Italian Libya
Libya Libia ( Arabic )Lībyā | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1934–1943 | |||||||||||||||||
Motto: Per l'onore d'Italia "For the honour of Italy" | |||||||||||||||||
Anthem: Marcia Reale d'Ordinanza "Royal March of Ordinance" | |||||||||||||||||
Status | Catholicism | ||||||||||||||||
Government | Colonial administration | ||||||||||||||||
Monarch | |||||||||||||||||
• 1934–1943 | Victor Emmanuel III | ||||||||||||||||
Governor-General | |||||||||||||||||
• 1934–1940 | Italo Balbo | ||||||||||||||||
• 1940–1941 | Rodolfo Graziani | ||||||||||||||||
• 1941 | Italo Gariboldi | ||||||||||||||||
• 1941–1943 | Ettore Bastico | ||||||||||||||||
• 1943 (acting) | Giovanni Messe | ||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||
• Unification of Relinquished by Italy | 10 February 1947[a] | ||||||||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||||||||
1939[2] | 1,759,541 km2 (679,363 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||||||||
• 1939[2] | 893,774 | ||||||||||||||||
Currency | Italian lira | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Today part of | Libya Chad Niger |
Libya (
From 1911 until the establishment of a unified colony in 1934, the territory of the two colonies was sometimes referred to as "Italian Libya" or Italian North Africa (Africa Settentrionale Italiana, or ASI). Both names were also used after the unification, with Italian Libya becoming the official name of the newly combined colony. It had a population of around 150,000 Italians.[3]
The Italian colonies of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were taken by Italy from the
During World War II, Italian Libya became the setting for the
History
Conquest
Italian efforts to colonise Libya began in 1911, and were characterised 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.[8] 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.[9]
After the
In the 1930s, the policy of Italian fascism toward Libya began to change, and both Italian Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, along with Fezzan, were merged into Italian Libya in 1934.
Pacification campaigns
In 1923, indigenous rebels associated with the
The Italian occupation also reduced livestock numbers, killing, confiscating or driving the animals from their pastoral land to inhospitable land near the concentration camps.[15] The 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.[15]
From 1930 to 1931, 12,000 Cyrenaicans were executed and all the nomadic peoples of northern Cyrenaica were forcibly removed from the region and relocated to huge
Territorial agreements with European powers
The colony expanded after concessions from the British colony of
After prolonged discussions through the 1920s, in 1935 under the
In 1931, the towns of
World War II
This article contains too many or overly lengthy quotations. (July 2021) |
In 1939 some Libyans were granted special (though limited) Italian citizenship by Royal Decree No. 70 on 9 January 1939. This citizenship was necessary for any 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 infantry formations in North Africa. The Libyan divisions were loyal to Italy and provided a good combat record.[20]
After the enlargement of Italian Libya with the
Starting in December of the same year, the British
With German support, the lost Libyan territory was regained during
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.
The Fezzan was occupied by the
Libya would finally become independent in 1951.[24]
Independence
From 1943 to 1951, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were under
Although Britain and France had intended to divide the nation between their empires, on November 21, 1949, the
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]
- Tripoli Province, capital Tripoli.
- Benghazi.
- Darnah Province, capital Derna.
- Misurata Province, capital Misrata.
- Southern Military Territory, capital Hun
The general provincial commissionerships were further divided into wards (circondari).
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
Demographics
In 1939, key population figures for Italian Libya were as follows:[2]
Ethnic group | Population | % of total |
---|---|---|
Arabs | 744,057 | 83.2 |
Italians | 119,139 | 13.4 |
Jews | 30,578 | 3.4 |
Total | 893,774 | 100 |
Population of the main urban centres:
Town | Arabs | Italians | Jews | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tripoli | 47,123 | 47,442 | 18,467 | 113,212 |
Benghazi | 40,331 | 23,075 | 3,395 | 66,801 |
Misrata | 44,387 | 1,735 | 977 | 47,099 |
Derna | 13,555 | 3,562 | 391 | 17,508 |
Settler colonialism
Many Italians were encouraged to settle in Libya during the Fascist period, notably in the coastal areas.[27] The annexation of Libya's coastal provinces in 1939 brought them to be an integral part of metropolitan Italy and the focus of Italian settlement.[28]
The population of
They were concentrated on the Mediterranean coast, especially in the main urban centres and in the farmlands around Tripoli, where they constituted 41% of the city's population, and in Benghazi 35%. Settlers found jobs in the construction boom fuelled by Fascist interventionist policies.
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
In a trip by Mussolini to Libya in 1937, a propaganda event was created where Mussolini met with
In January 1939, Italy annexed territories in Libya that it considered Italy's Fourth Shore with Libya's four coastal provinces of Tripoli, Misurata, Bengazi, and Derna becoming an integral part of metropolitan Italy.[28] At the same time indigenous Libyans were granted "Special Italian Citizenship" which required such people to be literate and confined this type of citizenship to be valid in Libya only.[28]
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). This allowed the creation of Libyan military units within the Italian army.[32] 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 the British Empire's Egypt:[33] 1st Libyan Division and 2nd Libyan Division.
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.
The Fascist regime, especially during Depression years, emphasized infrastructure improvements and public works. In particular, Governor Italo Balbo greatly expanded Libyan railway and road networks from 1934 to 1940, building hundreds of kilometers of new roads and railways and encouraging the establishment of new industries and a dozen new agricultural villages.[35] The massive Italian investment did little to improve Libyan quality of life, since the purpose was to develop the economy for the benefit of Italy and Italian settlers.[15]
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.[15] 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.[15] 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 increased immensely. Furthermore, the Italians made modern medical care available for the first time in Libya and improved sanitary conditions in the towns.[citation needed]
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
Archaeology and tourism
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
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]
Italy maintained diplomatic relations with Libya and imported a significant quantity of its oil from the country.[43] Relations between Italy and Libya warmed in the first decade of the 21st century, when they entered co-operative arrangements to deal with illegal immigration into Italy. Libya agreed to aggressively prevent migrants from sub-Saharan Africa from using the country as a transit route to Italy, in return for foreign aid and Italy's successful attempts to have the European Union lift its trade sanctions on Libya.[44]
On 30 August 2008, Gaddafi and Italian
History of Libya | ||||||
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Libya portal | ||||||
See also
- List of governors-general of Italian Libya
- Italian invasion of Libya
- Italian Libya Railways
- Tripoli Grand Prix
- Frontier Wire (Libya)
- Italian Libyans
- Massacres during the Italo-Turkish War
- Aozou Strip
- Italian Libyan Colonial Division
- 1st Libyan Division Sibelle
- 2 Libyan Division Pescatori
- Savari
- Spahis
Notes
References
- ^ "History of Libya". HistoryWorld.
- ^ Istat (December 2010). "I censimenti nell'Italia unita I censimenti nell'Italia unita Le fonti di stato della 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" (PDF). Annali di Statistica. XII. 2: 269. Archived from the original(PDF) on 3 August 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
- ^ a b "Libya - History, People, & Government". Britannica.com. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
- ^ “Italian Hopes in Africa,” The Times of London, November 12 1923.
- ^ a b Mann, Michael (2006). The dark side of democracy: explaining ethnic cleansing (2nd ed.). p. 309.
- ^ "International Boundary Study No. 3 (Revised) – December 15, 1978 Chad – Libya Boundary" (PDF). The Geographer Office of the Geographer Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-26.
- ^ Robert Hartley. "Recent population changes in Libya: economic relationships and geographical patterns". Durham University, 1968 ([1])
- ^ W. Mitchell. Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall Yard, Volume 57, Issue 2. p. 997.
- ^ William James Makin (1935). War Over Ethiopia. p. 227.
- ISBN 9780521538541.
- ^ Michael R. Ebner. Geoff Simons. Ordinary Violence in Mussolini's Italy. New York, New York, USA: Cambridge University Press, 2011. P. 261.
- ^ Duggan 2007, p. 497
- ^ Cardoza, Anthony L. (2006). Benito Mussolini: the first fascist. Pearson Longman. p. 109.
- ^ Bloxham, Donald; Moses, A. Dirk (2010). The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 358.
- ^ a b c d e General History of Africa, Albert Adu Boahen, Unesco. International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa, page 196, 1990
- ^ Wright, John (1983). Libya: A Modern History. Kent, England: Croom Helm. p. 35.
- ^ a b c d Duggan, Christopher (2007). The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy Since 1796. New York: Houghton Mifflin. p. 496.
- ^ "Districts of Libya". Statoids. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ISBN 1-55876-405-4, p. 111
- ^ Libyan colonial Troops: pp. 3031[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 0-19-822884-8.
- ^ Full analysis of the initial Italian attack[permanent dead link]
- ^ 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"
- ^ Boddy-Evans, Alistair. "A Timeline of African Countries' Independence". ThoughtCo.
- ^ Hagos, Tecola W (November 20, 2004). "Treaty Of Peace With Italy (1947), Evaluation And Conclusion". Retrieved 2018-02-20.
- ^ a b c d Rodogno, D. (2006). Fascism's European empire: Italian occupation during the Second World War. p. 61.
- ^ Italian colonists in Libia (in Italiano)
- ^ a b c Jon Wright. History of Libya. P. 165.
- ^ New villages in coastal Libya (in Italian) Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sarti, p 190
- ^ Sarti, p194.
- ^ Sarti, p196.
- ^ 30,000 Libyans fought for Italy in WWII
- ^ Italian Benghazi
- ^ Chapter Libya (in Italian)
- ^ Africa Under Colonial Domination 1880-1935, Professor A Adu Boahen, Unesco. International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa, page 800, 1985
- ^ Economic development of Italian Libya[permanent dead link]
- ^ Italian railways in colonial Libya (in italian) Archived July 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d Dyson, S.L (2006). In pursuit of ancient pasts: a history of classical archaeology in the 19th and 20h centuries. pp. 182–183.
- YouTube
- ^ Italians plan to see Libya once again
- ^ "Libye". www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca. Archived from the original on 2019-06-06.
- ISBN 1-56518-128-X.
- ^ Yaghmaian, Behzad (11 March 2011). "Out of Africa". Foreign Affairs.
- ^ Parliament of Italy. 2009-02-06. Archived from the originalon 2009-06-18. Retrieved 2009-06-10.(in Italian)
- ^ a b c "Gaddafi to Rome for historic visit". ANSA. 2009-06-10. Archived from the original on 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ^ "Berlusconi in Benghazi, Unwelcome by Son of Omar Al-Mukhtar". The Tripoli Post. 2008-08-30. Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ^ Ý bồi thường $5 tỉ, xin lỗi Libya về hậu quả thời đô hộ[permanent dead link] (in Vietnamese)
- ^ "Italia-Libia, firmato l'accordo". La Repubblica. 2008-08-30. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ^ "Libya agrees pact with Italy to boost investment". Alarab Online. 2009-03-02. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ^ The Report: Libya 2008. Oxford Business Group, 2008.Pp. 17.
Bibliography
- Giglio, Carlo, ed. (1971–1983). Inventario delle fonti manoscritte relative alla storia dell'Africa del Nord esistenti in Italia (in Italian). Leiden: Brill. OCLC 906099149.
- Inventario dell'Archivio Storico del Ministero Africa Italiana: Libia (1859–1945) (in Italian). Vol. II. Rome: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archivio Storico Diplomatico. 1975. Archived from the originalon 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
- Chapin Metz, Helen, ed., 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
- (in Italian) Italian colonial railways built in Libya
- (in Italian) Italian Tripolitania in early 1930s