a propaganda
tool in justifying Italian presence in the region. Before 1911 there was no archeological research done in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica: the Italian government funded in the late 1920s excavations in the main Roman cities of Leptis Magna
and Sabratha
(while Cyrenaica was left for later excavations, because there was a colonial war against moslem rebels in that province). However after the fascist takeover, all foreign archeological expeditions were forced out of Libya, and all archeological work was consolidated under a centralized governmental policy consisting of Italian excavations, Italian museums and Italian journals.
After Cyrenaica's full pacification, the Italian archaeological efforts in the 1930s were more focused on the former Greek colony of Cyrenaica than in Tripolitania, which was during the Greek period a Punic colony. The rejection of Phoenician research was partly because of anti-Semitic reasons. Of special interest were the Roman colonies of Leptis Magna and Sabratha, and the preparation of these sites for archaeological tourism
.
Tourism was promoted even with the creation of the Tripoli Grand Prix
, a racing car event with international importance.
there was strong support for Italy from many Muslim Libyans, who enrolled in the Italian Army. Other Libyan troops (the Savari
[cavalry regiments] and the Spahi
or mounted police) had been fighting for the Kingdom of Italy since the 1920s.
A number of major battles took place in Libya during the North African Campaign
of World War II. In September 1940, the Italian invasion of Egypt
was launched from Libya.
Starting in December of the same year, the British Eighth Army
launched a counterattack
called Operation Compass
and the Italian forces were pushed back into Libya. After losing all of Cyrenaica
and almost all of its Tenth Army, Italy asked for German assistance to aid the failing campaign. This was assisted by orders from London withdrawing a large part of the Army to redeploy to Greece. According to German General Erwin Rommel
" On 8th February, leading troops of the British Army occupied El Agheila...Graziani's Army had ceased to virtually exist. all that remained of it were a few lorry columns and hordes of unarmed soldiers in full flight to the West. If Wavell (sic) had now continued his advance into Tripolitania, no resistance worth of the name could have been mounted"
With German support, the lost Libyan territory was regained and by the conclusion of Operation Brevity
, German and Italian forces were entering Egypt
. The Siege of Tobruk
in April 1941, where Rommel's forces were defeated, marked the first failure of Blitzkrieg
tactics. Defeat during the Second Battle of El Alamein
in Egypt spelled doom for the Axis forces in Libya and meant the end of the Western Desert Campaign
.
In February 1943, retreating German and Italian forces were forced to abandon Libya as they were pushed out of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania
, thus ending Italian jurisdiction and control over Libya.
and the establishment of a broad land bridge between Libya and Italian East Africa
.
From 1943 to 1951, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were under British administration, while the French controlled Fezzan. Under the terms of the 1947 peace treaty
with the Allies, Italy
relinquished all claims to Libya.
On November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly
passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before January 1, 1952. On December 24, 1951, Libya declared its independence as the United Kingdom of Libya, a constitutional and hereditary monarchy.
The final defeat of Italy in World War II and the era of international decolonization
fostered an exodus of Italians from Libya when Libya became a country.
The Italian population virtually disappeared after the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi
ordered the expulsion of remaining Italians (about 20,000) in 1970. Only a few hundred of them have been allowed to return to Libya in the 2000s.
, Tripolitania
and Fezzan
). The colony was administered among four provincial governatores (Commissariato Generale Provinciale) and the southern military territory (Territorio Militare del Sud or Territorio del Sahara Libico):
The commissariats were further divided into wards (circondari). On 9 January, 1939 a decree law transformed the commissariats into provinces within the metropolitan territory of the Kingdom of Italy.
Libya was thus formally annexed to Greater Italy
and the coastal area was named the Fourth Shore (Quarta Sponda). Key towns and wards of the colony became Italian municipalities (comune
) governed by podestà
.
Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi
signed a historic cooperation
treaty
in Benghazi
. Under its terms, Italy would pay $5 billion to Libya as compensation for its former military occupation. In exchange, Libya would take measures to combat illegal immigration
coming from its shores and boost investment
s in Italian companies. The treaty was ratified by Italy in 6 February 2009, and by Libya on 2 March, during a visit to Tripoli
by Berlusconi. Cooperation has since ceased as a result of the 2011 Libyan Civil War
.
Italian North Africa
Italian North Africa was the aggregate of territories and colonies controlled by Italy in North Africa from 1911 until World War II...
(Africa Settentrionale Italiana, or ASI) established in 1934 in what represents present-day Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, 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 an African colony, in present day eastern Libya, of the Kingdom of Italy from 1927 to 1934. It was part of the Italian North Africa territory conquered from the Ottoman empire in 1911.-History:...
and Tripolitania
Italian Tripolitania
Italian Tripolitania was an African colony, in present day western Libya, of the Kingdom of Italy from 1927 to 1934. It was part of the Italian North Africa territory conquered from the Ottoman empire in 1911...
which were taken by Italy from the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
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.As a result of this conflict, Italy was awarded the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and...
of 1911 to 1912.
Conquest
The History of Libya as an Italian colony started in 1911 and was characterized initially by a major struggle with Muslim native Libyans which lasted until 1931. During this period the Italian government controlled only the coastal areas of the colony.After the Italian Empire's
Italian Empire
The Italian Empire was created after the Kingdom of Italy joined other European powers in establishing colonies overseas during the "scramble for Africa". Modern Italy as a unified state only existed from 1861. By this time France, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Netherlands, had already carved...
conquest of Ottoman Libya
Ottoman Tripolitania
The coastal region of what is today Libya was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1551 to 1911, from 1864 as the Vilayet of Tripolitania . It was also known as the Kingdom of Tripoli, even though it was not technically a kingdom, but an Ottoman province ruled by pashas , as the Karamanli dynasty...
in the 1911-1912 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.As a result of this conflict, Italy was awarded the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and...
, much of the early colonial period had Italy waging a war of subjugation against Libya's population. Ottoman Turkey surrendered its control of Libya in the 1912 Treaty of Lausanne, but fierce resistance to the Italians continued from the Senussi
Senussi
The Senussi or Sanussi refers to a Muslim political-religious order in Libya and the Sudan region founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Senussi, Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi. Senussi was concerned with both the decline of Islamic thought and spirituality and the weakening of Muslim political...
political-religious order, a strongly nationalistic group of Sunni Muslims. This group, first under the leadership of Omar Al Mukhtar and centered in the Jebel Akhdar Mountains of Cyrenaica, lead the Libyan resistance movement
Libyan resistance movement
The Libyan resistance movement was the resistance movement against the Italian colonization of Libya.-History:It was initially led by Omar Mukhtar , who was from the tribe of Mnifa, born in a small village called Janzour located in the eastern part of Barqa...
against Italian settlement in Libya. Italian forces under the Generals Pietro Badoglio
Pietro Badoglio
Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino was an Italian soldier and politician...
and Rodolfo Graziani
Rodolfo Graziani
Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli , was an officer in the Italian Regio Esercito who led military expeditions in Africa before and during World War II.-Rise to prominence:...
waged punitive pacification campaigns which turned into brutal and bloody acts of repression. Resistance leaders were executed or escaped into exile. The forced migration of more than 100,000 Cyrenaican people ended in Italian concentration camps
Italian concentration camps in Libya
Fascist Italy maintained several concentration camps in Eastern Libya during the later phase of its occupation of that country. After the initial invasion in 1911, the Italian control over much of the country remained ineffective...
. After two decades Italy predominated.
In the 1930s the policy of Italian Fascism toward Libya began to change, and both Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
and Tripolitania
Tripolitania
Tripolitania or Tripolitana is a historic region and former province of Libya.Tripolitania was a separate Italian colony from 1927 to 1934...
, 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.-Name:...
, were merged into Italian Libya in 1934.
Territorial agreements with European powers
The colony expanded after concessions from the British colony of SudanAnglo-Egyptian Sudan
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.-Union with Egypt:...
and a territorial agreement with Egypt
Kingdom of Egypt
The Kingdom of Egypt was the first modern Egyptian state, lasting from 1922 to 1953. The Kingdom was created in 1922 when the British government unilaterally ended its protectorate over Egypt, in place since 1914. Sultan Fuad I became the first king of the new state...
. The Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
at the 1919 Paris "Conference of Peace" received nothing from German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
colonies, but as a compensation Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
gave it the Oltre Giuba and France agreed to give some Saharan territories to the Italian Libya.
After prolonged discussions through the 1920s, it was not until 1935 that the Mussolini-Laval agreement was reached and Italy received the Aouzou strip that was added to Libya (but this agreement was not ratified later by France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
).
Colonial policy under Fascism
Initially the Fascist regime took a hard line against Libyan Arab nationalists who had been fighting a guerrilla war, mainly in Cyrenaica, for many years under the leadership of Omar MukhtarOmar Mukhtar
Omar Mukhtar , of the Mnifa, was born in the small village of Janzour, near Tobruk in eastern Barqa in Libya. Beginning in 1912, he organized and, for nearly twenty years, led native resistance to Italian colonization of Libya. The Italians captured and hanged him in 1931...
.
Ironically considering his later career, when Italy originally embarked on the 1911 war to conquer Libya, the future dictator Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
strongly denounced it as "an imperialist war" and spent five months in prison for that opposition.
On that, as on other issues, Mussolini's views underwent a complete reversal after his founding the Fascist Party and taking dictatorial power. He sent Rodolfo Graziani
Rodolfo Graziani
Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli , was an officer in the Italian Regio Esercito who led military expeditions in Africa before and during World War II.-Rise to prominence:...
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 designed to win the trust of Arab leaders there. He and Italo Balbo
Italo Balbo
Italo Balbo was an Italian Blackshirt leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force , Governor-General of Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa , and the "heir apparent" to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.After serving in...
were successful to the extent that in 1940 nearly 30,000 Libyan Arabs and Berbers joined the Italian Army and fought bravely for the Fourth Shore of Greater Italia between 1940 and 1943.
Attitude toward the Libyans
In December 1934, individual freedom, inviolability of home and property, the right to join the military or civil administrations, and the right to freely pursue a career or employment were guaranteed to Libyans.Duce
Duce is an Italian title, derived from the Latin word dux, and cognate with duke. National Fascist Party leader Benito Mussolini was identified by Fascists as Il Duce of the movement and became a reference to the dictator position of Head of Government and Duce of Fascism of Italy was established...
trip in 1937, a propaganda event was created when on March 18 he posed with Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
dignitaries, who gave him an honorary sword (that had actually been made in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
) which was to symbolize Mussolini as a protector of the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
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 Italian political party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of fascism...
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.
Indeed in march 1940 two divisions of Libyan colonial troops (for a total of 30,090 native Muslim soldiers) were created and in summer 1940 the first and second Divisions
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
of Fanteria Libica (Libyan infantry) participated in the Italian offensive against British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
's Egypt: 1 Libyan Division Sibelle
1 Libyan Division Sibelle
The 1 Libyan Division Sibelle was a Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II.-History:Originally called in the 1920s with the name Italian Libyan Colonial Division...
and 2 Libyan Division Pescatori
2 Libyan Division Pescatori
The 2 Libyan Division Pescatori was a Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. In December 1940, it was in Libya part of the Italian XXIII Corps a together with the 1 Blackshirt Division 23 Marzo and 2 Blackshirt Division 28 Ottobre, took part in the Italian invasion of Egypt and...
.
Mussolini wanted to assimilate even the Arabs of Libya (whom he called "Muslim Italians") and so in 1939 there were 10 villages created for Arabs and Berbers: "El Fager" (Alba), "Nahima" (Deliziosa), "Azizia" (Profumata), "Nahiba" (Risorta), "Mansura" (Vittoriosa), "Chadra" (Verde), "Zahara" (Fiorita), "Gedina" (Nuova), "Mamhura" (Fiorente), "El Beida" (La Bianca). All those new villages had their mosque, school, social center (with sport installations and cinema) and little hospital. This was even a compensation for the military performance, in favor of Italy, of the colonial Libyan troops: in 1936 Savari
Savari
Savari was the designation given to the regular Libyan cavalry regiments of the Italian colonial army in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. The word "savari" was derived from a Persian term for "horsemen" .-Organisation:...
and other Libyan units took part in the Italian invasion of Ethiopia and received a "Gold Medal of Honor" for their distinguished performance in battle
Settler colonialism
During the era of FascismFascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
many Italians moved to Libya and colonized the coastal areas. In 1940 the Libyan Italians
Libyan Italians
Italian settlers in Libya typically refers to Italians, and their descendants, who resided or were born in Italian Libya, in the colonial period preceding independent Libya.-History:...
were nearly 110,000, or 12% of the total population of Libya. They were concentrated on the Mediterranean coast around the city of Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
(constituting 37% of the city's population) and Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
(31% of the city's population) and enjoyed a huge development in architecture. In 1938, the governor Italo Balbo brought 20,000 Italian farmers to colonize Libya, and 26 new villages were founded for them, mainly in Cyrenaica.
Infrastructure improvements
The governor Italo BalboItalo Balbo
Italo Balbo was an Italian Blackshirt leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force , Governor-General of Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa , and the "heir apparent" to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.After serving in...
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 between and .- Overview :...
railways to new industries and to dozen of new agricultural villages)
The Libyan economy nearly "boomed", mainly in the agricultural sector. Even some manufacturing activities were developed, mostly related to the food industry. Building construction increased in a huge way. Furthermore, the Italians made modern medical care available for the first time in Libya and improved sanitary conditions in the towns.
By 1939 the Italians had built 400 kilometres (248.5 mi) of new railroads and 4000 kilometres (2,485.5 mi) of new roads. The most important and largest highway project was the Via Balbo
Via Balbia
The Libyan Coastal Highway is a highway that is the only major road that runs along the entire east-west length of the Libyan Mediterranean coastline...
, an east-west coastal route connecting Tripoli in western Italian Tripolitania
Italian Tripolitania
Italian Tripolitania was an African colony, in present day western Libya, of the Kingdom of Italy from 1927 to 1934. It was part of the Italian North Africa territory conquered from the Ottoman empire in 1911...
to Tobruk
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
in eastern Italian Cyrenaica
Italian Cyrenaica
Italian Cyrenaica was an African colony, in present day eastern Libya, of the Kingdom of Italy from 1927 to 1934. It was part of the Italian North Africa territory conquered from the Ottoman empire in 1911.-History:...
. Most of these projects and achievements were completed between 1934 and 1940 when Italo Balbo
Italo Balbo
Italo Balbo was an Italian Blackshirt leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force , Governor-General of Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa , and the "heir apparent" to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.After serving in...
was governor of Italian Libya, as it became the Fourth Shore.
The last railway development in Libya done by the Italians was the Tripoli-Benghazi line that was started in 1941 and was never completed because of the Italian defeat during World War II.
Archaeology and tourism
The Italian authorities used classical archaeologyClassical archaeology
Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the great Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about in Latin and Greek texts...
even as a propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
tool in justifying Italian presence in the region. Before 1911 there was no archeological research done in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica: the Italian government funded in the late 1920s excavations in the main Roman cities of Leptis Magna
Leptis Magna
Leptis Magna also known as Lectis Magna , also called Lpqy, Neapolis, Lebida or Lebda to modern-day residents of Libya, was a prominent city of the Roman Empire. Its ruins are located in Khoms, Libya, east of Tripoli, on the coast where the Wadi Lebda meets the sea...
and Sabratha
Sabratha
Sabratha, Sabratah or Siburata , in the Zawiya District in the northwestern corner of modern Libya, was the westernmost of the "three cities" of Tripolis. From 2001 to 2007 it was the capital of the former Sabratha wa Sorman District. It lies on the Mediterranean coast about west of Tripoli...
(while Cyrenaica was left for later excavations, because there was a colonial war against moslem rebels in that province). However after the fascist takeover, all foreign archeological expeditions were forced out of Libya, and all archeological work was consolidated under a centralized governmental policy consisting of Italian excavations, Italian museums and Italian journals.
After Cyrenaica's full pacification, the Italian archaeological efforts in the 1930s were more focused on the former Greek colony of Cyrenaica than in Tripolitania, which was during the Greek period a Punic colony. The rejection of Phoenician research was partly because of anti-Semitic reasons. Of special interest were the Roman colonies of Leptis Magna and Sabratha, and the preparation of these sites for archaeological tourism
Archaeological tourism
Archaeotourism or Archaeological tourism is a form of cultural tourism, which aims to promote public interest in archaeology and the conservation of historical sites...
.
Tourism was promoted even with the creation of the Tripoli Grand Prix
Tripoli Grand Prix
The Tripoli Grand Prix was a motor racing event first held in 1925 on a racing circuit outside Tripoli, the capital of what was then Italian Tripolitania...
, a racing car event with international importance.
World War II
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
there was strong support for Italy from many Muslim Libyans, who enrolled in the Italian Army. Other Libyan troops (the Savari
Savari
Savari was the designation given to the regular Libyan cavalry regiments of the Italian colonial army in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. The word "savari" was derived from a Persian term for "horsemen" .-Organisation:...
[cavalry regiments] and the Spahi
Spahi
Spahis were light cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The modern French Army retains one regiment of Spahis as an armoured unit, with personnel now recruited in mainland France...
or mounted police) had been fighting for the Kingdom of Italy since the 1920s.
A number of major battles took place in Libya during the North African Campaign
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
of World War II. In September 1940, the Italian invasion of Egypt
Italian invasion of Egypt
The Italian Invasion of Egypt was an Italian offensive action against British, Commonwealth and Free French forces during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. Initially, the goal of the offensive was to seize the Suez Canal. To accomplish this, Italian forces from Libya would have...
was launched from Libya.
Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....
launched a counterattack
Counterattack
A counterattack is a tactic used in response against an attack. The term originates in military strategy. 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.It is...
called Operation Compass
Operation Compass
Operation Compass was the first major Allied military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during World War II. British and Commonwealth forces attacked Italian forces in western Egypt and eastern Libya in December 1940 to February 1941. The attack was a complete success...
and the Italian forces were pushed back into Libya. After losing all of Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
and almost all of its Tenth Army, Italy asked for German assistance to aid the failing campaign. This was assisted by orders from London withdrawing a large part of the Army to redeploy to Greece. According to German General Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
" On 8th February, leading troops of the British Army occupied El Agheila...Graziani's Army had ceased to virtually exist. all that remained of it were a few lorry columns and hordes of unarmed soldiers in full flight to the West. If Wavell (sic) had now continued his advance into Tripolitania, no resistance worth of the name could have been mounted"
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 the Second World War. 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 front-line...
, German and Italian forces were entering Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. The Siege of Tobruk
Siege of Tobruk
The siege of Tobruk was a confrontation that lasted 240 days between Axis and Allied forces in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War...
in April 1941, where Rommel's forces were defeated, marked the first failure of Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg
For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...
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 the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...
in Egypt spelled doom for 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 during the Second World War. The campaign was heavily influenced by the availability of supplies and transport. The ability of the Allied forces, operating from besieged Malta, to...
.
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.Tripolitania was a separate Italian colony from 1927 to 1934...
, thus ending Italian jurisdiction and control over Libya.
Planned territorial enlargement
Italian plans, in the case of a war against France and Great Britain, projected the extension of Libya as far south as Lake ChadLake Chad
Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. According to the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme, it shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998; yet it also states that "the 2007 ...
and the establishment of a broad land bridge between Libya and Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa
Italian East Africa was an Italian colonial administrative subdivision established in 1936, resulting from the merger of the Ethiopian Empire with the old colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...
.
After WWII
Treaty of peace with Italy (1947)
The Treaty of Peace with Italy was a treaty signed in Paris on February 10, 1947, between Italy and the victorious powers of World War II, formally ending the hostilities...
with the Allies, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
relinquished all claims to Libya.
On November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before January 1, 1952. On December 24, 1951, Libya declared its independence as the United Kingdom of Libya, a constitutional and hereditary monarchy.
The final defeat of Italy in World War II and the era of international decolonization
Decolonization
Decolonization refers to the undoing of colonialism, the unequal relation of polities whereby one people or nation establishes and maintains dependent Territory over another...
fostered an exodus of Italians from Libya when Libya became a country.
The Italian population virtually disappeared after the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
ordered the expulsion of remaining Italians (about 20,000) in 1970. Only a few hundred of them have been allowed to return to Libya in the 2000s.
Administrative division
In 1934, Italy adopted the name "Libya" (used by the Greeks for all of North Africa, except Egypt) as the official name of the colony (made up of the three Provinces of CyrenaicaCyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
, Tripolitania
Tripolitania
Tripolitania or Tripolitana is a historic region and former province of Libya.Tripolitania was a separate Italian colony from 1927 to 1934...
and 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.-Name:...
). The colony was administered among four provincial governatores (Commissariato Generale Provinciale) and the southern military territory (Territorio Militare del Sud or Territorio del Sahara Libico):
- Tripoli ProvinceTripoli ProvinceTripoli Province, or Provincia di Tripoli in Italian, was one of the provinces of Libya under Italian rule. It was established in 1937.-Characteristics:La "Provincia di Tripoli" was located in northern Italian Libya, next to Tunisia...
, capital TripoliTripoliTripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
. - Benghazi ProvinceBenghazi ProvinceBenghazi Province, or Provincia di Bengazi in Italian, was one of the provinces of Libya under Italian rule. It was established in 1937.-Characteristics:Benghazi Province was located in northern Italian Libya, in Cyrenaica...
, capital BenghaziBenghaziBenghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
. - Derna Province, capital Derna.
- Misrata Province, capital Misrata.
- Territorio Sahara Libico ("Southern Military Territory"), capital Hun
The commissariats were further divided into wards (circondari). On 9 January, 1939 a decree law transformed the commissariats into provinces within the metropolitan territory of the Kingdom of Italy.
Libya was thus formally annexed to Greater Italy
Greater Italy
Greater Italy , or Imperial Italy , was an ambitious project envisioned by fascist Italy in which the objective was to create an Italian empire which would expand, in addition to the irredentist claimed territories , to additional Mediterranean basin territories...
and the coastal area was named the Fourth Shore (Quarta Sponda). Key towns and wards of the colony became Italian municipalities (comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
) governed by podestà
Podestà
Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...
.
Governors-General of Libya
- Italo BalboItalo BalboItalo Balbo was an Italian Blackshirt leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force , Governor-General of Libya, Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa , and the "heir apparent" to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.After serving in...
January 1, 1934 to June 28, 1940 - Rodolfo GrazianiRodolfo GrazianiRodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli , was an officer in the Italian Regio Esercito who led military expeditions in Africa before and during World War II.-Rise to prominence:...
July 1, 1940 to March 25, 1941 - Italo GariboldiItalo GariboldiItalo Gariboldi was a senior officer in the Italian Royal Army before and during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
March 25, 1941 to July 19, 1941 - Ettore BasticoEttore BasticoEttore Bastico was an Italian military officer before and during World War II. He held high commands during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War , the Spanish Civil War, and the North African Campaign....
July 19, 1941 to February 2, 1943 - Giovanni MesseGiovanni MesseGiovanni Messe was an Italian general, politician, and Field Marshal . He is considered by many to have been the best Italian general of the Second World War.-Early life and career:Born in Mesagne, Apulia, Giovanni Messe pursued a military career in 1901...
February 2, 1943 to May 13, 1943
2008 cooperation treaty
On 30 August 2008, Gaddafi and ItalianItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Prime Minister
Prime minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic...
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
signed a historic cooperation
Cooperation
Cooperation or co-operation is the process of working or acting together. In its simplest form it involves things working in harmony, side by side, while in its more complicated forms, it can involve something as complex as the inner workings of a human being or even the social patterns of a...
treaty
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
in Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
. Under its terms, Italy would pay $5 billion to Libya as compensation for its former military occupation. In exchange, Libya would take measures to combat illegal immigration
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
coming from its shores and boost investment
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
s in Italian companies. The treaty was ratified by Italy in 6 February 2009, and by Libya on 2 March, during a visit to Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
by Berlusconi. Cooperation has since ceased as a result of the 2011 Libyan Civil War
2011 Libyan civil war
The 2011 Libyan civil war was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security...
.
See also
- List of colonial heads of Libya
- Italian invasion of LibyaItalo-Turkish WarThe 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.As a result of this conflict, Italy was awarded the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and...
- History of Libya as Italian ColonyHistory of Libya as Italian ColonyThe History of Libya as an Italian colony began in the 1910s and lasted until February 1947, when Italy officially lost all the colonies of the former Italian Empire.-First years:...
- Italian Libya RailwaysItalian Libya RailwaysItalian Libya Railways was a group of small railways built in the Italian colony of Libya between the two World Wars.-History:The Kingdom of Italy built in Italian Libya nearly 400 km of railways with 950 mm gauge.-Projects:...
- Tripoli Grand PrixTripoli Grand PrixThe Tripoli Grand Prix was a motor racing event first held in 1925 on a racing circuit outside Tripoli, the capital of what was then Italian Tripolitania...
- Frontier Wire (Libya)Frontier Wire (Libya)The Frontier Wire was a obstacle in Italian Libya, along the with border of Egypt, running from El Ramleh down to Jaghbub. It was built by Italian forces—under the command of General Rodolfo Graziani—in the winter of 1931/1932 due the Italian's struggle with Omar Mukhtar's Senussi resistors...
- Italian North AfricaItalian North AfricaItalian North Africa was the aggregate of territories and colonies controlled by Italy in North Africa from 1911 until World War II...
- Italian Libyans
- Aozou StripAozou StripThe Aouzou Strip is a strip of land in northern Chad which lies along the border with Libya, extending south to a depth of about 100 kilometers into Chad's Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region for an area of 114,000 km²...
- Greater Italia
- Italian Libyan Colonial DivisionItalian Libyan Colonial DivisionThe Libyan Division was a formation of colonial troops raised by the Italians in their colony in Libya. It participated in the invasion of Ethiopia in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. The formation was reorganized into the 1 Libyan Infantry Division Sibelle by the beginning of Italy's entry into...
- 1st Libyan Division Sibelle
- 2 Libyan Division Pescatori2 Libyan Division PescatoriThe 2 Libyan Division Pescatori was a Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. In December 1940, it was in Libya part of the Italian XXIII Corps a together with the 1 Blackshirt Division 23 Marzo and 2 Blackshirt Division 28 Ottobre, took part in the Italian invasion of Egypt and...
- SavariSavariSavari was the designation given to the regular Libyan cavalry regiments of the Italian colonial army in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. The word "savari" was derived from a Persian term for "horsemen" .-Organisation:...
- SpahisItalian SpahisItalian Spahis were light cavalry colonial troops of the Kingdom of Italy, raised in Italian Libya between 1912 and 1942.-Characteristics:The Italian colonial administration of Libya raised squadrons of locally recruited Spahi cavalry after the conquest of Libya from the Ottoman empire.These...