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175-639: Muammar Gaddafi became the de facto leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état . When Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment, the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) headed by Gaddafi abolished the monarchy and the old constitution and established the Libyan Arab Republic , with the motto " freedom , socialism and unity". The name of Libya

350-444: A British Airlines jetliner carrying the leading coup plotters, Farouk Osman Hamadallah and Babikir al-Nour. They were extradited back to Khartoum , where they were promptly executed by Sudanese leader Jaafar Nimeiry . In February 1972, Gaddafi and Sadat signed an unofficial charter of merger, but it was never implemented because relations broke down the following year. Sadat became increasingly wary of Libya's radical direction, and

525-474: A national holiday known as "Vengeance Day". Italy complained that this was in contravention of the 1956 Italo-Libyan Treaty, although no UN sanctions were forthcoming. Aiming to reduce NATO power in the Mediterranean, in 1971 Libya requested that Malta cease allowing NATO to use its land for a military base, in turn offering Malta foreign aid. Compromising, Malta's government continued allowing NATO to use

700-430: A transitional government or provisional leadership , is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse , revolution , civil war , or some combination thereof. Provisional governments generally come to power in connection with a grave crisis that has caused the previous government to suddenly and irreversibly collapse, such as economic collapse , civil war , defeat in

875-495: A "state of the masses" conceptualized by Gaddafi. A new, all-green banner was adopted as the country's flag. Officially, the Jamahiriya was a direct democracy in which the people ruled themselves through the 187 Basic People's Congresses (BPCs), where all adult Libyans participated and voted on national decisions. These then sent members to the annual General People's Congress, which was broadcast live on television. In principle,

1050-545: A Sabha military court tried many of them for counter-revolutionary activity. Long-standing administrative boundaries were re-drawn, crossing tribal boundaries, while pro-revolutionary modernizers replaced traditional leaders, yet the communities they served often rejected them. Realizing the failures of the modernizers, Gaddafi created the Arab Socialist Union (ASU) in June 1971, a mass mobilization vanguard party of which he

1225-425: A basis. The consumption of alcohol was prohibited, night clubs and Christian churches were shut down, traditional Libyan dress was encouraged, and Arabic was decreed as the only language permitted in official communications and on road signs. The RCC doubled the minimum wage , introduced statutory price controls, and implemented compulsory rent reductions of between 30 and 40 per cent. Gaddafi also wanted to combat

1400-484: A collegial body operating through consensus building, Gaddafi dominated the RCC. Some of the others attempted to constrain what they saw as his excesses. Gaddafi remained the government's public face, with the identities of the other RCC members only being publicly revealed on 10 January 1970. All young men from (typically rural) working and middle-class backgrounds, none had university degrees; in this way they were distinct from

1575-461: A consequence, Libya was more ready to ration output in order to conserve its natural wealth and less responsive to moderating its price-rise demands than the other countries. Petroleum was seen both as a means of financing the economic and social development of a woefully underdeveloped country and as a political weapon to brandish in the Arab struggle against Israel. The increase in production that followed

1750-839: A convention of delegates from 13 British colonies on the east coast of North America became the provisional government of the United States in 1776, during the American Revolutionary War . The government shed its provisional status in 1781, following ratification of the Articles of Confederation , and continued in existence as the Congress of the Confederation until it was supplanted by the United States Congress in 1789. The practice of using "provisional government" as part of

1925-527: A coup against Gaddafi. In 1975, their plot was exposed and Muhayshi fled to Tunisia, eventually receiving asylum from Sadat's Egypt. Hawaadi, Hamza, and Omar El-Hariri were arrested. Most of the other conspirators were executed in March 1976. Another RCC member, foreign minister Abdul-Munim al-Huni , also fled to Egypt. In the aftermath, only five RCC members remained: Gaddafi, Jalloud, Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr , Mustafa Kharubi , and Kweldi al-Hamidi . Thus, power

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2100-497: A federal state under the leadership of a pro-Western monarch, Idris , who banned political parties and centralized power in his own hands. Gaddafi's earliest education was of a religious nature, imparted by a local Islamic teacher. Subsequently, moving to nearby Sirte to attend elementary school, he progressed through six grades in four years. Education in Libya was not free, but his father thought it would greatly benefit his son despite

2275-524: A figure that subsequently rose to 70 percent. Total nationalization was out of the question, given the need for foreign expertise and funds in oil exploration, production, and distribution. Insisting on the continued use of petroleum as leverage against Israel and its supporters in the West, Libya strongly urged the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC ) to take action in 1973 , and Libyan militancy

2450-443: A five-point plan, the first point of which dissolved all existing laws, to be replaced by revolutionary enactments. The second point proclaimed that all opponents of the revolution had to be removed, while the third initiated an administrative revolution that Gaddafi proclaimed would remove all traces of bureaucracy and the bourgeoisie . The fourth point announced that the population must form People's Committees and be armed to defend

2625-505: A foreign war , revolution , or the death of a long-serving authoritarian ruler. Questions of democratic transition and state-building are often fundamental to the formation and policies of such governments. Provisional governments maintain power until a new government can be appointed by a regular political process, which is generally an election . They may be involved with defining the legal structure of subsequent regimes, guidelines related to human rights and political freedoms ,

2800-490: A form of direct political participation that was more democratic than a traditional party-based representative system . He hoped that the councils would mobilize the people behind the RCC, erode the power of the traditional leaders and the bureaucracy, and allow for a new legal system chosen by the people. Many such committees were established in schools and colleges, where they were responsible for vetting staff, courses, and textbooks to determine if they were compatible with

2975-704: A formal name can be traced to Talleyrand 's government in France in 1814. In 1843, American pioneers in the Oregon Country , in the Pacific Northwest region of North America established the Provisional Government of Oregon —as the U.S. federal government had not yet extended its jurisdiction over the region—which existed until March 1849. The numerous provisional governments during the Revolutions of 1848 gave

3150-402: A large percentage of those charged were acquitted, sentences of up to fifteen years in prison and heavy fines were imposed on others. Five death sentences, all but one of them in absentia , were pronounced; among them, one against Idris. Former Queen Fatima and former Crown Prince Hasan were sentenced to five and three years in prison, respectively. Meanwhile, Gaddafi and the RCC had disbanded

3325-445: A law was introduced affirming equality of the sexes and insisting on wage parity. In 1971, Gaddafi sponsored the creation of a Libyan General Women's Federation . In 1972, a law was passed criminalizing the marriage of any females under the age of sixteen and ensuring that a woman's consent was a necessary prerequisite for a marriage. Remaking of the economy was parallel with the attempt to remold political and social institutions. Until

3500-482: A leader in the Third World 's struggle against colonialism and neocolonialism . Though many of these groups were labelled " terrorists " by critics of their activities, Gaddafi rejected this characterization, instead considering them to be revolutionaries who were engaged in liberation struggles. On 16 April 1973, Gaddafi proclaimed the start of a "Popular Revolution" in a speech at Zuwarah . He initiated this with

3675-421: A major social priority, designed to eliminate homelessness and to replace the shanty towns created by Libya's growing urbanization. The health sector was also expanded; by 1978, Libya had 50 per cent more hospitals than it had in 1968, while the number of doctors had increased from 700 to over 3000 in that decade. Malaria was eradicated, and trachoma and tuberculosis greatly curtailed. Compulsory education

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3850-566: A network of reservoirs and the towns of Tripoli, Sirte and Benghazi in 2006–2007. It is part of the Great Manmade River project, started in 1984. It is pumping large resources of water from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System to both urban populations and new irrigation projects around the country. Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi ( c.  1942  – 20 October 2011)

4025-552: A new socialist state called a Jamahiriya ("state of the masses"). He officially adopted a symbolic role in governance but remained head of both the military and the Revolutionary Committees responsible for policing and suppressing dissent. During the 1970s and 1980s, Libya's unsuccessful border conflicts with Egypt and Chad , support for foreign militants, and alleged responsibility for bombings of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772 left it increasingly isolated on

4200-1001: A poor Bedouin Arab family, Gaddafi became an Arab nationalist while at school in Sabha , later enrolling in the Royal Military Academy, Benghazi . Within the military, he founded a revolutionary group known as the Free Officers movement which deposed the Western -backed Senussi monarchy of Idris in a 1969 coup . After taking power, Gaddafi converted Libya into a republic governed by his Revolutionary Command Council . Ruling by decree , he deported Libya's Italian population and ejected its Western military bases. He strengthened ties to Arab nationalist governments—particularly Gamal Abdel Nasser 's Egypt—and unsuccessfully advocated pan-Arab political union . An Islamic modernist , he introduced sharia as

4375-544: A prominent role at his funeral. Nasser was succeeded by Anwar Sadat , who suggested that rather than creating a unified state, the Arab states should create a political federation , implemented in April 1971; in doing so, Egypt, Syria, and Sudan received large grants of Libyan oil money. In July 1971, Gaddafi sided with Sadat against the Soviet Union in the 1971 Sudanese coup d'état and dispatched Libyan fighter jets to force down

4550-410: A proportion of informants on par with Ba'athist Iraq and Juche Korea . Filled with politically astute zealots, the ubiquitous revolutionary committees in 1979 assumed control of BPC elections. Although they were not official government organs, the revolutionary committees became another mainstay of the domestic political scene. As with the people's committees and other administrative innovations since

4725-455: A pyramid structure, the base form of these Committees were local working groups, who sent elected representatives to the district level, and from there to the national level, divided between the General People's Congress and the General People's Committee . Above these remained Gaddafi and the RCC, who remained responsible for all major decisions. In crossing regional and tribal identities,

4900-588: A result of a foreign policy dispute. British Petroleum rejected as inadequate a Libyan offer of compensation, and the British treasury banned Libya from participation in the Sterling Area . In 1973, the Libyan government announced the nationalization of a controlling interest in all other petroleum companies operating in the country. This step gave Libya control of about 60 percent of its domestic oil production by early 1974,

5075-413: A result of the disorder. Gaddafi and his companions also broke windows in a local hotel that was accused of serving alcohol . To punish Gaddafi, the authorities expelled him and his family from Sabha. Gaddafi moved to Misrata , there attending Misrata Secondary School. Maintaining his interest in Arab nationalist activism, he refused to join any of the banned political parties active in the city—including

5250-478: A serious intent to bring the "defunct regime" to account. In 1971 and 1972, more than 200 former government officials (including seven prime ministers and numerous cabinet ministers), as well as former King Idris and members of the royal family, were brought to the Libyan People's Court to be tried on charges of treason and corruption. Many, who lived in exile (including Idris), were tried in absentia . Although

5425-796: A valuable source of income during the 1980s oil slump . On 2 March 1977, the General People's Congress adopted the " Declaration on the Establishment of the Authority of the People " at Gaddafi's behest. Dissolving the Libyan Arab Republic, it was replaced by the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ( Arabic : الجماهيرية العربية الليبية الشعبية الاشتراكية , al-Jamāhīrīyah al-‘Arabīyah al-Lībīyah ash-Sha‘bīyah al-Ishtirākīyah ) ,

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5600-455: A wealthy state. Although oil drastically improved the Libyan government's finances, resentment began to build over the increased concentration of the nation's wealth in the hands of King Idris . This discontent mounted with the rise of Nasserism and Arab nationalism / socialism throughout North Africa and the Middle East. On 1 September 1969, a group of about 70 young army officers known as

5775-545: Is frequently tied to the implementation of transitional justice . Provisional governments may be responsible for implementing transitional justice measures as part of the path to establishing a permanent government structure. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule. Irregularly convened assemblies during the English Revolution , such as Confederate Ireland (1641–49), were described as "provisional". The Continental Congress ,

5950-411: The 1986 United States bombing of Libya . Gaddafi defended his government's actions by citing the need to support anti-imperialist and anti-colonial movements around the world. Notably, Gaddafi supported anti-Zionist , pan-Arab , pan-Africanist , Arab and black civil rights movements. Gaddafi's behavior, often erratic, led some outsiders ( from the West, perhaps as propoganda) to conclude that he

6125-610: The Allies . As of 2024 in Europe, only Belarus , South Ossetia , and the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine have provisional governments. The former two were established by the opposition in parallel with the government of the Republic of South Ossetia–State of Alania and the government of the Republic of Belarus , while the latter exists as a Russian puppet government in opposition to

6300-703: The Arab Nationalist Movement , the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party , and the Muslim Brotherhood —claiming that he rejected factionalism. He read voraciously on the subjects of Nasser and the French Revolution of 1789, as well as the works of the Syrian political theorist Michel Aflaq and biographies of Abraham Lincoln , Sun Yat-sen , and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk . Gaddafi briefly studied history at

6475-553: The Arab world . He believed that Palestinian violence against Israeli and Western targets was the justified response of an oppressed people who were fighting against the colonization of their homeland. Calling on the Arab states to wage "continuous war" against Israel, in 1970 he initiated a Jihad Fund to finance anti-Israeli militants. In June 1972 Gaddafi created the First Nasserite Volunteers Centre to train anti-Israeli guerrillas. Like Nasser, Gaddafi favoured

6650-791: The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine , As-Sa'iqa , the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front , and the Abu Nidal Organization. He funded the Black September Organization whose members perpetrated the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes in West Germany and had the killed militants' bodies flown to Libya for a hero's funeral. Gaddafi financially supported other militant groups across

6825-692: The Pakistani nuclear program in favor of Saudi financing. Gaddafi sought to develop closer links in the Maghreb ; in January 1974 Libya and Tunisia announced a political union, the Arab Islamic Republic . Although advocated by Gaddafi and Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba , the move was deeply unpopular in Tunisia, and it was soon abandoned. Retaliating, Gaddafi sponsored anti-government militants in Tunisia into

7000-651: The Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Polisario Front . Gaddafi's government was either known to be or suspected of participating in or aiding attacks by these and other liberation alliance forces. Additionally, Gaddafi undertook several invasions of neighboring states in Africa, notably Chad in the 1970s and 1980s . All of his actions led to a deterioration of Libya's foreign relations with several countries, mostly Western states , and culminated in

7175-551: The Qur'an , rejecting scholarly interpretations and the Hadith ; in doing so, he angered many Libyan clerics. During 1973 and 1974, his government deepened the legal reliance on sharia , for instance by introducing flogging as punishment for those convicted of adultery or homosexual activity. Gaddafi summarized Third International Theory in three short volumes published between 1975 and 1979, collectively known as The Green Book . Volume one

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7350-870: The Red Army Faction in Europe, and the Armenian Secret Army , the Japanese Red Army , the Free Aceh Movement , and the Moro National Liberation Front in the Philippines . Gaddafi was indiscriminate in the causes which he funded, sometimes switching from supporting one side in a conflict to the other, as in the Eritrean War of Independence . Throughout the 1970s these groups received financial support from Libya, which came to be seen as

7525-508: The Senussi order and officially downgraded its historical role in achieving Libya's independence. He also declared regional and tribal issues to be "obstructions" in the path of social advancement and Arab unity, dismissing traditional leaders and drawing administrative boundaries across tribal groupings . The Free Officers Movement was renamed " Arab Socialist Union " (ASU) in 1971 (modeled after Egypt's Arab Socialist Union ), while also becoming

7700-893: The Six-Day War with Israel; Idris' administration was seen as pro-Israeli due to its alliance with the Western powers. Anti-Western riots broke out in Tripoli and Benghazi, while Libyan workers shut down oil terminals in solidarity with Egypt. By 1969, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was expecting segments of Libya's armed forces to launch a coup. Although claims have been made that they knew of Gaddafi's Free Officers Movement , they have since claimed ignorance, stating that they were instead monitoring Abdul Aziz Shalhi 's Black Boots revolutionary group. Shalhi, who effectively served as Idris' chief of staff, and his brother Omar were

7875-643: The Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries, all the while maintaining Libya's stance as a nonaligned country and opposing the spread of communism in the Arab world. Libya's army—sharply increased from the 6,000-man pre-revolutionary force that had been trained and equipped by the British—was armed with Soviet-built armor and missiles. The economic base for Libya's revolution has been its oil revenues. However, Libya's petroleum reserves were small compared with those of other major Arab petroleum-producing states. As

8050-620: The State of Palestine under both Fatah (detailed above) and Hamas , Syria , and Yemen currently have provisional governments. The Syrian provisional governments are opposition groups in rebellion against their internationally recognized government. Afghanistan's provisional government is unrecognized, but is de facto the country's sole governing body. Myanmar and Yemen have both ruling and opposition provisional governments. Provisional governments were also established throughout Europe as occupied nations were liberated from Nazi occupation by

8225-592: The Sudan People's Liberation Army 's attempt to overthrow Nimeiry. In 1974, Gaddafi released Abdul-Aziz Shennib , a commander under King Idris , from prison and appointed him Libyan ambassador to Jordan . Shennib had attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst with King Hussein of Jordan and was tasked by Gaddafi with Hussein's assassination. Shennib instead informed Hussein of the plot and defected to Jordan. Relations with Syria also soured over

8400-558: The University of Libya in Benghazi before dropping out to join the military. Despite his police record, in 1963 he began training at the Royal Military Academy , Benghazi, alongside several like-minded friends from Misrata. The armed forces offered the only opportunity for upward social mobility for underprivileged Libyans, and Gaddafi recognized it as a potential instrument of political change. Under Idris, Libya's armed forces were trained by

8575-533: The sole legal party in Gaddafi's Libya. It acted as a "vehicle of national expression", purporting to "raise the political consciousness of Libyans" and to "aid the RCC in formulating public policy through debate in open forums". Trade unions were incorporated into the ASU and strikes outlawed. The press, already subject to censorship, was officially conscripted in 1972 as an agent of the revolution. Italians (and what remained of

8750-566: The "Islamic bomb," Lahore Stadium was renamed Gaddafi Stadium . Gaddafi also provided support for Pakistan in the Bangladesh Liberation War ; he reportedly deployed F-5s to Sargodha AFB and penned a strongly worded letter to Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi accusing her of aggression against Pakistan. Gaddafi's strong relationship with Pakistan ended after Bhutto was deposed by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1977 as Zia distrusted Gaddafi and rejected further Libyan financing for

8925-461: The "encircling, demonic forces of reaction, imperialism, and Zionism"), increasingly devoted attention to international rather than internal affairs. As a result, routine administrative tasks fell to Major Jallud, who became prime minister in place of Gaddafi, in 1972. Two years later, Jallud assumed Gaddafi's remaining administrative and protocol duties to allow Gaddafi to devote his time to revolutionary theorizing. Gaddafi remained commander-in-chief of

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9100-535: The "revolutionary committees", which were nominally grass-roots organizations that helped keep the people engaged. As a result, although Gaddafi held no formal government office after 1979, he retained control of the government and the country. Gaddafi also remained supreme commander of the armed forces. All legislative and executive authority was vested in the GPC. This body, however, delegated most of its important authority to its general secretary and General Secretariat and to

9275-410: The "separation of the state from the revolution" were complete. The government was divided into two parts, the "Jamahiriya sector" and the "revolutionary sector". The "Jamahiriya sector" was composed of the General People's Congress, the General People's Committee, and the local Basic People's Congresses . Gaddafi relinquished his position as general secretary of the General People's Congress, as which he

9450-521: The 1969 revolution was accompanied by Libyan demands for higher petroleum prices, a greater share of revenues, and more control over the development of the country's petroleum industry. Foreign petroleum companies agreed to a price hike of more than three times the going rate (from US$ 0.90 to US$ 3.45 per barrel) early in 1971. In December, the Libyan government suddenly nationalized the holdings of British Petroleum in Libya and withdrew funds amounting to approximately US$ 550 million invested in British banks as

9625-568: The 1980s. Turning his attention to Algeria , in 1975 Libya signed, in Hassi Messaoud , a defensive alliance allegedly to counter alleged "Moroccan expansionism", also funding the Polisario Front of Western Sahara in its independence struggle against Morocco . Seeking to diversify Libya's economy, Gaddafi's government began purchasing shares in major European corporations like Fiat as well as buying real estate in Malta and Italy, which would become

9800-465: The 5th highest in Africa. The increase in prosperity was accompanied by a pro-liberation anti-west foreign policy, and increased domestic political repression. During the 1980s and 1990s, Gaddafi, in alliance with the Eastern Bloc and Fidel Castro's Cuba , openly supported liberation movements like Nelson Mandela's African National Congress , Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization ,

9975-430: The Berka barracks in Benghazi, while Umar Muhayshi occupied Tripoli barracks and Jalloud seized the city's anti-aircraft batteries. Khweldi Hameidi took over the Tripoli radio station and was sent to arrest crown prince Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi and force him to relinquish his claim to the throne. They met no serious resistance and wielded little violence against the monarchists. Once Gaddafi removed

10150-400: The British and American military withdrawal from the new republic. The last of the American contingent turned the facility over to the Libyans on 11 June 1970, a date thereafter celebrated in Libya as a national holiday. On 27 March 1970, the British air base in El Adem and the naval base in Tobruk were abandoned. As relations with the U.S. steadily deteriorated, Gaddafi forged close links with

10325-447: The British military; this angered Gaddafi, who viewed the British as imperialists, and accordingly, he refused to learn English and was rude to the British officers, ultimately failing his exams. British trainers reported him for insubordination and abusive behaviour, stating their suspicion that he was involved in the assassination of the military academy's commander in 1963. Such reports were ignored, and Gaddafi quickly progressed through

10500-403: The Egyptian experience and the charismatic figure of Nasser had formed the model for the Free Officers Movement. As the RCC in the last months of 1969 moved vigorously to institute domestic reforms, it proclaimed neutrality in the confrontation between the superpowers and opposition to all forms of colonialism and imperialism. It also made clear Libya's dedication to Arab unity and to the support of

10675-419: The Free Officers Movement and enlisted men mostly assigned to the Signal Corps , seized control of the government and in a stroke abolished the Libyan monarchy. The coup was launched at Benghazi , and within two hours the takeover was completed. Army units quickly rallied in support of the coup, and within a few days firmly established military control in Tripoli and throughout the country. Popular reception of

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10850-400: The Free Officers' coup represented a revolution, marking the start of widespread change in the socio-economic and political nature of Libya. He proclaimed that the revolution meant "freedom, socialism, and unity", and over the coming years implemented measures to achieve this. The 12-member central committee of the Free Officers proclaimed themselves the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC),

11025-452: The General People's Committee, which replaced the Council of Ministers, its members now called secretaries rather than ministers. The Libyan government claimed that the Jamahiriya was a direct democracy without any political parties , governed by its populace through local popular councils and communes (named Basic People's Congresses ). Official rhetoric disdained the idea of a nation state , tribal bonds remaining primary, even within

11200-403: The General People's Committee. Gaddafi, as general secretary of the GPC, remained the primary decision maker, just as he had been when chairman of the RCC. In turn, all adults had the right and duty to participate in the deliberation of their local Basic People's Congress (BPC), whose decisions were passed up to the GPC for consideration and implementation as national policy. The BPCs were in theory

11375-460: The Jewish community) were expelled from the country, their property confiscated in October 1970. In 1972, Libya joined the Federation of Arab Republics with Egypt and Syria ; the previously-intended union of pan-Arabic states, never coming to fruition, went effectively dormant after 1973. As months passed, Gaddafi, caught up in his apocalyptic visions of revolutionary Pan-Arabism and Islam (both locked in mortal struggle with what he termed

11550-499: The Libyan government after the coup. In its initial proclamation on 1 September, the RCC declared the country to be a free and sovereign state called the Libyan Arab Republic , which would proceed "in the path of freedom, unity, and social justice, guaranteeing the right of equality to its citizens, and opening before them the doors of honorable work." The rule of the Turks and Italians and the "reactionary" government just overthrown were characterized as belonging to "dark ages", from which

11725-448: The Libyan people were called to move forward as "free brothers" to a new age of prosperity, equality, and honor. The RCC advised diplomatic representatives in Libya that the revolutionary changes had not been directed from outside the country, that existing treaties and agreements would remain in effect, and that foreign lives and property would be protected. Diplomatic recognition of the new government came quickly from countries throughout

11900-459: The Libyans' standard of life greatly improved over the first decade of Gaddafi's administration, and by 1979 the average per-capita income was at $ 8,170, up from $ 40 in 1951; this was above the average of many industrialized countries like Italy and the UK. In 1969, the government also declared that all foreign owned banks must either close down or convert to joint-stock operations. The RCC implemented measures for social reform, adopting sharia as

12075-407: The Muslim Brotherhood, who accused Gaddafi of moving towards Marxism and criticized his abolition of private property as being against the Islamic sunnah ; these forces were then persecuted as anti-revolutionary, while all privately owned Islamic colleges and universities were shut down. Following Anwar Sadat's ascension to the Egyptian presidency, Libya's relations with Egypt deteriorated. Over

12250-597: The Palestinian cause against Israel. The RCC reaffirmed the country's identity as part of the "Arab nation" and its state religion as Islam . It abolished parliamentary institutions, all legislative functions being assumed by the RCC, and continued the prohibition against political parties, in effect since 1952. The new government categorically rejected communism – in large part because it was atheist – and officially espoused an Arab interpretation of socialism that integrated Islamic principles with social, economic, and political reform. Libya had shifted, virtually overnight, from

12425-437: The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his group, Fatah , over more militant and Marxist Palestinian groups. As the years progressed however, Gaddafi's relationship with Arafat became strained, with Gaddafi considering him too moderate and calling for more violent action. Instead, he supported militias like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command ,

12600-517: The People's Congresses were Libya's highest authority, with major decisions proposed by government officials or with Gaddafi himself requiring the consent of the People's Congresses. Gaddafi became General Secretary of the GPC, although he stepped down from this position in early 1979 and appointed himself "Leader of the Revolution". Provisional government A provisional government , also called an interim government , an emergency government ,

12775-598: The RCC decided to promote Captain Gaddafi to colonel and to appoint him commander in chief of the Libyan Armed Forces. Although RCC spokesmen declined until January 1970 to reveal any other names of RCC members, it was apparent from that date onward that the head of the RCC and new de facto head of state was Gaddafi. Analysts were quick to point out the striking similarities between the Libyan military coup of 1969 and that in Egypt under Nasser in 1952, and it became clear that

12950-528: The RCC government initiated a process of directing funds toward providing education, health care and housing for all. Public education in the country became free and primary education compulsory for both sexes. Medical care became available to the public at no cost, but providing housing for all was a task the RCC government was unable to complete. Under Gaddafi, per capita income in the country rose to more than US$ 11,000 in nominal terms, and to over US$ 30,000 in PPP terms,

13125-611: The Revolutionary Intellectuals Seminar was held to bring intellectuals in line with the revolution, while that year's Legislative Review and Amendment united secular and religious law codes, introducing sharia into the legal system. Ruling by decree , the RCC maintained the monarchy's ban on political parties, in May 1970 banned trade unions, and in 1972 outlawed workers' strikes and suspended newspapers. In September 1971, Gaddafi resigned, claiming to be dissatisfied with

13300-789: The September 1973 deadline for implementing the Federation passed by with no action taken. After the 1969 coup, representatives of the Four Powers —France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union —were called to meet RCC representatives. The UK and the US quickly extended diplomatic recognition, hoping to secure the position of their military bases in Libya and fearing further instability. Hoping to ingratiate themselves with Gaddafi, in 1970

13475-702: The Shelhis in overthrowing the monarchy, initiated "Operation Jerusalem". If Gaddafi's Free Officers had not preempted the Shelhis, they would have almost certainly been defeated by the combined forces of Abdul Aziz Shelhi, the deputy commander of Libya's army, and the prominent families in Cyrenaica that supported the Shelhi family. On 1 September, Gaddafi's Free Officers occupied airports, police depots, radio stations, and government offices in Tripoli and Benghazi. Gaddafi took control of

13650-683: The Soviet Union. The commercial relationship with the latter led to an increasingly strained relationship with the US, which was then engaged in the Cold War with the Soviets. Gaddafi was especially critical of the US due to its support of Israel and sided with the Palestinians in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict , viewing the 1948 creation of the State of Israel as a Western colonial occupation forced upon

13825-652: The Tripoli Agreement of 20 March 1971, in which they secured income tax, back-payments and better pricing from the oil corporations; these measures brought Libya an estimated $ 1 billion in additional revenues in its first year. Increasing state control over the oil sector, the RCC began a program of nationalization , starting with the expropriation of British Petroleum 's share of the British Petroleum-N.B. Hunt Sahir Field in December 1971. In September 1973, it

14000-464: The US informed him of at least one planned counter-coup. Such attempts to form a working relationship with the RCC failed; Gaddafi was determined to reassert national sovereignty and expunge what he described as foreign colonial and imperialist influences. His administration insisted that the US and the UK remove their military bases from Libya, with Gaddafi proclaiming that "the armed forces which rose to express

14175-441: The age of sixteen and ensuring that a woman's consent was a necessary prerequisite for a marriage. Gaddafi's regime opened up a wide range of educational and employment opportunities for women, although these primarily benefited a minority in the urban middle-classes. From 1969 to 1973, it used oil money to fund social welfare programs, which led to housebuilding projects and improved healthcare and education. House building became

14350-475: The armed forces and effective head of state. The foreign press speculated about an eclipse of his authority and personality within the RCC, but Gaddafi soon dispelled such theories by his measures to restructure Libyan society. After the September coup, U.S. forces proceeded deliberately with the planned withdrawal from Wheelus Air Base under the agreement made with the previous government. The foreign minister, Salah Busir , played an important role in negotiating

14525-652: The basis for the legal system and promoted Islamic socialism . He nationalized the oil industry and used the increasing state revenues to bolster the military, fund foreign revolutionaries , and implement social programs emphasizing housebuilding, healthcare and education projects. In 1973, he initiated a " Popular Revolution " with the formation of Basic People's Congresses , presented as a system of direct democracy , but retained personal control over major decisions. He outlined his Third International Theory that year in The Green Book . In 1977 Gaddafi transformed Libya into

14700-524: The body politic. Beginning in 1977, "revolutionary committees" were organized and assigned the task of "absolute revolutionary supervision of people's power"; that is, they were to guide the people's committees, "raise the general level of political consciousness and devotion to revolutionary ideals". In reality, the revolutionary committees were used to survey the population and repress any political opposition to Gaddafi's autocratic rule. Reportedly 10% to 20% of Libyans worked in surveillance for these committees,

14875-419: The camp of conservative Arab traditionalist states to that of the radical nationalist states. Following the formation of the Libyan Arab Republic , Gaddafi and his associates insisted that their government would not rest on individual leadership, but rather on collegial decision making. The first major cabinet change occurred soon after the first challenge to the government. In December 1969, Adam Said Hawwaz,

15050-418: The coming years, the two slipped into a state of cold war . Sadat was perturbed by Gaddafi's unpredictability and insistence that Egypt required a cultural revolution akin to that being carried out in Libya. In February 1973, Israeli forces shot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 , which had strayed from Egyptian airspace into Israeli-held territory during a sandstorm. Gaddafi's foreign minister Salah Busir

15225-523: The committee system aided national integration and centralization and tightened Gaddafi's control over the state and administrative apparatus. In June 1973, Gaddafi created a political ideology as a basis for the Popular Revolution: Third International Theory . This approach regarded both the US and the Soviet Union as imperialist and thus rejected Western capitalism as well as Marxist–Leninist atheism. In this respect, it

15400-502: The component jumhūr —"public"—to its plural form, jamāhīr —"the masses". Thus, it is similar to the term People's Republic . It is often left untranslated in English, with the long-form name thus rendered as Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya . However, in Hebrew , for instance, jamāhīrīyah is translated as "קהילייה" ( qehiliyáh ), a word also used to translate

15575-508: The concept of direct democracy that Gaddafi propounded in the first volume of The Green Book , which appeared in 1976. The same concept lay behind proposals to create a new political structure composed of "people's congresses". The centerpiece of the new system was the General People's Congress (GPC), a national representative body intended to replace the RCC. During this transition, on 7 April 1976, students of universities in Tripoli and Benghazi protested against human rights violations and

15750-522: The contrary, he did not attend the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst . The Bovington signal course's director reported that Gaddafi successfully overcame problems learning English, displaying a firm command of voice procedure. Noting that Gaddafi's favourite hobbies were reading and playing football , he thought of him as an "amusing officer, always cheerful, hard-working, and conscientious". Gaddafi disliked England, claiming British Army officers had racially insulted him and finding it difficult adjusting to

15925-561: The countries to aid trade and development. Gaddafi was also keen on reducing Israeli influence within Africa, using financial incentives to successfully convince eight African states to break off diplomatic relations with Israel in 1973. A strong relationship was also established between Gaddafi's Libya and Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 's Pakistani government, with the two countries exchanging nuclear research and military assistance. In recognition of Gaddafi's support of Pakistan's right to pursue nuclear weapons and financial support for

16100-398: The country following the discovery of oil reserves. Conversely, many Libyans strongly opposed Gaddafi's social and economic reforms; he was accused of various human rights violations. He was condemned by many as a dictator whose authoritarian administration systematically violated human rights and financed global terrorism in the region and abroad. Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi

16275-599: The country relaxed, in exchange for nuclear disarmament . In early 2011, a civil war broke out in the context of the wider Arab Spring . The rebel anti-Gaddafi forces formed a committee named the National Transitional Council in February 2011, to act as an interim authority in the rebel-controlled areas. After killings by government forces in addition to those by the rebel forces, a multinational coalition led by NATO forces intervened in March in support of

16450-630: The country's culture; asserting his Arab identity in London, he walked around Piccadilly wearing traditional Libyan robes. He later related that while he travelled to England believing it more advanced than Libya, he returned home "more confident and proud of our values, ideals and social character". People of Libya! In response to your own will, fulfilling your most heartfelt wishes, answering your most incessant demands for change and regeneration, and your longing to strive towards these ends: listening to your incitement to rebel, your armed forces have undertaken

16625-430: The country's primary export, Gaddafi sought to improve Libya's oil sector. In October 1969, he proclaimed the current trade terms unfair, benefiting foreign corporations more than the Libyan state, and threatened to decrease production. In December Jalloud successfully increased the price of Libyan oil. In 1970, other OPEC states followed suit, leading to a global increase in the price of crude oil. The RCC followed with

16800-430: The country's revolutionary ideology. The People's Committees led to a high percentage of public involvement in decision making, within the limits permitted by the RCC, but exacerbated tribal divisions and tensions. They also served as a surveillance system, aiding the security services in locating individuals with views critical of the RCC, leading to the arrest of Ba'athists , Marxists , and Islamists . Operating in

16975-486: The coup, especially by younger people in the urban areas, was enthusiastic. Fears of resistance in Cyrenaica and Fezzan proved unfounded. No deaths or violent incidents related to the coup were reported. The Free Officers Movement, which claimed credit for carrying out the coup, was headed by a twelve-member directorate that designated itself the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC). This body constituted

17150-558: The course. With a group of loyal cadres, in 1964, Gaddafi established the Central Committee of the Free Officers Movement, a revolutionary group named after Nasser's Egyptian predecessor . Led by Gaddafi, they met secretively and were organized into a clandestine cell system , pooling their salaries into a single fund. Gaddafi travelled around Libya collecting intelligence and developing connections with sympathizers, but

17325-415: The development of a broad range of economic activities that would continue to provide income after Libya's petroleum reserves had been exhausted. Agriculture was slated to receive the largest share of aid in an effort to make Libya self-sufficient in food and to help keep the rural population on the land. Industry, of which there was little before the revolution, also received a significant amount of funding in

17500-550: The dramatic events occurring in their homeland. From Sirte, he and his family moved to the market town of Sabha in Fezzan , south-central Libya, where his father worked as a caretaker for a tribal leader while Muammar attended secondary school, something neither parent had done. Gaddafi was popular at this school; some friends made there received significant jobs in his later administration, most notably his best friend, Abdul Salam Jalloud . Many teachers at Sabha were Egyptian, and for

17675-411: The economy. Thereafter, output stabilized at about two million barrels per day. Production and hence income declined yet again in the early 1980s because of the high price of Libyan crude and because recession in the industrialized world reduced demand for oil from all sources. Libya's Five-Year Economic and Social Transformation Plan (1976–80), announced in 1975, was programmed to pump US$ 20 billion into

17850-587: The events in the Lebanese Civil War . Initially, both Libya and Syria had contributed troops to the Arab League's peacekeeping force, although after the Syrian army attacked the Lebanese National Movement , Gaddafi openly accused Syrian President Hafez al-Assad of "national treason"; he was the only Arab leader to criticize Syria's actions. In late 1972 and early 1973, Libya invaded Chad to annex

18025-399: The existing constitutional framework and most countries tightly circumscribe their authority, in contrast to provisional governments, which often operate in the absence of any elected legislature and usually enjoy expansive, if temporary, powers. In opinion of Yossi Shain and Juan J. Linz, provisional governments can be classified to four groups: The establishment of provisional governments

18200-408: The financial strain. During the week Gaddafi slept in a mosque, and only at weekends and holidays walked 20 miles (32 km) to visit his parents. Even though Gaddafi's father was not educated, he made great sacrifices to send his son to school. As an impoverished Bedouin, he faced bullying and discrimination from his city-dwelling classmates. However, he had many Egyptian teachers who informed him of

18375-664: The first development plan as well as in the second, launched in 1981. The "remaking of Libyan society" contained in Gaddafi's ideological visions began to be put into practice formally in 1973, with a cultural revolution. This revolution was designed to create bureaucratic efficiency, public interest and participation in the subnational governmental system, and national political coordination. In an attempt to instill revolutionary fervor into his compatriots and to involve large numbers of them in political affairs, Gaddafi urged them to challenge traditional authority and to take over and run government organs themselves. The instrument for doing this

18550-695: The first time, Gaddafi had access to pan-Arab newspapers and radio broadcasts, especially the Cairo -based Voice of the Arabs . Growing up, Gaddafi witnessed significant events severely disturb the Arab world , including the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 , the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the short-lived existence of the United Arab Republic (UAR) between 1958 and 1961. Gaddafi admired

18725-425: The following month. The RCC's early economic policy has been characterized as being state capitalist in orientation. Many initiatives were established to aid entrepreneurs and develop a Libyan bourgeoisie. Seeking to expand the cultivatable acreage in Libya, in September 1969 the government launched a "Green Revolution" to increase agricultural productivity so that Libya could rely less on imported food. The hope

18900-454: The government of the new republic. Lieutenant Gaddafi became RCC chairman, and therefore the de facto head of state, also appointing himself to the rank of colonel and becoming commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Jalloud became Prime Minister, while a civilian Council of Ministers headed by Sulaiman Maghribi was founded to implement RCC policy. Libya's administrative capital was moved from al-Beida to Tripoli. Although theoretically

19075-616: The government's intelligence services ignored him, considering him little threat. Graduating in August 1965, Gaddafi became a communications officer in the army's signal corps. In April 1966, he was assigned to the United Kingdom for further training; over nine months he underwent an English-language course at Beaconsfield , Buckinghamshire, an Army Air Corps signal instructors course in Bovington Camp , Dorset, and an infantry signal instructors course at Hythe , Kent. Despite later rumours to

19250-442: The governorate, municipal, and zone (lowest) levels. Seats on the people's committees at the zone level were filled by direct popular election; members so elected could then be selected for service at higher levels. By mid-1973 estimates of the number of people's committees ranged above 2,000. In the scope of their administrative and regulatory tasks and the method of their members' selection, the people's committees purportedly embodied

19425-634: The inexperienced RCC. Gaddafi propounded pan-Arab ideas, proclaiming the need for a single Arab state stretching across North Africa and the Middle East. In December 1969, Libya signed the Tripoli Charter alongside Egypt and Sudan. This established the Arab Revolutionary Front, a pan-national union designed as a first step towards the eventual political unification of the three nations. In 1970 Syria declared its intention to join. Nasser died unexpectedly in September 1970, with Gaddafi playing

19600-415: The island, but only on the condition that NATO would not use it for launching attacks on Arab territory. Over the coming decade, Gaddafi's government developed stronger political and economic links with Dom Mintoff 's Maltese administration, and under Libya's urging Malta did not renew the UK's airbases on the island in 1980. Orchestrating a military build-up, the RCC began purchasing weapons from France and

19775-411: The large amount of oil revenue being spent on foreign causes, generated discontent in Libya, particularly among the country's merchant class. In 1974, Libya saw its first civilian attack on Gaddafi's government when a Benghazi army building was bombed. Much of the opposition centred around RCC member Umar Muhayshi . With fellow RCC members Bashir Saghir al-Hawaadi and Awad Ali Hamza, he began plotting

19950-488: The late 1970s, Libya's economy was mixed , with a large role for private enterprise except in the fields of oil production and distribution, banking, and insurance. But according to volume two of Gaddafi's Green Book, which appeared in 1978, private retail trade, rent, and wages were forms of exploitation that should be abolished. Instead, workers' self-management committees and profit participation partnerships were to function in public and private enterprises. A property law

20125-418: The masses") occurs only in the third part, published in 1981, in the phrase إن الحركات التاريخية هي الحركات الجماهيرية ( Inna al-ḥarakāt at-tārīkhīyah hiya al-ḥarakāt al-jamāhīrīyah ), translated in the English edition as "Historic movements are mass movements". The word jamāhīrīyah was derived from jumhūrīyah , which is the usual Arabic translation of "republic". It was coined by changing

20300-496: The military's control over "all aspects of life in Libya"; the students called for free and fair elections to take place and for power to be transferred to a civilian government. Violent counter-demonstrations took place, with many students imprisoned. On 7 April 1977, the anniversary of the event, students (including Omar Dabob and Muhammed Ben Saoud) were publicly executed in Benghazi, with anti-Gaddafi military officers executed later in

20475-485: The minister of defense, and Musa Ahmad, the minister of interior, were arrested and accused of planning a coup. In the new cabinet formed after the crisis, Gaddafi, retaining his post as chairman of the RCC, also became prime minister and defense minister. Major Abdel Salam Jallud , generally regarded as second only to Gaddafi in the RCC, became deputy prime minister and minister of interior. This cabinet totaled thirteen members, of whom five were RCC officers. The government

20650-445: The monarchical government, he announced the foundation of the Libyan Arab Republic . Addressing the populace by radio, he proclaimed an end to the "reactionary and corrupt" regime, "the stench of which has sickened and horrified us all". Due to the coup's bloodless nature, it was initially labelled the "White Revolution", although was later renamed the "One September Revolution" after the date on which it occurred. Gaddafi insisted that

20825-580: The new capital of Libya in September. The fall of the last remaining sites in Sirte under pro-Gaddafi control on 20 October 2011, followed by the subsequent killing of Gaddafi , marked the end of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. The discovery of significant oil reserves in 1959 and the subsequent income from petroleum sales enabled the Kingdom of Libya to transition from one of the world's poorest nations to

21000-419: The newly dispossessed. The latter joined those already alienated, some of whom had begun to leave the country. By 1982, perhaps 50,000 to 100,000 Libyans had gone abroad; because many of the emigrants were among the enterprising and better educated Libyans, they represented a significant loss of managerial and technical expertise. The government also built a trans-Sahara water pipeline from major aquifers to both

21175-462: The next day. While the other Arab nations lifted their oil embargoes on 18 March 1974, the Gaddafi regime refused to do so. As a consequence of such policies, Libya's oil production declined by half between 1970 and 1974, while revenues from oil exports more than quadrupled. Production continued to fall, bottoming out at an eleven-year low in 1975 at a time when the government was preparing to invest large amounts of petroleum revenues in other sectors of

21350-573: The official political philosophy of Gaddafi's state, the "Jamahiriya" system was unique to the country, although it was presented as the materialization of the Third International Theory , proposed by Gaddafi to be applied to the entire Third World . The GPC also created the General Secretariat of the GPC, comprising the remaining members of the defunct Revolutionary Command Council, with Gaddafi as general secretary, and also appointed

21525-490: The order, fearing a military escalation. Gaddafi was later infuriated when Egypt and Syria planned the Yom Kippur War against Israel without consulting him and was angered when Egypt conceded to peace talks rather than continuing the war. Gaddafi became openly hostile to Egypt's leader, calling for Sadat's overthrow. When Sudanese President Gaafar Nimeiry took Sadat's side, Gaddafi also spoke out against him, encouraging

21700-555: The overthrow of the corrupt regime, the stench of which has sickened and horrified us all. At a single blow our gallant army has toppled these idols and has destroyed their images. By a single stroke it has lightened the long dark night in which the Turkish domination was followed first by Italian rule, then by this reactionary and decadent regime which was no more than a hotbed of extortion, faction, treachery and treason. —Gaddafi's radio speech after seizing power, 1969 Idris' government

21875-413: The pace of reform, but returned to his position within a month. In July 1972, amid widespread speculation that Gaddafi had been ousted or jailed by his political opponents, a new 18-man cabinet was formed with only two of them, Jalloud and Abdel Moneim al-Houni , being military men; the rest were civilian technocrats per Gaddafi's insistence. In February 1973, Gaddafi resigned again, once more returning

22050-515: The people's revolution [will not] tolerate living in their shacks while the bases of imperialism exist in Libyan territory." The British left in March and the Americans in June 1970. Moving to reduce Italian influence, in October 1970 all Italian-owned assets were expropriated, and the 12,000-strong Italian community was expelled from Libya alongside the smaller community of Libyan Jews . The day became

22225-495: The political changes implemented in the Arab Republic of Egypt under his hero, President Gamal Abdel Nasser . Nasser argued for Arab nationalism ; the rejection of Western colonialism , neo-colonialism , and Zionism ; and a transition from capitalism to socialism . Gaddafi was influenced by Nasser's book, Philosophy of the Revolution , which outlined how to initiate a coup. One of Gaddafi's Egyptian teachers, Mahmoud Efay,

22400-520: The prime mover behind Libyan governance, while minimizing his visibility at a time when internal opposition to political repression was rising. The RCC was formally dissolved and the government was again reorganized into people's committees. A new General People's Committee (cabinet) was selected, each of its "secretaries" becoming head of a specialized people's committee; the exceptions were the "secretariats" of petroleum, foreign affairs, and heavy industry, where there were no people's committees. A proposal

22575-503: The ranks of the national army . Jamahiriya ( Arabic : جماهيرية jamāhīrīyah ) is an Arabic term generally translated as "state of the masses"; Lisa Anderson has suggested "peopledom" or "state of the masses" as a reasonable approximations of the meaning of the term as intended by Gaddafi. The term does not occur in this sense in Muammar Gaddafi 's Green Book of 1975. The nisba -adjective jamāhīrīyah ("mass-, "of

22750-400: The rebels. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Gaddafi and his entourage in June 2011. Gaddafi's government was overthrown in the wake of the fall of Tripoli to the rebel forces in August, although pockets of resistance held by forces in support of Gaddafi's government held out for another two months, especially in Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte , which he declared

22925-484: The repository of ultimate political authority and decision making, embodying what Gaddafi termed direct "people's power". The 1977 declaration and its accompanying resolutions amounted to a fundamental revision of the 1969 constitutional proclamation, especially with respect to the structure and organization of the government at both national and subnational levels. Continuing to revamp Libya's political and administrative structure, Gaddafi introduced yet another element into

23100-554: The rest of his life; he preferred the desert over the city and would retreat there to meditate. From childhood, Gaddafi was aware of the involvement of European colonial powers in Libya; his nation was occupied by Italy , and during the North African Campaign of the Second World War it witnessed conflict between Italian and British forces. According to later claims, Gaddafi's paternal grandfather, Abdessalam Bouminyar,

23275-485: The revolution, the revolutionary committees fit the pattern of imposing a new element on the existing subnational system of government rather than eliminating or consolidating already existing structures. By the late 1970s, the result was an unnecessarily complex system of overlapping jurisdictions in which cooperation and coordination among different elements were compromised by ill-defined authority and responsibility. The ambiguity may have helped serve Gaddafi's aim to remain

23450-705: The revolution, while the fifth proclaimed the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in Libya , to expunge the country of "poisonous" foreign influences. He began to lecture on this new phase of the revolution in Libya, Egypt, and France. As a process, it had many similarities with the Cultural Revolution implemented in China. As part of this Popular Revolution, Gaddafi invited Libya's people to found General People's Committees as conduits for raising political consciousness. Although offering little guidance for how to set up these councils, Gaddafi claimed that they would offer

23625-432: The royal government. Within days of the coup, however, Hasan publicly renounced all rights to the throne, stated his support for the new government, and called on the people to accept it without violence. Idris, in an exchange of messages with the RCC through Egypt's President Nasser , dissociated himself from reported attempts to secure British intervention and disclaimed any intention of coming back to Libya. In return, he

23800-492: The side of the anti-Gaddafist National Transitional Council (NTC). Gaddafi's government was overthrown; he retreated to Sirte only to be captured, tortured and killed by NTC militants. A highly divisive figure, Gaddafi dominated Libya's politics for four decades and was the subject of a pervasive cult of personality . He was decorated with various awards and praised for his anti-imperialist stance, support for Arab—and then African—unity, as well as for significant development to

23975-555: The sons of Idris' former chief advisor Ibrahim Shalhi, who had been murdered by Queen Fatima 's nephew in the fall of 1954. After their father's assassination, they became the favorites of Idris. In mid-1969, Idris travelled abroad to spend the summer in Turkey and Greece amid widespread rumors of an abdication or a British-backed coup by the Shalhi brothers on 5 September. Gaddafi's Free Officers, recognizing this as their last chance to preempt

24150-467: The strict social restrictions that had been imposed on women by the previous regime, establishing the Revolutionary Women's Formation to encourage reform. In 1970, a law was introduced affirming equality of the sexes and insisting on wage parity. In 1971, Gaddafi sponsored the creation of a Libyan General Women's Federation. In 1972, a law was passed criminalizing the marriage of any females under

24325-406: The structure of the economy , government institutions , and international alignment. Provisional governments differ from caretaker governments , which are responsible for governing within an established parliamentary system and serve temporarily after an election, vote of no confidence or cabinet crisis , until a new government can be appointed. Caretaker governments operate entirely within

24500-454: The term "Commonwealth" when referring to the designation of a country. After weathering the 1986 U.S. bombing by the Reagan administration, Gaddafi added the specifier "Great" ( العظمى al-'Uẓmá ) to the official name of the country. The changes in Libyan leadership since 1976 culminated in March 1979, when the General People's Congress declared that the "vesting of power in the masses" and

24675-541: The universities of Tripoli and Benghazi, resulting in clashes with both Gaddafist students and police. The RCC responded with mass arrests and introduced compulsory national service for young people. In January 1977, two dissenting students and a number of army officers were publicly hanged; Amnesty International condemned it as the first time in Gaddafist Libya that dissenters had been executed for purely political crimes. Dissent also arose from conservative clerics and

24850-637: The uranium-rich Aouzou Strip . Intent on propagating Islam, in 1973 Gaddafi founded the Islamic Call Society, which had opened 132 centres across Africa within a decade. In 1973 he converted Gabonese President Omar Bongo , an action which he repeated three years later with Jean-Bédel Bokassa , president of the Central African Republic . Between 1973 and 1979, Libya provided $ 500 million in aid to African countries, namely to Zaire and Uganda, and founded joint-venture companies throughout

25025-571: The wealthy, highly educated conservatives who previously governed the country. The coup completed, the RCC proceeded with their intentions of consolidating the revolutionary government and modernizing the country. They purged monarchists and members of Idris' Senussi clan from Libya's political world and armed forces; Gaddafi believed this elite were opposed to the will of the Libyan people and had to be expunged. People's Courts were founded to try various monarchist politicians and journalists, many of whom were imprisoned, although none executed. Idris

25200-595: The week. Friends of the executees were forced to participate in or observe the executions. Annual public executions would go on to continue each year, on 7 April, until the late 1980s. On 2 March 1977, the General People's Congress (GPC), at Gaddafi's behest, adopted the "Declaration of the Establishment of the People's Authority" and proclaimed the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ( Arabic : الجماهيرية العربية الليبية الشعبية الإشتراكية al-Jamāhīrīyya al-'Arabīyya al-Lībīyya al-Sha'bīyya al-Ishtirākīyya ). In

25375-545: The word its modern meaning: A liberal government established to prepare for elections. Numerous provisional governments have been established since the 1850s. As of 2024, seven African countries currently have provisional governments: Libya , Sudan , Burkina Faso , Guinea , Mali , Niger and Gabon . As of 2024 in the Americas, only Haiti has a provisional government. As of 2024 in Asia, Afghanistan , Bangladesh , Myanmar ,

25550-639: The world stage. A particularly hostile relationship developed with Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom, resulting in the 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya and United Nations–imposed economic sanctions. From 1999, Gaddafi shunned pan-Arabism, and encouraged pan-Africanism and rapprochement with Western nations ; he was Chairperson of the African Union from 2009 to 2010. Amid the 2011 Arab Spring , protests against widespread corruption and unemployment broke out in eastern Libya. The situation descended into civil war , in which NATO intervened militarily on

25725-900: The world, including the Black Panther Party , the Nation of Islam , the Almighty Black P. Stone Nation , the Tupamaros , the 19th of April Movement and the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Nicaragua, the ANC among other liberation movements in the fight against Apartheid in South Africa, the Provisional Irish Republican Army , ETA , Action directe , the Red Brigades , and

25900-407: The world. United States recognition was officially extended on 6 September. In view of the lack of internal resistance, it appeared that the chief danger to the new government lay in the possibility of a reaction inspired by the absent King Idris or his designated heir, Crown Prince Hasan , who had been taken into custody at the time of the coup along with other senior civil and military officials of

26075-486: The years that followed, Gaddafists adopted quotes from The Green Book , such as "Representation is Fraud", as slogans. Meanwhile, in September 1975, Gaddafi implemented further measures to increase popular mobilization, introducing objectives to improve the relationship between the Councils and the ASU. In 1975, Gaddafi's government declared a state monopoly on foreign trade. Its increasingly radical reforms, coupled with

26250-635: Was a Libyan revolutionary , politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by rebel forces in 2011. He came to power through a military coup , first becoming Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the ' Brotherly Leader' of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011. Initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Nasserism , Gaddafi later ruled according to his own Third International Theory . Born near Sirte , Italian Libya , to

26425-431: Was also made to establish a "people's army" by substituting a national militia, being formed in the late 1970s, for the national army. Although the idea surfaced again in early 1982, it did not appear to be close to implementation. Gaddafi also wanted to combat the strict social restrictions that had been imposed on women by the previous regime, establishing the Revolutionary Women's Formation to encourage reform. In 1970,

26600-586: Was announced that all foreign oil producers active in Libya were to see 51 per cent of their operation nationalized, including the stake of Nelson Bunker Hunt , son of H.L. Hunt , who had played a key role in the discovery of oil in Libya. Among the companies that were partially nationalized was Armand Hammer 's Occidental Petroleum . For Gaddafi, this was an essential step towards socialism. It proved an economic success; while gross domestic product had been $ 3.8 billion in 1969, it had risen to $ 13.7 billion in 1974, and $ 24.5 billion in 1979. In turn,

26775-492: Was assured by the RCC of the safety of his family still in the country. At his own request and with Nasser's approval, Idris took up residence once again in Egypt, where he had spent his first exile and where he remained until his death in 1983. On 7 September 1969, the RCC announced that it had appointed a cabinet to conduct the government of the new republic. An American-educated technician, Mahmud Suleiman Maghribi , who had been imprisoned since 1967 for his political activities,

26950-628: Was born near Qasr Abu Hadi , a rural area outside the town of Sirte in the deserts of Tripolitania , Italian western Libya. Gaddafi was the only son of his parents and the youngest of four siblings. His family came from a small, relatively uninfluential tribe called the Qadhadhfa , who were Arab in heritage. His mother was named Aisha bin Niran (died 1978), and his father, Mohammad Abdul Salam bin Hamed bin Mohammad,

27125-510: Was challenged a second time in July 1970 when Abdullah Abid Sanusi and Ahmed al-Senussi , distant cousins of former King Idris, and members of the Sayf an Nasr clan of Fezzan were accused of plotting to seize power for themselves. After the plot was foiled, a substantial cabinet change occurred, RCC officers for the first time forming a majority among new ministers. From the start, RCC spokesmen had indicated

27300-452: Was changed several times during Gaddafi's tenure as leader. From 1969 to 1977, the name was the Libyan Arab Republic . In 1977, the name was changed to Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya . Jamahiriya was a term coined by Gaddafi, usually translated as "state of the masses". The country was renamed again in 1986 as the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , after the United States bombing that year. After coming to power,

27475-421: Was designated prime minister. He presided over the eight-member Council of Ministers, of whom six, like Maghribi, were civilians and two – Adam Said Hawwaz and Musa Ahmad – were military officers. Neither of the officers was a member of the RCC. The Council of Ministers was instructed to "implement the state's general policy as drawn up by the RCC", leaving no doubt where ultimate authority rested. The next day

27650-485: Was devoted to the issue of democracy, outlining the flaws of representative systems in favour of direct, participatory GPCs. The second dealt with Gaddafi's beliefs regarding socialism, while the third explored social issues regarding the family and the tribe. While the first two volumes advocated radical reform, the third adopted a socially conservative stance, proclaiming that while men and women were equal, they were biologically designed for different roles in life. During

27825-503: Was expanded from 6 to 9 years, while adult literacy programs and free university education were introduced. Beida University was founded, while Tripoli University and Benghazi University were expanded. In doing so, the government helped to integrate the poorer strata of Libyan society into the education system. Through these measures, the RCC greatly expanded the public sector , providing employment for thousands. These early social programs proved popular within Libya. This popularity

28000-549: Was further concentrated in Gaddafi's hands. This ultimately led to the RCC's official abolition in March 1977. In September 1975, Gaddafi purged the army, arresting around 200 senior officers, and in October he founded the clandestine Office for the Security of the Revolution. In April 1976, he called upon his supporters in universities to establish "revolutionary student councils" and drive out "reactionary elements". During that year, anti-Gaddafist student demonstrations broke out at

28175-405: Was increasingly unpopular by the latter 1960s; it had exacerbated Libya's traditional regional and tribal divisions by centralizing the country's federal system to take advantage of the country's oil wealth. Corruption and entrenched systems of patronage were widespread throughout the oil industry. Arab nationalism was increasingly popular, and protests flared up following Egypt's 1967 defeat in

28350-743: Was killed by the Italian Army during the Italian invasion of 1911 . At the end of the Second World War in 1945, Libya was occupied by British and French forces. Britain and France considered dividing the nation between their empires, but the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) decided that the country was to be granted political independence, and in 1951 created the United Kingdom of Libya ,

28525-605: Was known as Abu Meniar (died 1985); the latter earned a meager subsistence as a goat and camel herder. Like other contemporary nomadic Bedouin tribes, the family were illiterate and did not keep any birth records. His birthday is not known with certainty and sources have set it in 1942 or the spring of 1943, although his biographers David Blundy and Andrew Lycett noted that it could have been pre-1940. His parents' only surviving son, he had three older sisters. Gaddafi's upbringing in Bedouin culture influenced his personal tastes for

28700-509: Was not mentally sound, a claim disputed by the Libyan authorities and other observers close to Gaddafi. Despite receiving extensive aid and technical assistance from the Soviet Union and its allies, Gaddafi retained close ties to pro-American governments in Western Europe , largely by courting Western oil companies with promises of access to the lucrative Libyan energy sector. After the 9/11 attacks , strained relations between Libya and NATO countries were mostly normalised, and sanctions against

28875-400: Was on board and allegedly targeted by Israel in retaliation for the Munich massacre . Gaddafi was infuriated that Egypt had not done more to prevent the incident, and in retaliation planned to destroy the Queen Elizabeth 2 , a British ship chartered by American Jews to sail to Haifa for Israel's 25th anniversary. Gaddafi ordered an Egyptian submarine to target the ship, but Sadat cancelled

29050-435: Was partially responsible for OPEC measures to raise oil prices, impose embargoes, and gain control of production. On 19 October 1973, Libya was the first Arab nation to issue an oil embargo against the United States after US President Richard Nixon announced the US would provide Israel with a $ 2.2 billion military aid program during the Yom Kippur War . Saudi Arabia and other Arab oil producing nations in OPEC would follow suit

29225-418: Was partly due to Gaddafi's personal charisma, youth and underdog status as a Bedouin, as well as his rhetoric emphasizing his role as the successor to the anti-Italian fighter Omar Mukhtar . To combat the country's strong regional and tribal divisions, the RCC promoted the idea of a unified pan-Libyan identity. In doing so, they tried discrediting tribal leaders as agents of the old regime, and in August 1971

29400-527: Was passed that forbade ownership of more than one private dwelling, and Libyan workers took control of a large number of companies, turning them into state-run enterprises. Retail and wholesale trading operations were replaced by state-owned "people's supermarkets", where Libyans in theory could purchase whatever they needed at low prices. By 1981 the state had also restricted access to individual bank accounts to draw upon privately held funds for government projects. The measures created resentment and opposition among

29575-506: Was president. The ASU recognized the RCC as its "Supreme Leading Authority", and was designed to further revolutionary enthusiasm throughout the country. It remained heavily bureaucratic and failed to mobilize mass support in the way Gaddafi had envisioned. The influence of Nasser's Arab nationalism over the RCC was immediately apparent. The administration was instantly recognized by the neighbouring Arab nationalist regimes in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Sudan, with Egypt sending experts to aid

29750-408: Was reportedly sympathetic towards the youth's political ideas, and advised him that a successful revolution would need the support of the army. Gaddafi organized demonstrations and distributed posters criticizing the monarchy. In October 1961, he led a demonstration protesting against Syria's secession from the UAR and raised funds to send cables of support to Nasser. Twenty students were arrested as

29925-464: Was sentenced to execution in absentia . Three months after Gaddafi came to power, the army minister and interior minister, both of whom were from the eastern Barqa region, tried to overthrow him in a failed coup . In 1970, Idris' great nephew Ahmed al-Senussi tried to instigate another coup against Gaddafi; the monarchist plot was foiled in August and Ahmed was sentenced to death (commuted in 1988 and pardoned by Gaddafi in 2001). In May 1970,

30100-407: Was similar to the Three Worlds Theory developed by China's political leader Mao Zedong . As part of this theory, Gaddafi praised nationalism as a progressive force and advocated the creation of a pan-Arab state which would lead the Islamic and Third Worlds against imperialism. Gaddafi saw Islam as having a key role in this ideology, calling for an Islamic revival that returned to the origins of

30275-411: Was succeeded by Abdul Ati al-Obeidi , who had been prime minister since 1977. The "Jamahiriya sector" was overseen by the "revolutionary sector", headed by Gaddafi as "Leader of the Revolution" ( Qā'id ) and the surviving members of the Revolutionary Command Council. The leaders of the revolutionary sector were not subject to election, as they owed office to their role in the 1969 coup. They oversaw

30450-432: Was the people's committee. Within a few months, such committees were found all across Libya. They were functionally and geographically based, and eventually became responsible for local and regional administration. People's committees were established in such widely divergent organizations as universities, private business firms, government bureaucracies, and the broadcast media. Geographically based committees were formed at

30625-456: Was to make Libya self-sufficient in food production. All land that had either been expropriated from Italian settlers or which was not in use was repossessed and redistributed. Irrigation systems were established along the northern coastline and around various inland oases. Production costs often surpassed the value of the produce and thus Libyan agricultural production remained in deficit, relying heavily on state subsidies. With crude oil as

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