Misplaced Pages

#710289

85-589: Although resistance to the Italian colonisers was less prevalent in Tripolitania than Cyrenaica (which waged significant guerilla warfare), a resistance group did form the Tripolitanian Republic in 1918. Although it didn't succeed in setting up a republic, it demonstrated attempts to resist colonial control. The Italian colonisers set up various infrastructure projects, most notably roads and railways . Archeology

170-535: A Peace Treaty. The legacy of the unification of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica by the Italians in 1934 and their treatment of these regions throughout their fascist rule has been tied to the regionalism and conflict present in Libya today. The Italian colonial administration prioritised the economy and infrastructure in Tripolitania compared to Cyrenaica. They treated the population with less violence than Cyrenaica, whose population

255-609: A career or employment. In 1937, northern Tripolitania was split into Tripoli Province and Misrata Province . In 1939 Tripolitania was included in the 4th Shore of the Kingdom of Italy. In early 1943 the region was invaded and occupied by the Allies ; this was the end of the Italian colonial presence. Italy tried unsuccessfully to maintain the colony of Tripolitania after World War II , but in February 1947 relinquished all Italian colonies in

340-733: A combined force of Free French and Chadian native troops, attacked and took Kufra in the Battle of Kufra . In later stages of the Western Desert Campaign , Kufra was used as a staging post for Allied units such as the Long Range Desert Group and the Special Air Service . In May 1942 it was a location of the Tragedy at Kufra , where three South African Air Force Bristol Blenheim aircraft became lost and after landing safely

425-459: A diameter of about 1 km and can be observed from space. This is one of Libya's largest agricultural projects. Because only about two percent of Libya's land receives enough rainfall to be cultivated, this project uses the underground aquifer . The green circles in the desert frequently indicate tracts of agriculture supported by center-pivot irrigation . The agricultural project is an easy-to-recognize landmark for orbiting astronauts aboard

510-458: A particularly isolated area, not only because it is in the middle of the Sahara Desert but also because it is surrounded on three sides by depressions which make it dominate the passage of the east-west land traffic across the desert. For the colonial Italians, it was also important as a station on the north-south air route to Italian East Africa . These factors, along with Kufra's dominance of

595-523: A pitched battle at Bani Walid in which the Senussi were forced to withdraw back into Cyrenaica. At the end of World War I , the Ottoman Empire signed an armistice agreement in which they ceded their claims over Libya to Italy. Italy however was facing serious economic, social, and political problems domestically, and was not prepared to re-launch its military activities in Libya. It issued statutes known as

680-444: A process labelled the "colonial twilight", which refers to the slow process of decolonisation which took place throughout Libya, the Italian presence was felt for some time. However, it slowly dwindled and moved out of the rural areas and moved into Tripoli, until 1970. In this year, Gaddafi "expelled" the remaining Italians in Libya, bringing an end to the legacy of the colonial Italian presence in Tripolitania. In Italian Tripolitania,

765-522: A target for the Allies, with Free France and British desert troops beginning a long battle for its conquest. On 31 January 1941 Pat Clayton , an explorer recruited by British Intelligence, was captured by the Italian Auto-Saharan Company near Jebel Sherif , when leading "T" Patrol in reconnaissance of the planned attack on Kufra. The Free French from Chad , with General Leclerc leading

850-551: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kufra Kufra ( / ˈ k uː f r ə / ) is a basin and oasis group in the Kufra District of southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya . At the end of the 19th century, Kufra became the centre and holy place of the Senussi order. It also played a minor role in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II . It is located in

935-524: Is an elliptic shaped basin , oriented northeast-southwest. The major axis is 50 km (31 mi), the minor 20 km (12 mi) long. It is bordered by hills which are at most 100 m high. The soil consists of red marl or sand and in the lowest parts there are salt lakes or dried salines. In the basin lie the following oases: On the north edge of the basin, there is the village of El Tag , which means crown in Arabic, which does not contain an oasis. It

SECTION 10

#1732848184711

1020-545: Is currently printed on the Libyan ten dinar note in memory and recognition of his patriotism. By 1934, Libyan indigenous resistance was effectively crushed. The new Italian governor Italo Balbo created the political entity called Italian Libya in the summer of that year. The classical name "Libya" was revived as the official name of the unified colony. Then in 1937 the colony was split administratively into four provinces: Tripoli , Misrata , Benghazi , and Derna . The Fezzan area

1105-509: Is no need in telling you about the dirt, hunger and continuous humiliations. There were also cells for women and children. They were kept separated from us. Women won't ever tell the truth because of shame, but it's useful to make everybody aware of what happened to women in Kufra. They were raped in front of their husbands, their brothers. They used pieces of iron, sticks... It's shameful. They treated us like beasts. (Yakob, another boy from Eritrea) At

1190-705: The First World War , when several soldiers of the Entente were held prisoner there. In 1929, the Sanusi center of Kufra in the Sahara was pointed out as a center of the Trans-Saharan slave trade . In 1931, during the campaign of Cyrenaica, General Rodolfo Graziani easily conquered Kufra , considered a strategic region, leading about 3,000 soldiers from infantry and artillery, supported by about twenty bombers. Many refugees fled

1275-798: The Italo-Turkish War . Despite a major revolt by the Arabs, the Ottoman sultan ceded Libya to the Italians by signing the 1912 Treaty of Lausanne . The Italians made extensive use of the Savari , colonial cavalry troops raised in December 1912. These units were recruited from the Arab-Berber population of Libya following the initial Italian occupation in 1911–12. The Savari, like the Spahi or mounted Libyan police, formed part of

1360-570: The Kingdom of Italy launched an invasion of Tripolitania and annexed the territory after it had defeated the Ottoman troops there. The Italians did not maintain solid control of the region at first. During the Senussi Campaign of World War I, the Senussi Order led a resistance that pushed the Italian forces back to a handful of port cities. The Senussi were supported in that effort by Germany and

1445-631: The Legge Fondamentale with both the Tripolitanian Republic in June 1919 and Cyrenaica in October 1919. These brought about a compromise by which all Libyans were accorded the right to a joint Libyan-Italian citizenship while each province was to have its own parliament and governing council. The Senussi were largely happy with this arrangement and Idris visited Rome as part of the celebrations to mark

1530-546: The Nafusa Mountains , near the Tunisian border, to Misrata and the surrounding coast, encompassing all the hinterland between them, the only exceptions being Italian-held Tripoli and Homs areas. It was governed by a tetrarchy composed of Sulayman al-Baruni , Ramadan Asswehly , Abdul Nabi Belkheir and Ahmad Almarid although they acted autonomously from one other, as they had significant ideological differences. It

1615-579: The Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali della Libia (Royal Corps of Libyan Colonial Troops). The memoirs of Francesco Crispi states the discussion of Tripoli during the Congress of Berlin . The discussion was halted as it was not a priority, however Italy's attention in the congress was focused on Tripoli. Their expansion into Tripoli, which they believed was their right, was reluctantly accepted by other European Powers. The Italian occupation of Tripoli

1700-527: The Tripoli Grand Prix , an internationally renowned automobile race. Certain rights were guaranteed to autochthonous Libyans (later called by Benito Mussolini "Moslem Italians") including individual freedom, inviolability of home and property, the right to join the military or civil administrations, and the right to freely pursue a career or employment. The Second World War impacted the Italian demography in Tripolitania; some moved due to conscription in

1785-431: The Tripolitanian Republic , which formed in order to declare independence from the Italian colonists. This anti-western sentiment, according to Ahmida, is passed down through generations across Libya with tales of the hardship and suffering endured during colonisation. In Italy the legacy of the colonisation of Tripolitania is less felt by the public, due to a phenomenon labelled " colonial amnesia ". According to Visconti,

SECTION 20

#1732848184711

1870-483: The civil law of the colony and provide that the colony would be governed by an Italian governor advised by a ten-member council with eight of those members being elected. At first, the Tripolitanian leaders were satisfied with the statute officially and dissolved the republic on July 12, but when Vicenzo Garioni , the colonial governor who had negotiated with the rebel leaders, was recalled to Italy in mid-August and

1955-607: The 1930s were more focused on the former Greek colony of Cyrenaica than in Tripolitania, which was a Punic colony during the Greek period. The rejection of Phoenician research was partly because of anti-Semitic reasons (the Phoenicians were a Semitic people, distantly related to the Arabs and Jews). Of special interest were the Roman colonies of Leptis Magna and Sabratha , and the preparation of these sites for archaeological tourism . Tourism

2040-447: The 1930s. Classical archaeology was used by the Italian authorities as a propaganda tool to justify their presence in the region. Before 1911, no archeological research was done in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. By the late 1920s the Italian government had started funding excavations in the main Roman cities of Leptis Magna and Sabratha (Cyrenaica was left for later excavations because of

2125-743: The British as intermediaries, Idris led the Order into negotiations with the Italians in July 1916. These resulted in two agreements, at al-Zuwaytina in April 1916 and at Akrama in April 1917. The latter of these treaties left most of inland Cyrenaica under the control of the Senussi Order. Relations between the Senussi Order and the newly established Tripolitanian Republic were acrimonious. The Senussi attempted to militarily extend their power into eastern Tripolitania, resulting in

2210-723: The Italian Prime Minister stated that many Italians in Tripolitania had been unable to return due to these circumstances. This same letter describes how some requested the Italian government to send family members back to Tripolitania from Italy as they were split up during the war evacuations. The British helped mediate agreements which concluded that an equal number of people had to move to Tripolitania as those who moved back to Italy. There were, however, still reports of instances in which people made their own way to Tripolitania to join their family, regardless of these agreements. Due to this inability to easily go back to Italy, alongside

2295-497: The Italian army, with their families evacuated back to the Italian homeland, and others were moved from Cyrenaica to Tripolitania by the government. After the war and the loss of Italian control over Libya, the Italian state was fearful of the oncoming influx of settlers returning to Italy as it lacked the capacity to accommodate them. Consequently, only Italians in particular circumstances were permitted by their government to repatriate, and many found themselves stuck. A letter written to

2380-404: The Italian conquest eastwards via Uweinat into Egypt. The British explorer Pat Clayton , engaged in mapping areas of previously unmapped desert, encountered the Kufra refugees when running triangulation from Wadi Halfa to Uweinat, and helped save many from death in the arid desert. The Frankfurter Zeitung reporter and author Muhammad Asad interviewed a man from Kufra after its seizure by

2465-538: The Italians as they knew the terrain, and used the mountains and trails as a trump card. In 1931, Al-Mukhtar engaged in 250 attacks with the Italian army, Italian officials attempted to bribe 'Umar al-Mukhtar, with salary and retirement but were rejected. Resistance in both Cyrenaica and Tripolitania was not uniquely based on religious motives but instead was a virtue of the colonial struggle, especially within Cyrenaica, they fought with both religious order and tribal support,

2550-409: The Italians in his book The Road to Mecca . According to Asad's source, the Italians attacked from three sides, with armored cars, artillery, and aircraft. The defenders, a few hundred men with only small arms unable to penetrate the Italian armor, defended the place house-to-house but were overwhelmed. The Italians (and their Eritrean auxiliaries) then raped the women, tore up a Koran and cast it on

2635-485: The Italians made significant improvements to the physical infrastructure: The most important were the coastal road between Tripoli and Benghazi and the railways Tripoli-Zuara, Tripoli-Garian and Tripoli-Tagiura . Other important infrastructure improvements were the enlargement of the port of Tripoli and the creation of the Tripoli airport. A group of villages for Italians and Libyans was created on coastal Tripolitania during

Italian Tripolitania - Misplaced Pages Continue

2720-484: The Italians therefore had a 'duty' to colonise African nations. This led to the subjugation of Libyans, as policies before 1922 were dismissed, such as the colonial official's push to "Italianise" its colony's education. For example, they censored Italian culture from the native population, banned education after the sixth grade and terminated teaching Italian in classrooms, replacing it with Arabic. Libyans were only allowed to work as Labourers. The banning of Italian in class

2805-534: The Oasis of Archei, then arrived, after 4 months travelling with the king of the Garamantes, to the river Bahr Salamat and Bahr Aouk , near modern-day Central African Republic in a region then called Agisymba. In 1154 al-Idrisi described a place identified by Lewicki as the oasis of Kufra. Al Idrisi writes that the place was once flourishing and peopled, but was by that point in ruin, its wells dry, its herds returned to

2890-518: The Order's leader, Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi , abdicated his position, he was replaced by Idris, who was his cousin. Pressured to do so by the Ottoman Empire , Ahmed had pursued armed attacks against British military forces stationed in neighbouring Egypt. On taking power, Idris put a stop to these attacks. Instead he established a tacit alliance with the British, which would last for half a century and accord his Order de facto diplomatic status. Using

2975-462: The Ottoman Empire, as well as by various local tribes and chiefdoms. It was in that context of general chaos in northern Libya that the Tripolitanian Republic was founded. The proclamation of the republic in autumn 1918 was followed by a formal declaration of independence at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference . The capital of the republic was the town of 'Aziziya , 40 km south of Italian-occupied Tripoli, and its territory stretched at its widest from

3060-553: The Senussi Order, and so he went into exile in Egypt in December 1922. Fighting intensified after the accession to power in Italy of the dictator Benito Mussolini . Due to the effective resistance of the Libyan people against Italy's so-called " pacification campaign ", Italian colonization of the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica was not initially successful and it was not until

3145-475: The beginning of the 1970s, Libya launched a great cultivation project in Kufra aimed at developing agriculture in the desert. LEPA irrigation is provided by fossil water beneath the ground surface, the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System , a non-renewable source and the only accessible water resource in the area. Rotors (high sprinkler that rotates) provide irrigation and the obtained circles have

3230-522: The border and patrolling with aircraft and cars. Shaykh Rida was arrested in January 1928 and exiled to Sicily. The resistance was later led by 'Umar Al-Mukhtar . The Al-Mukhtar resistance notably included a network of spies in Italian enforced towns. It was estimated by Graziani that the native guerrillas numbered around 3.000 and they owned about 20,000 guns. Al-Mukhtar and the Cyrenacians had advantages over

3315-419: The boundaries and the need of people working in local productive activities. The village of Kufra has long been suspected and accused by European Parliamentary delegations as being criminally instrumental in assisting migrants. In 2007, they defined Kufra as "a free zone, a sort of starting Centre of Temporary Permanence CPT against the law... These gathering centres are places, in which the first contacts with

3400-415: The conquest of Ottoman Tripolitania in the Italo-Turkish War . In 1934, Italian Tripolitania became part of Italian Libya . In December 1934, certain rights were guaranteed to autochthonous Libyans (later called by Benito Mussolini "Moslem Italians") including individual freedom, inviolability of home and property, the right to join the military or civil administrations, and the right to freely pursue

3485-434: The controls in Libya increase, the streams are diverted towards Malta . When the migratory stream is over, the routes are back on Libya and Tunisia ." The 1,500-kilometre-long (930 mi) route towards the coastal Libyan towns is done at night on covered trucks. Such journey conditions are described as "hellish". People are often stopped by the police and therefore the route is covered many times in both directions. Once

Italian Tripolitania - Misplaced Pages Continue

3570-454: The creation of a detention camp at Kufra. Kufra jail is defined by Ethiopian and Eritrean migrants, who stayed there, as: ...a place of death. When you hear the sound of the keys in the cell lock your blood freezes. You have to turn towards the wall. If you look them in the eyes, they beat you repeatedly. (Daniel, 22 years old, from Eritrea) We were about 700 people, about 100 Ethiopians, 200 Eritreans and 400 from Chad and Sudan. We slept on

3655-647: The crews subsequently died due to lack of water. After the Axis were expelled from North Africa, and when after the war it became part of independent Libya , the Buma airfield at Kufra was used little and fell into disrepair. The town surrounding the oasis is still dominated by the old fort of El Tag , built by the Italians in the mid-1930s. On 26 August 2008, a hijacked Sudanese Boeing 737 landed at Kufra Airport after having departed from Nyala Airport , Darfur , for Khartoum . Earlier, Egyptian authorities had refused to allow

3740-505: The criminal organizations occur. Such organizations promote the "journey of hope", with a flexible handling of the Migrants' African routes according to the restriction policies adopted by the various governments. The minds of the criminal organizations act accordingly to what happens in each country: if Morocco stresses its restrain policies, the routes move towards the Canary Islands , if

3825-423: The early 1930s that the Kingdom of Italy took full control of the area. Several reorganizations of the colonial authority had been made necessary because of armed Arab opposition, mainly in Cyrenaica. Between 1919 (17 May) to 1929 (24 January), the Italian government maintained the two traditional provinces, with separate colonial administrations. A system of controlled local assemblies with limited local authority

3910-632: The emirate of all of Libya in November and then, to avoid capture by the Italians, fled to [Egypt]], where he continued to guide the Sanusi Order. By 1923, Italian control was effective in the territories of the Republic, which gad ceased to exist, but still was confined to the Tripolitanian and outer Cyrenaican areas. The rest of the country, still in the hands of the Senussi-led rebels, had yet to be conquered and

3995-678: The extent of the Italian public's understanding of colonisation in Tripolitania and the rest of Libya is either nothing at all, or that they "made the desert bloom" with their various infrastructure projects. However, there has been more coverage of the topic in Italy recently, with the opening of the Italo-African museum in 2021. Overall, scholars agree that there is a "lack of cultural trauma" regarding Italian colonisation in general, including its colonising efforts in Ethiopia and Eritrea . The Province of Tripoli (the most important in all Italian Libya)

4080-468: The fighting for the town after the rebels put up only light resistance. By 6 May 2011 the town had been retaken by the Libyan rebels. In February 2012, fighting between the Tobu and Zuwayya tribes killed over a hundred people and the town became a focal point for mass human rights violations of refugees and migrants. Kufra is situated in the middle of the Sahara for its pristine desert beauty, so that tours to

4165-545: The first attempt at a republican government in the Arab world as well as the impact of resistance. The resistance came to a stop with Umar Al-Mukhtar's capture on the 11th of September 1931, his trial ran personally by General Rodolfo Graziani .Within five days the trial ended with the public hanging of the Al-Mukhtar, Concluding the era of organised resistance. Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica were formed in 1911, during

4250-535: The floor, one on the other, there wasn't even a place to lay down. For lunch: a fist of white rice for the all day, less than 570 grams each. There were also some baguettes, but you needed money to get them... (an ex-colonel of the Eritrean army, political refugee in Italy) When I saw Kufra I wanted to hitch up. They took my mobile phone and all the money I had in my pocket and put me in to a cell with other 20 people. There

4335-557: The ground, cut down the palm trees, burnt Sayyid Ahmad's library, and took some of the elders and scholars and hurled them to their death from airplanes. In the following years the Italians built an airfield (now Kufra Airport ) in Buma oasis and a fort in El Tag , which dominated the area. Buma airport was equipped with a radio-centre for flight assistance and was often used as a stop for routes toward Asmara and Italian East Africa . The fort

SECTION 50

#1732848184711

4420-496: The latter being immensely supportive. In 1915, Italian domination was declining, with forces being held only within coastal cities.On the 29th of April 1915, they experienced a heavy defeat at the battle of Gasr Bu Hadi , when a presumed ally Ramadan al-Suwayhli , defeated an Italian column. The Italian defeat and engrossment with the war in Europe meant that Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were able to have political agency. Arab nationalism

4505-589: The migrants arrive, or are brought back, in Kufra, the only way to escape this situation is to pay people traders, which are often colluded with the police officers. People brought back to the Sudanese border may reverse the course just with cash money. Hence the occurrence of continuous exploitation, enlistment in the work and prostitution black market, painful waiting for a money order urged by relatives and friends through mobile phone communications, which are allowed only for this aim. In 2005 Italy allocated funds for

4590-621: The military power to subjugate the region. The division among the insurgents wasincreasing, and, after the death of al-Suwaylih in August 1920 by political opponents, the rebels started to fracture, and the Republic, still fighting the Italians, fell into civil war. By early 1922, the Tripolitanians were desperate; met with Senussi delegate, and offered Idris, the leader of the Senussi and the Emir of Cyrenaica to be Emir of Tripolitania. Idris's acceptance, as

4675-409: The nationalists understood, would draw a sharp Italian disapproval and be the signal for the resumption of open warfare. War with Italy, in any event, appeared to be likely sooner or later. For several months, Idris pondered the nationalist appeal. For whatever reason, perhaps to further the cause of total independence or perhaps out of a sense of religious obligation to resist the infidel, Idris accepted

4760-523: The new governor, Vittorio Menzinger did not seem to apply the statute, the former rebel leaders formed the National Party of Islam ( Hizb al-Islam al-Watani ) to exert pressure on the Italians. The main leaders of the Party were 'Azzam, al-Qarqani and al-Gharyani. However, the elections for the council had not occurred by November and so the main leaders and chiefs of Tripolitania declared and re-established

4845-539: The oasis are organized by local tour operators. Migrants coming from the East African coast and the Near East pass through and compulsorily stop in Kufra. It is a little village of transit along the traditional route between Khartoum and the coastal Libyan towns, which has lately turned to be a spot gathering Libyan-Sudanese criminal organizations involved in the illegal transport of immigrants, police officers controlling

4930-636: The oasis from the north in 1879. Kufra was an important trade and travelling route for various nomadic desert people. In 1895 seeking greater independence the Senussi relocated from Jaghbub , making the oasis their main centre. However, the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II twice sent his aide-de-camp Azmzade Sadik El Mueyyed to meet Sheikh Senussi to cultivate positive relations and counter the West European scramble for Africa (see Azmzade 2021). After that, Westerners could no longer visit it until

5015-419: The offer or not. Doing so would contravene the al-Rajma Agreement and would damage relations with the Italian government, who opposed the political unification of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania as being against their interests. Nevertheless, in November 1922 Idris agreed to the proposal. Following the agreement, Idris feared that Italy — under its new Fascist leader Benito Mussolini —would militarily retaliate against

5100-401: The ongoing colonial war against Muslim rebels in that province). A result of the fascist takeover was that all foreign archaeological expeditions were forced out of Libya, and all archeological work was consolidated under a centralised Italian excavation policy, which exclusively benefitted Italian museums and journals. After Cyrenaica's full pacification, the Italian archaeological efforts in

5185-458: The origins of the recent regional conflicts and animosities in Libya between Tripolitania and Cyrenaica can be found in the Italian administration. The legacy of Italian colonisation has led to significant anti-western sentiments across Tripolitania and all of Libya which, some scholars argue, were crucial for Gaddafi's legitimacy. Ahmida states that the "pan-Islamic culture" and anti-western nature of Gaddafi's revolution in Libya can be found in

SECTION 60

#1732848184711

5270-515: The plane to land in their national capital, Cairo . In recent decades, Kufra has become a major point on the route of African migrants who try to reach Europe by various routes, and some of whom get incarcerated in Kufra's notorious prison. During the 2011 Libyan Civil War , the area was reported to be under control of anti-Gaddafi forces and not the government of Muammar Gaddafi on 2 April 2011. On 28 April 2011, loyalist forces reportedly re-captured Kufra. There were no reports of casualties in

5355-589: The promulgation of the settlement. In October 1920, further negotiations between Italy and Cyrenaica resulted in the Accord of al-Rajma, in which Idris was given the title of the Emir of Cyrenaica and permitted to autonomously administer the oases around Kufra , Jalu , Jaghbub , Awjila , and Ajdabiya . As part of the Accord he was given a monthly stipend by the Italian government, who agreed to take responsibility for policing and administration of areas under Senussi control. The Accord also stipulated that Idris must fulfill

5440-628: The region. Kufra did not fall under the dominion of either the Arabs or the Ottomans and was part of a Toubou Sultanate with capital in Tazirbu. When the Arab tribes invaded southeastern Libya in the 1840s, the Toubou (Gourane) and Zaghawa tribes migrated from there. The territory of Kufra was first explored by Westerners beginning with the 1873/74 expedition by German Gerhard Rohlfs . Rohlfs reportedly first reached

5525-613: The religious and social movement, Sanusiyya . As a consequence they were able to forge a unified front that shared an anti-colonial, pan-Islamic ideology that successfully resisted colonialism. Guerrilla warfare in 1924, by Shaykh Rida, brother of Sayyid Idris , was able to contain Italians, with a force of 2,00 to 6,000 tribalmen. In December 1925, an agreement between Great Britain cemented Italy's jurisdiction on Jaghbub and Kufra.This made guerrilla attacks more tortuous, as Italians established control by making it impossible for Rida to attack. The Italians did this by constructing fences across

5610-427: The republic on November in Misrata, just four months after it had been dissolved, and the establishment of a governing body called the Reform Committee. In 1920, delegates from occupied and free zones met in 'Aziziya at a National Congress. Claiming to represent the "Tripolitanian Nation". they called for the withdrawal of the Italian forces. The next appointed governors, Luigi Mercatelli and Giuseppe Volpi , turned to

5695-416: The requirements of the Legge Fondamentale by disbanding the Cyrenaican military units, however he did not comply with this. By the end of 1921, relations between the Senussi Order and the Italian government had again deteriorated. Following the death of Tripolitanian leader Ramadan Asswehly in August 1920, the Republic descended into civil war. Many tribal leaders in the region recognised that this discord

5780-524: The restraints of either Italian or international law . Mussolini reportedly agreed immediately and Graziani intensified the oppression. Some Libyans continued to defend themselves, with the strongest voices of dissent coming from the Cyrenaica. Beginning in the first days of Italian colonization, Omar Mukhtar , a Senussi sheikh , organized and, for nearly twenty years, led Libyan resistance efforts . His example continued to inspire resistance even after his capture and execution on 16 September 1931. His face

5865-420: The southeastern Cyrenaica region of Libya, highlight the strategic importance of the oasis and why it was a point of conflict during World War II. The folk etymology associates the word Kufra as coming from the Arabic word kafir , the Arabic term for non-Muslims (often translated as "infidels", literally "those who conceal [the truth]"), with reference to the Toubou people native to the region. Kufra

5950-436: The wild. In the late 15th century, Leo Africanus reported an oasis in the land of the Berdoa , visited by a caravan coming from Awjila . It is possible that this oasis was identical with either the Al Jawf or the Tazirbu oasis, and on early modern maps, the Al Kufra region was often labelled as Berdoa based on this report. Berdoa possibly corresponded to the Toubou , a Nilo-Saharan speaking tribal people indigenous to

6035-412: Was also used as a radio post to guide in Italian aircraft as well as to maintain communication with Italian East Africa. Kufra grew in importance when the Second World War started and, after the Suez Canal was closed to Italian shipping, connections with Italian East Africa became mainly aerial, using Kufra and its strategic location. Kufra, due to its key role for the Italian Royal Army , soon became

6120-421: Was another important feature of the Italian presence in Tripolitania, as they focused efforts in excavations in old Roman cities. A significant number of Italian settlers moved to Tripolitania, particularly to Tripoli, and Italian presence was still felt long after the decolonisation process began. Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica were formed in 1911, during the conquest of Ottoman Tripolitania in

6205-409: Was called Territorio Sahara Libico and administered militarily." The Italian Fascist Party came to power in 1922, it was agreed that fraternising with local Libyan Leaders was a failure of the previous colonial practice. Instead, the fascists opted for to 'pacify' the local population. Their ideas was based upon racial supremacy and Social Darwinism . The belief in a hierarchy of races meant that

6290-468: Was founded by Sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi , the son of the founder of the Senussi order, when he moved to Kufra and is considered the holy place of Senussi. Kufra has a hot desert climate ( Köppen climate classification : BWh ). Claudius Ptolemy wrote that around 90 AD Julius Maternus (or Matiernus) carried out a mainly commercial expedition. From the Sirte gulf he reached the Oasis of Cufra and

6375-415: Was further promoted by the creation of the Tripoli Grand Prix , a racing car event of international importance. Tripolitanian Republic The Tripolitanian Republic ( Arabic : الجمهورية الطرابلسية , al-Jumhuriyat at-Trabulsiya ), was a short-lived Arab republic that declared the independence from Italian Tripolitania after World War I . It failed to set up a republic , and Italian rule

6460-445: Was halved due to forced deportation and concentration camps. Gaddafi continued this legacy of prioritising Tripolitania when important economic businesses were moved from Cyrenaica to Tripolitania, negatively impacting the region's economy, and when he removed significant leaders from the region from power. Consequently, people in Cyrenaica began to protest, however, they were repressed by Gaddafi's government. Various scholars agree that

6545-473: Was mentioned within the Italian press during the following years, Tripolitania was expecting Italian arrival. Sheikh Sidi Idris al-Mahdi as-Senussi (later King Idris I ), of the Senussi, led Libyan resistance in various forms through the outbreak of the Second World War . After the Italian army invaded Cyrenaica in 1913 as part of their invasion of Libya , the Senussi Order fought back against them. When

6630-612: Was pacified only later . The short-lived republic established only two government organs: the Supreme Council, whose members formed the "governing tetrarchy" ( Sulayman al-Baruni , Ramadan Asswehly , Abdul Nabi Belkheir and Ahmad Almarid ), and the Consultative Council, consisting of 24 other chiefs representing various parts of Tripolitania. This Libya location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This African history –related article

6715-620: Was restored in 1922. Tripolitania had been an Ottoman possession since the 16th century, as the Tripolitania Eyalet and later Vilayet . Its territory was not limited to Tripolitania, however, as parts of Barqa were also controlled by the Pasha of Tripoli . After Tunis and Egypt fell to the French and to the British respectively, Tripolitania was the last Ottoman possession in Africa . In 1911,

6800-400: Was set up, but was revoked on 9 March 1927. In 1929, Tripoli and Cyrenaica were united as one colonial province. From 1931 to 1932, Italian forces under General Badoglio waged a punitive pacification campaign. Badoglio's successor in the field, General Rodolfo Graziani , accepted the commission from Mussolini on the condition that he was allowed to crush Libyan resistance unencumbered by

6885-445: Was subdivided into: A large number of Italian colonists moved to Tripolitania in the late 1930s. These settlers went primarily to the area of Sahel al-Jefara, in Tripolitania, and to the capital Tripoli. In 1939 there were in all Tripolitania nearly 60,000 Italians, most living in Tripoli (whose population was nearly 45% Italian). As a consequence, huge economic improvements arose in all coastal Tripolitania. For example, Italians created

6970-426: Was the first formally declared republican form of government in Libya and the whole Arab world but gained little support from the international powers. The Italian colonial authorities negotiated with al-Baruni and other chiefs and published 1 June 1919 a Colonial Statute for Tripolitania in which the colonial administration would give native Tripolitanians rights to Italian citizenship , recognise Islamic law as

7055-629: Was trending, and after several attempts at regaining power in Tripolitania Al-Suwayhil was able to create the Tripolitanian Republic in 1918 with Ahmad Al-Murayyid of Tarhuna, Abd Al-Nabi Bilkhayr of Warfalla, Sulayman Al-Baruni. Al-Suwayhil's advisor was also Abd al-Rahman Azzam Bey , an Egyptian nationalist, who later became the first secretary general of the Arab League.The Tripolitanian Republic shortly failed after disagreements among rival factions and Italian pressures, however, it showed

7140-516: Was weakening the region's chances of attaining full autonomy from Italy, and in November 1920 they met in Gharyan to bring an end to the violence. In January 1922 they agreed to request that Idris extend the Sanui Emirate of Cyrenaica into Tripolitania in order to bring stability; they presented a formal document with this request on 28 July 1922. Idris' advisers were divided on whether he should accept

7225-495: Was with the intention to 'protect' Italian culture, and exclude Libyans. Benito Mussolini gave General Rodolfo Graziani responsibility for the pacification of Libya, due to previous success in the reoccupation of Tripolitania and Fezzan . Tripolitanian resistance was not as substantial, as various tribes cooperated with Italians. However, Graziani saw Cyrenaica as a problem due to the united force of Cyrenaican tribesmen and merchants. As well as 70 years worth of gathering with

#710289