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Italian Occupation Of Libya Essay

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Italian Colonization and the Impact of the Sanussi in Libya

The Italian occupation of Libya is an often-overlooked period of time in the history of Africa colonization by western powers. The Italians were as brutal as any other nation in their nation during their reign and justified it with orientalist rhetoric. Historically, Libya has always been a part of another empire. The Greeks were the first to conquer the trading posts of Libya, followed by the Romans, than the Islamic Empire under the Umayyad caliphate. In the mid-16th century the area we know today as Libya was taken by the Ottoman Empire who held it until 1911. The Italian interest in Libya begins in 1878, following the Congress of Berlin. The Congress of Berlin was …show more content…

Fifty-five percent of the Libyans died in the camps.” The reason for the displacement was so Italians could take the land that would be good for farming.
Italy did make strides in modernizing Libya; they built roads, highways, ports, and railways. These improvements were mostly for the Italian settlers. Libyans were treated as second-class citizens during the Italian occupation. The best farmland was given out to the Italian settlers, who would hire Libyans to work that land. The schools that Italians built were mainly for Italian settlers, and were often much better than Libyan schools meaning there was less opportunity for the Libyans.
Italy had said it wanted to integrate all of the population into the Italian society. Mussolini would refer to Muslims as “Muslim-Italians.” He also would call himself a “protector of Islam”. Jews initially integrated fine into the Italian society, but in the late 1930’s there began an anti-Semitic sentiment under the Fascist regime. This would force Jews from the jobs, schools, preventing them from any form of success.
Italian Libya would collapse during World War II. Libya would attempt to invade Egypt and face Allied Forces there but would fail

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