Italian Libya
Italian Libya
Italian Libya
Italian Libya (Italian: Libia Italiana; Arabic: ﻟﯿﺒﯿﺎ اﻹﯾﻄﺎﻟﯿﺔ,
Lībyā al-Īṭālīya) was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy Italian Libya
located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, Libia Italiana (Italian)
between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the Italian ( ﻟﯿﺒﯿﺎ اﻹﻳﻄﺎﻟﯿﺔArabic)
colonies of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania that were taken by Lībyā al-Īṭālīya
Italy from the Ottoman Empire in the Italo-Turkish War
of 1911 to 1912. They were unified in 1934 by governor 1934–1943
Italo Balbo, with Tripoli as the capital.[3]
During World War II, Italian Libya became the setting for
the North African Campaign. Although the Italians were
defeated there by the Allies in 1943, many of the Italian
settlers still remained in Libya. Libya was administrated
by the United Kingdom and France until its independence
in 1951, though Italy did not officially relinquish its claim
Italian Libya in 1941:
until the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty.[6]
Italian Libya
Italian controlled
Contents territory
Kingdom of Italy
History
Conquest Status Colony of Italy[1]
Pacification campaigns Capital Tripoli
Territorial agreements with European powers
Common languages Italian (official)
World War II Libyan Arabic, Berber
Independence languages, Domari
Preceded by Succeeded by
Italian British Military
Tripolitania Administration
Italian French Military
Cyrenaica Administration
An Italian drawing depicting
Ottoman officials surrendering Libya Today part of Libya
to Italian colonial forces while Chad
Libyans prostrate themselves before Niger
the Italian colonial soldiers, 1912
Italian efforts to colonize Libya began in 1911, and were
characterized initially by major struggles with Muslim native
Libyans that lasted until 1931. During this period, the Italian government controlled only the coastal
areas. Between 1911 and 1912, over 1,000 Somalis from Mogadishu, the then capital of Italian
Somaliland, served in combat units along with Eritrean and Italian soldiers in the Italo-Turkish War.[7]
Most of the Somali troops remained in Libya until they were transferred back to Italian Somaliland in
preparation for the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935.[8]
After the Italian Empire's conquest of Ottoman Tripolitania (Ottoman Libya), in the 1911–12 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, led the Libyan resistance movement against Italian settlement in
Libya. Italian forces under the Generals Pietro Badoglio and Rodolfo Graziani waged punitive
pacification campaigns using chemical weapons, mass executions of soldiers and civilians and
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The Italian occupation also reduced the number of livestock by killing, confiscation or driving the
animals from their pastoral land to inhospitable land near the concentration camps.[14] Number of sheep
fell from 810,000 in 1926 to 98,000 in 1933, goats from 70,000 to 25,000 and camels from 75,000 to
2,000.[14]
From 1930 to 1931, 12,000 Cyrenaicans were executed and all the nomadic peoples of northern
Cyrenaica were forcefully removed from the region and relocated to huge concentration camps in the
Cyrenaican lowlands.[15] Propaganda by the Fascist regime declared the camps to be oases of modern
civilization that were hygienic and efficiently run - however in reality the camps had poor sanitary
conditions as the camps had an average of about 20,000 Beduoins together with their camels and other
animals, crowded into an area of one square kilometre.[16] The camps held only rudimentary medical
services, with the camps of Soluch and Sisi Ahmed el Magrun with an estimated 33,000 internees having
only one doctor between them.[16] Typhus and other diseases spread rapidly in the camps as the people
were physically weakened by meagre food rations provided to them and forced labour.[16] By the time
the camps closed in September 1933, 40,000 of the 100,000 total internees had died in the camps.[16]
The colony expanded after concessions from the British colony of Sudan and a territorial agreement with
Egypt. The Kufra district was nominally attached to British-occupied Egypt until 1925, but in fact,
remained a headquarters for the Senussi resistance until conquered by the Italians in 1931. 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 Italian Libya.[17]
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In 1931, the towns of El Tag and Al Jawf were taken over by Italy.
British Egypt had ceded Kufra and Jarabub to Italian Libya on
December 6, 1925, but it was not until the early 1930s that Italy was
in full control of the place. In 1931, during the campaign of
Cyrenaica, General Rodolfo Graziani easily conquered Kufra District,
considered a strategic region, leading about 3,000 soldiers from
infantry and artillery, supported by about twenty bombers. Ma'tan
as-Sarra was turned over to Italy in 1934 as part of the Sarra
Triangle to colonial Italy by the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, who Expansion of Italian Libya:
considered the area worthless and so an act of cheap appeasement to territories ceded by the Ottoman
Empire in 1912
Benito Mussolini's attempts at empire.[18] During this time, the
Italian colonial forces built a World War I–style fort in El Tag in the territories ceded by France in
1919
mid-1930s.
Kufra District conquered in 1919
and 1931[b]
World War II territories ceded by Britain in
1926
territories ceded by Britain in
In 1939 some Libyans were granted special (though 1934
limited) Italian citizenship by Royal Decree No. 70 on 9 territories ceded by France in
January 1939. This citizenship was necessary for any 1935
Libyan with ambitions to rise in the military or civil
organizations. The recipients were officially referred to as
Moslem Italians. Libya had become "the fourth shore of
Italy” (Trye 1998). The incorporation of Libya into the
Italian Empire gave the Italian Army a greater ability to
exploit native Libyans for military service. Native
Libyans served in Italian formations from the beginning
of the Italian occupation of Libya. On 1 March 1940, the
1st and 2nd Libyan Divisions were formed. These Libyan
infantry divisions were organized along the lines of the
binary Italian infantry division. The 5th Italian Army
received the 2nd Libyan Infantry Division, which it
incorporated into the 13th Corps. The Italian 10th Army
received the 1st Libyan Infantry Division, which it
incorporated into the reserve. The Italian Libyan infantry
divisions were colonial formations ("colonial" in the
sense of consisting of native troops). These formations
had Italian officers commanding them, with Libyan
NCOs and soldiers. These native Libyan formations were
made up of people drawn from the coastal Libyan
populations. The training and readiness of these
divisions was on an equal footing with the regular Italian
formations in North Africa. Their professionalism and
'esprit de corps' made them some of the best Italian
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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.
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The Fezzan was occupied by the Free French in 1943. At the close of World War II, the British and
French collaborated with the small new resistance. France and the United Kingdom decided to make
King Idris the Emir of an independent Libya in 1951.
Independence
From 1943 to 1951, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were under British military administration, while the
French controlled Fezzan. Under the terms of the 1947 peace treaty with the Allies, Italy relinquished all
claims to Libya.[25] There were discussions to maintain the province of Tripolitania as the last Italian
colony, but these were not successful.
Although Britain and France intended on dividing the nation between their empires, 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.
Colonial administration
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 Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and
Fezzan). The colony was subdivided into four provincial
governatores (Commissariato Generale Provinciale) and a southern
military territory (Territorio Militare del Sud or Territorio del
Sahara Libico):[26]
Governors-General of Libya
Italo Balbo 1 January 1934 to 28 June 1940
Rodolfo Graziani 1 July 1940 to 25 March 1941
Italo Gariboldi 25 March 1941 to 19 July 1941
Ettore Bastico 19 July 1941 to 2 February 1943
Giovanni Messe 2 February 1943 to 13 May 1943
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Demographics
Settler colonialism
In 1938, Governor Italo Balbo brought 20,000 Italian farmers to settle in Libya, and 27 new villages
were founded, mainly in Cyrenaica.[29]
Assimilation policies
After the campaign of reprisals known as the "pacification campaign", the Italian government changed
policy toward the local population: 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 promised to the Libyans.[30]
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Economy
In 1936, the main sectors of economic activity in Italian Libya (by number of employees) were industry
(30.4%), public administration (29.8%), agriculture and fishing (16.7%), commerce (10.7%), transports
(5.8%), domestic work (3.8%), legal profession and private teaching (1.3%), banking and insurance
(1.1%).[2]
Infrastructure development
Italians greatly developed the two main cities of Libya, Tripoli and
Benghazi,[34] with new ports and airports, new hospitals and schools and
many new roads & buildings.
Also tourism was improved and a huge & modern "Grand Hotel" was built in
Tripoli and in Bengasi.
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The Italian aim was to drive the local population to the marginal land
in the interior and to resettle the Italian population in the most fertile
lands of Libya.[14] The Italians did provide the Libyans with some
initial education but minimally improved native administration. The
Italian population (about 10% of the total population) had 81
elementary schools in 1939-1940, while the Libyans (more than 85% of
total population) had 97.[14] There were only three secondary schools
for Libyans by 1940, two in Tripoli and one in Benghazi.[36]
The Libyan economy substantially grew in the late 1930s, mainly in the
agricultural sector. Even some manufacturing activities were
developed, mostly related to the food industry. Building construction
The Berenice Albergo increased immensely. Furthermore, the Italians made modern medical
care available for the first time in Libya and improved sanitary
conditions in the towns.
The Italians started numerous and diverse businesses in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. These
included an explosives factory, railway workshops, Fiat Motor works, various food
processing plants, electrical engineering workshops, ironworks, water plants, agricultural
machinery factories, breweries, distilleries, biscuit factories, a tobacco factory, tanneries,
bakeries, lime, brick and cement works, Esparto grass industry, mechanical saw mills, and
the Petrolibya Society (Trye 1998). Italian investment in her colony was to take advantage
of new colonists and to make it more self-sufficient. (General Staff War Office 1939,
165/b).[37]
By 1939, the Italians had built 400 kilometres (250 mi) of new railroads and 4,000 kilometres
(2,500 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. 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.[38]
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 a Punic colony during the Greek
period.[39] The rejection of Phoenician research was partly because of anti-Semitic reasons (the
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Phoenicians were a Semitic people, distantly related to the Arabs and Jews).[39] Of special interest were
the Roman colonies of Leptis Magna and Sabratha, and the preparation of these sites for archaeological
tourism.[39]
Tourism was further promoted by the creation of the Tripoli Grand Prix, a racing car event of
international importance.[40]
Contemporary relations
After independence, most Italian settlers still remained in Libya;
there were 35,000 Italo-Libyans in 1962. However, the Italian
population virtually disappeared after the Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi ordered the expulsion of remaining Italians
(about 20,000) in 1970.[41] Only a few hundred of them were
allowed to return to Libya in the 2000s. In 2004, there were
22,530 Italians in Libya.[42]
On 26 September 2011, Italian energy company Eni announced it had restarted oil production in Libya
for the first time since the start of the 2011 Libyan civil war. The quick return of Eni to Libyan oilfields
reflected the positive relations between Rome and Tripoli.[52] The Italian embassy in Tripoli is one of the
few Western embassies still active in Libya during the Post-civil war violence in Libya, because Italy is
the most important trade partner for Libya.[53][54]
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See also
List of colonial heads of Libya
Italian invasion of Libya
Italian Libya Railways
Tripoli Grand Prix
Frontier Wire (Libya)
Italian Libyans
Italian Tripoli
Italian Benghazi
1911 Tripoli massacre
Aozou Strip
Italian Libyan Colonial Division
1st Libyan Division Sibelle
2 Libyan Division Pescatori
Savari
Spahis
Notes
a. Italian rule ended in 1943 with the Allied occupation of Libya; its de jure end was in 1947 with the
Treaty of Paris
b. The territory was under dispute of ownership between Italy and the United Kingdom, and it was
officially conquered by Italy in 1931
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popolazione tra il XIX e il XXI secolo ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI STATISTICA SOCIETÀ ITALIANA DI
DEMOGRAFIA STORICA Le fonti di stato della popolazione tra il XIX e il XXI secolo" (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20140803195051/http://www3.istat.it/dati/catalogo/20120911_00/Annali_serie_XII_vol
_2_anno_141_I_Censimenti_nell'Italia_unita_bis.pdf) (PDF). Annali di Statistica. XII. 2: 269.
Archived from the original (http://www3.istat.it/dati/catalogo/20120911_00/Annali_serie_XII_vol_2_an
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3. "International Boundary Study No. 3 (Revised) – December 15, 1978 Chad – Libya Boundary" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20070926145327/http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS0
03.pdf) (PDF). The Geographer Office of the Geographer Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
Archived from the original (https://law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS003.pdf) (PDF) on
2007-09-26.
4. "Libya - History, People, & Government" (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-46562/Libya).
Britannica.com. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
5. Mann, Michael (2006). The dark side of democracy: explaining ethnic cleansing (2nd ed.). p. 309.
6. Robert Hartley. "Recent population changes in Libya: economic relationships and geographical
patterns". Durham University, 1968] ([1] (https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/109156.pdf))
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7. W. Mitchell. Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall Yard, Volume 57, Issue 2 (http
s://books.google.com/books?ei=_vexU_fCEYeEqgaqkYKIBQ&). p. 997.
8. William James Makin (1935). War Over Ethiopia (https://books.google.com/?id=4O0vAAAAIAAJ).
p. 227.
9. Mann, Michael (2006). The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=cGHGPgj1_tIC&pg=PA309). Cambridge University Press. p. 309.
ISBN 9780521538541.
10. Michael R. Ebner. Geoff Simons. Ordinary Violence in Mussolini's Italy. New York, New York, USA:
Cambridge University Press, 2011. P. 261.
11. Duggan 2007, p. 497
12. Cardoza, Anthony L. (2006). Benito Mussolini: the first fascist. Pearson Longman. p. 109.
13. Bloxham, Donald; Moses, A. Dirk (2010). The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies. Oxford,
England: Oxford University Press. p. 358.
14. General History of Africa, Albert Adu Boahen,Unesco. International Scientific Committee for the
Drafting of a General History of Africa, page 196, 1990
15. Wright, John (1983). Libya: A Modern History. Kent, England: Croom Helm. p. 35.
16. Duggan, Christopher (2007). The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy Since 1796. New York:
Houghton Mifflin. p. 496.
17. "Districts of Libya" (http://www.statoids.com/uly.html). Statoids. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
18. Burr, J. Millard and Robert O. Collins, Darfur: The Long Road to Disaster, Markus Wiener Publishers:
Princeton, 2006, ISBN 1-55876-405-4, p. 111
19. Libyan colonial Troops: pp. 3031 (http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/p4013
coll2&CISOPTR=597&filename=591.pdf.)
20. S. Decalo, 50
21. Stegemann, Bernd; Vogel, Detlef (1995). Germany and the Second World War: The Mediterranean,
South-East Europe, and North Africa, 1939–1941. Oxford University Press. p. 176. ISBN 0-19-
822884-8.
22. Full analysis of the initial Italian attack (http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/p
4013coll2&CISOPTR=597&filename=591.pdf.)
23. 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 (1941), leading troops of the
British Army occupied El Agheila...Graziani's Army had virtually ceased to 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 significant resistance could have been mounted"
24. teacher, Alistair Boddy-Evans Alistair Boddy-Evans is a; experience, African history scholar with
more than 25 years of. "A Timeline of African Countries' Independence" (https://www.thoughtco.com/
chronological-list-of-african-independence-4070467). ThoughtCo.
25. Hagos, Tecola W (November 20, 2004). "Treaty Of Peace With Italy (1947), Evaluation And
Conclusion" (http://tigray.net/2014/11/30/treaty-of-peace-with-italy-1947-evaluation-and-conclusion/).
Retrieved 2018-02-20.
26. Rodogno, D. (2006). Fascism's European empire: Italian occupation during the Second World War.
p. 61.
27. Italian colonists in Libia (in Italiano) (http://www.ernandes.net/prestopino/cason.htm)
28. Jon Wright. History of Libya. P. 165.
29. New villages in coastal Libya (in Italian) (http://www.architecturebeyond.eu/wp-content/uploads/2010/
10/vittoria-capresi_I-centri-rurali-libici.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110720153207/ht
tp://www.architecturebeyond.eu/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/vittoria-capresi_I-centri-rurali-libici.pdf)
2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
30. Sarti, p 190
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Libya 13/14
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Nord esistenti in Italia (in Italian). Leiden: Brill. OCLC 906099149 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/9060
99149).
Inventario dell'Archivio Storico del Ministero Africa Italiana: Libia (1859–1945) (http://www.esteri.it/m
ae/it/ministero/servizi/uapsds/storico_diplom/inventarionline.html) (in Italian). II. Rome: Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Archivio Storico Diplomatico. 1975.
Chapin Metz, Hellen. Libya: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1987.
Del Boca, Angelo. Gli italiani in Libia. Vol. 2. Milano, Mondadori, 1997.
Sarti, Roland. The Ax Within: Italian Fascism in Action. Modern Viewpoints. New York, 1974.
Smeaton Munro, Ion. Through Fascism to World Power: A History of the Revolution in Italy. Ayer
Publishing. Manchester (New Hampshire), 1971. ISBN 0-8369-5912-4
Tuccimei, Ercole. La Banca d'Italia in Africa, Foreword by Arnaldo Mauri, Collana storica della Banca
d'Italia, Laterza, Bari, 1999.
Taylor, Blaine. Fascist Eagle: Italy's Air Marshal Italo Balbo. Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing
Company, 1996. ISBN 1-57510-012-6
External links
Photos of Libyan Italians and their villages in Libya (https://web.archive.org/web/20110324073409/htt
p://www.airl.it/photo.php)
(in Italian) Italian colonial railways built in Libya (https://web.archive.org/web/20110722063813/http://
www.gips.unisi.it/files/wp18.pdf)
(in Italian) Italian Tripolitania in early 1930s (http://airl.previewapps.com/storage/articolis/January201
9/Celz0b2KvLBGzyIa4qJs.pdf)
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