 History of Libya 16th - 20th century AD With the decline of the local Berber dynasties in the 15th and 16th centuries, the valuable coastal strip of north Africa (known because of the Berbers as the Barbary coast) attracts the attention of the two most powerful Mediterranean states of the time - Spain in the west, Turkey in the east. The Spanish-Turkish rivalry lasts for much of the 16th century, but it is gradually won - in a somewhat unorthodox manner - by the Turks. Their successful device is to allow Turkish pirates, or corsairs, to establish themselves along the coast. The territories seized by the corsairs are then given a formal status as protectorates of the Ottoman empire. The first such pirate establishes himself on the coast of Algeria in 1512. Two others are firmly based in Libya by 1551. Tunisia is briefly taken in 1534 by the most famous corsair of them all, Khair ed-Din (known to the Europeans as Barbarossa). Recovered for Spain in 1535, Tunisia is finally brought under Ottoman control in 1574. Piracy remains the chief purpose and main source of income of all these Turkish settlements along the Barbary coast. And the depredations of piracy, after three centuries, at last promptFrench intervention in Algeria. This, at any rate, is stated by the French at the time to be the cause of their intervention. The reality is somewhat less glorious. Algiers is occupied by the French in 1830, but it is not until 1847 that the French conquest of Algeria is complete - after prolonged resistance from the Berber hinterland, which has never been effectively controlled by the Turks on the coast. It is in the European interest to police this entire troublesome Barbary region. Tunisia becomes a French protectorate in 1881, and Morocco (which has maintained a shaky independence, under its own local sultans, since the end of the Marinid dynasty) follows in 1912. Italy takes Libya from the Turks in 1912. The regions of the Barbary coast thus enter their last colonial phase before independence. Italo-Turkish War: AD 1911-1912 Turkish control over over the region of modern Libya has been little more than nominal during much of the Ottoman period. In the western region, Tripolitania, the descendants of an Ottoman governor, Ahmad Karamanli, win hereditary rights as pashas in 1711 and retain them until 1832. But the eventual removal of the Turks from the region is not the result of local antagonism. It derives from the wish of Italy, a latecomer in the imperial scramble, to increase her stake in Africa while there is time. By the first decade of the 20th centuryAlgeria andTunisia are French. Egyptis British. Libya, situated between these French and British regions, is a part of north Africa in which Italy has been developing extensive commercial interests. In 1900 the French and Italian governments come to a cool-headed secret agreement. France has designs onMorocco, Italy on Libya. Each will allow the other a free hand. In 1911 Italy finds a trumped-up reason to send a 24-hour-ultimatum to Istanbul, demanding the presence of Italian troops in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica to protect the local Italian population. This is followed a day later by a declaration of war and almost immediate invasion of north Africa. The Italians make relatively little headway, partly because of a spirited resistance by the tribesmen on behalf of their imperial masters, who at least are fellow Muslims. But by the autumn of 1912 Turkey, beset by troubles elsewhere, is ready to concede. Under the terms of a treaty signed in October at Ouchy (the lakeside district of Lausanne), Tripolitania and Cyrenaica are ceded to Italy. The new imperial power soon also occupies Fezzan, a region to the southwest. With the annexation of Fezzan, modern Libya takes shape - though as yet only as a broad area suffering and greatly resenting Italian occupation. Omar Mukhtar--Teacher Turned Freedom FighterWhen I was a child, a relative took my cousin, my sister, and I to see the film "Lion of the Desert," the 1991 movie about the Libyan resistance to Italian occupying forces in the year 1929 (directed by Moustapha Akkad). At the time, I did not understand the history of the Italian-Libyan war, the reasons behind the conflict, or the political climate of the time. I dont think I knew who Mussolini was until some years later. But somehow that movie really touched me. Beyond the adult level dialogue about politics, I connected with the main character and the storyline. I felt both a sense of familiarity and pride. I understood occupation. I understood what it means to have one's homeland invaded, and stolen, and I fully appreciated the struggle for freedom (The movie, I thought, could have been about Palestine). But the movie was special to me for another reason. For the first time that I can remember, I saw myself, as an Arab and a Muslim, being portrayed as the hero, the good guy, the one who we (the audience) came to respect and love. This hero was Omar Mukhtar, an aging freedom fighter and former teacher, who was played so brilliantly by actor Anthony Quinn. Looking around at the movie audience as they cheered Omar's victories, I felt so empowered. I didn't see Lion of the Desert until many years later. Seeing it the second time was just as moving for me, especially because of the lack of good, and accurate, films today about Arabs and Muslims. But this wasn't just a great film. It was a great film about a great person. Omar Mukhtar was a real life hero, not a Hollywood-created, exaggerated version of one. Omar Mukhtar (1862-1931) In October of 1911, Italian battleships reached the shores of Tripoli, Libya with an intent to stay. The Italian's fleet leader "Farafelli" made a demand to the Turks to surrender Tripoli to the Italians or the city would be destroyed at once. The Othman Turks fled and the Italians attacked Tripoli anyway, bombing the city for three days and thereafter proclaiming the Libyan population in Tripoli to be "committed and strongly bound to Italy." That would mark the beginning of a series of battles between the Italian occupiers and the Libyan Mujahedeen (the Arabic word for freedom fighters). In 1912, in the city of Barga, Libya, Omar Mukhtar organized and strategized what would become the birth of the Libyan Resistance holy war against the invasion. A teacher by profession, Mukhtar was a master strategist in desert guerrilla tactics. He knew his country's geography well, and he knew how to use that to his advantage in his battles with the Italians who were not accustomed to desert warfare. Starting out with a only a few thousand men, he led his small mobile groups into skillful and successful battles with the Italians and then faded into the familiar terrain. Mukhtar's men attacked outposts, ambushed troops, and cut lines of supply and communication, leaving the Italians astonished and embarassed to be outsmarted and outmaneuvered by a "bedouin." Omar Mukhtar and the Libyan Resistance The Libyan resistance spread from the far western regions of the country (Zwara city) to the far east in the city of Salloum, and on down to the southern city of Fezzan. The Italians had the superior manpower and technology, but the Libyan mujahadeen had the kind of courage, and love for their county that any occupier would fear. Their numbers eventaully grew from less than a thousand, at the beginning of the resistance, to six thousand. They united to protect and defend their land, freedom, and honor from the foreign invaders, and they fought as religious men, proclaiming the words Allahu Akbar (God is great) with every battle they encountered. For the Italians, Libya was their "right" and they intended to make sure the Libyans understood that. Italy's deputy "Mazari", in 1914, stated "It's our obligation not to help in any way the Libyan nationalist, but to subdue and dominate them, and most importantly, to impose our presence on theirs, and to evict them to the Sahara." The Italian-Libyan war was a David and Goliath battle. The Italians had the numbers (tens of thousands of troops), the tanks, and war planes. The Libyans had old rusted rifles, their horses, and a tremendous courage and determination to liberate their country. In some battles, the ratio of Italian to Libyan was 1: 50-100. However, even with the technology and numbers on their side, the Italians knew they had something to worry. The courageous resistance of the Libyans lasted nearly 20 years, and resulted in great losses for the Italians. But even more damaging than the losses in artilary and the casualties, there was a loss in morale among the Italians. The Italians were embarassed by the lack of power and control they had over the Libyan resistance. In a desperate effort to weaken the resistance movement led by Mukhtar, the Italian fascists decided to imprison Libyan men, women and children in concentration camps. Entire tribes were imprisoned in desert areas hundreds of miles from their homes in mountainous regions. By holding these people in the camps, the Italians were weaking the Libyan resistance in two ways: they were cutting off economic and moral support for the resistance, and they were preventing more men from joining the resistance. Men and women were continually tortured, and the punishments became more severe whenever Mukhtar outsmarted the Italian army. About 125,000 Libyans were forced into these camps, about two thirds of which perished. World Wars and Fascism: AD 1914-1945 In its short span of existence the Italian colony of Libya sees two world wars and the rise of fascism. These events have profound and differing effects in the region. The demands of World War I cause Italian troops to be withdrawn until only the coastal towns of Libya are safely held. Elsewhere control returns to the network of local Senussizawiya(fortified outposts around a mosque). After the war the Senussi leader, Mohammed Idris, attempts to achieve a compromise with the Italians. In 1920 he acknowledges their sovereignty over coastal Cyrenaica. In return he is granted the title of emir. But this uneasy relationship crumbles with the onset of fascism. Idris flees in 1923 to Egypt, while fascist governors in Libya take strong measures - including the use of concentration camps - to subdue resistance in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. (The two provinces are united in 1934 to form the colony of Libya.) World War II at last brings the Senussi into a winning team. As enemies of Italy, they are natural allies of Britain and the USA. They play their part in the all-important campaign of 1942-3 which drives the Italian and German armies out of north Africa. During the later stages of the war and in the immediate postwar years Tripolitania and Cyrenaica are adminstered by the British, while Fezzan is under the control of the French. But it is agreed that the future of Libya shall be referred to the United Nations. The result is a resolution for Libyan independence. In December 1950 a national assembly representing all three provinces elects Mohammed Idris to be Libya's king. As Idris I, he formally declares the independence of the new state on 24 December 1951. Royal Libya: AD 1951-1969 Idris rules as an old-fashioned monarch, with scant regard for any democratic ideals. For the first eight years his realm is similarly backward, an impoverished region in which a subsistence economy is boosted only by revenues from British and US airbases and by international aid. This situation is transformed in 1959 by the discovery of major oil reserves. In 1969, when absent on a visit to Turkey, he is deposed in a bloodless revolution led by a 27-year old captain, Moamar al-Gaddafi. Read more:http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa83#ixzz14GPdJ1sk  World Wars and Fascism: AD 1914-1945
In its short span of existence the Italian colony of Libya sees two world wars and the rise of fascism. These events have profound and differing effects in the region. The demands of World War I cause Italian troops to be withdrawn until only the coastal towns of Libya are safely held. Elsewhere control returns to the network of local Senussizawiya(fortified outposts around a mosque). After the war the Senussi leader, Mohammed Idris, attempts to achieve a compromise with the Italians. In 1920 he acknowledges their sovereignty over coastal Cyrenaica. In return he is granted the title of emir. But this uneasy relationship crumbles with the onset of fascism. Idris flees in 1923 to Egypt, while fascist governors in Libya take strong measures - including the use of concentration camps - to subdue resistance in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. (The two provinces are united in 1934 to form the colony of Libya.) World War II at last brings the Senussi into a winning team. As enemies of Italy, they are natural allies of Britain and the USA. They play their part in the all-important campaign of 1942-3 which drives the Italian and German armies out of north Africa. During the later stages of the war and in the immediate postwar years Tripolitania and Cyrenaica are adminstered by the British, while Fezzan is under the control of the French. But it is agreed that the future of Libya shall be referred to the United Nations. The result is a resolution for Libyan independence. In December 1950 a national assembly representing all three provinces elects Mohammed Idris to be Libya's king. As Idris I, he formally declares the independence of the new state on 24 December 1951. Royal Libya: AD 1951-1969 Idris rules as an old-fashioned monarch, with scant regard for any democratic ideals. For the first eight years his realm is similarly backward, an impoverished region in which a subsistence economy is boosted only by revenues from British and US airbases and by international aid. This situation is transformed in 1959 by the discovery of major oil reserves. In 1969, when absent on a visit to Turkey, he is deposed in a bloodless revolution led by a 27-year old captain, Moamar al-Gaddafi. Read more:http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa83#ixzz14GPdJ1sk  |
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