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
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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
Just a few years ago, Libya had one of the highest standards of living of any African country. Now Libya is in political turmoil with multiple groups and governments trying to gain power. In 1969, Muammar Gaddafi seized power of Libya by a military coup. The authoritarian ruler stayed in power for four decades until 2011 when he was killed in an armed rebellion assisted by Western military intervention. The UN intervened in Libya for human rights reasons, not to facilitate a regime change. Shortly after Gaddafi was killed, foreign assistance disappeared leaving Libya fragile and hostile. The Libyan civil war began as a part of the Arab uprising, with two main opposing forces, the government and rebel militias. The military groups that had once fought to topple Gaddafi began to turn on each other in an attempt to gain power and oil wealth. Libya is now more ideologically divided than ever and in need of a plan to revive its nation.
Second, the variety of festivals in both cultures are very remarkable. Libya as an Islamic country, its people celebrate in two official religious festivals, “Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha”. Eid Al-Fitr is a festival of breaking the fast and it is celebrated at the end of Ramadan “month of fasting”, and Eid Al-Adha which is festival of the
The United States had a long history of disagreements with rulers in Libya, Before the land was even incorporated as a contiguous nation, the city of Tripoli sent pirates into the Mediterranean Sea to
Northern Italy did not have more resources than most of Europe, but it was able to prosper due to the development rate through international trade
The Libyan Revolution of 2011 initiated with nonviolent political protests modeled after the events in Tunisia and Egypt, and quickly escalated to a full fledge civil war. Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi obtained the role of the official ruler of Libya in 1969 by a bloodless coup d’etat against King Idris. Gaddafi remained the official ruler of Libya from 1969 until 1977. (Calvocoressi, 2001) Subsequent to 1977, he referred to himself as a symbolic figurehead until the revolt in 2011, which contributed to his death. Gaddafi was the longest-serving Arab leader and commonly referred to himself as the King of Kings. Gaddafi’s reign over civilians was mostly based on fear. The Libyan conflict differed from the conflicts in Tunisia and
million men in the Italian army based in Libya (Jorge 1). In neighboring Egypt, the British
Unlike what is emphasized by Obama in Extract 1, vast social reforms, immense welfare program, infrastructure-building were underway in Libya. As have been mentioned previously, Libya was one of the Africa’s most prosperous country due to the reforms that were done under Gaddafi’s regime. And as a result, by the time the 2011 crisis was unfolding, few people, mainly in the western world, were inclined to have any sympathy for Gaddafi or take any of his claims seriously, and the attempt of showing Gaddafi in a bad light quickly spread through the western mainstream media and Gaddafi had become hated in the western world. But the trigging factor is that, contrary to popular belief which had been transmitted by so many people, like Barack Obama, Libya under Muammar Gaddafi, whom was often portrayed as “tyrant” and “dictator” was in fact, Africa’s most prosperous democracy-according to the United Nations Development Index, prior to the U.S.-led intervention in 2011; according to the same index(see fig6), Libya had the highest GDP per capta, the lowest infant mortality and the highest life expectancy in all of Africa(see
When Mussolini’s government fell, he made sure Jews were sent to a prison turned refugee camp run by his uncle instead of arresting and deporting them
New Imperialism in Africa was caused by many factors, and had a great impact on the histories of both Europe and Africa, because of Europe’s gain of land, money, and power, and Africa’s loss of culture and way of life. Although I see and understand motives by the Europeans, I do not agree that they were justified for their actions in Africa. New Imperialism was a period of colonial expansion into closer regions, such as Africa, by the strong European nations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1869, the French finished the Suez Canal in Egypt, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, which ultimately leads to the Indian Sea. This shortcut to India was wanted by all of Europe, and this worried Britain about their colony
Settling a Territory. Libyan Bedouin are considered to be true Arabs, in that they descend from Arabic invaders circa 1050-51 C.E. The invaders, consisting of two Arab tribes, the Beni Sulaym and the Beni Hilal, pushed into Libya during the Hilalian migration at this time. The tribes previously had settled in Upper Egypt after a failed attempt to push into Saudi Arabia. However, their culture, language, and religion, consistent with traditional Bedouin pastoralism, were not compatible with the existing Egyptian customs and so Egypt’s leadership encouraged the tribes into Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Tunis (Figure 2) in an attempt to use the tribes to dominate the indigenous, and rebellious, Berbers. By 1800, the descendent Arab tribes had carved, through a series of brutal wars, territories
Libya has been inhabited by Berbers since the late Bronze Age. The Phoenicians established trading posts in western Libya, and Ancient Greek colonists established city-states in eastern Libya. Libya was variously ruled by Persians, Egyptians and Greeks before becoming a part of the Roman Empire. Libya was an early center of Christianity. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the area of Libya was mostly occupied by the Vandals until the 7th century, when invasions brought Islam and Arab colonization. In the sixteenth century, the Spanish Empire and the Knights of St John occupied Tripoli, until Ottoman rule began in 1551. Libya was involved in the Barbary Wars of the 18th and 19th centuries. Ottoman rule continued until the Italian occupation
He also was a trailblazer in promoting fascism, which is a form of radical authoritarian nationalism, which tends to view political violence and war as a means to build a stronger nation and thus expanding by absorbing weaker countries. Mussolini sided with Hitler in early 1940, sealing his fate with that of Germany which history tells us started World War II by first invading Poland in 1939 and then attacking both France and England. Germany eventually lost the war and Mussolini was shot and killed on 27 April 1945 by communist partisans in a small village of Giulino di Mezzegra the shooters name was Walter Audisio. After death, Mussolini had to endure more for his wrongdoing by being spat upon shot, and kicked then hung from a meat hook from the roof of a gas station. Civilians and passerby’s then stoned the bodies. After Mussolini’s downfall, the Christian Democracy political party dominated Italy for 50 years today Italy has a President named Giorgio Napolitano he is the 11th President in the history of the country and the longest serving President in the country’s history. The Prime Minister is Matteo Renzi who is 39 years of age making him Italy’s youngest leader since Mussolini. Italy has suffered many defeats in its history politically losing much of its power and on the other hand has won many battles having gained much power and worldly authority over many nations. Politics in the twenty first century is very public
The colonial government in the British Somaliland was not liked by the people. There were many uprisings and this made the British abandon the interior of Somalia and they went for the coasts instead. When they did this, Italy saw an opportunity to take control over the interior. After World War 2, Somalia was given to the United Nations to become a UN trust territory. They
You know you were born and raised in Tunisia when you still welcome Libyan refugees
Italy, as it is known today, has been in existence for less than one hundred fifty years. For several centuries, Italy had been made up of separate states often ruled by foreign powers. In 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded and conquered the Italian peninsula. After falling under French rule, the peninsula was divided into three parts: several northern states, which were annexed to France, the Kingdom of Italy, of which Napoleon declared himself king in 1805, and the Kingdom of Naples in the south. Napoleon and the French brought new ideas about society and governing with them. They also brought the concepts of freedom and nationalism with them, which might have sparked Italy’s later attempts to achieve unity. Napoleon’s reign over Italy crumbled with his defeat in 1814. Shortly after, parts of Italy were distributed amongst other European countries, particularly Austria, and returned to former rulers by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Many people were unhappy with the actions of the Congress and secret societies started to grow to oppose these rulers and promote the idea of a united Italy.