Imperialism in Libya!
Jason
Matt
Megan
Motivation for Imperialism
• The Italians invaded
Libya October 3, 1911,
attacking Tripoli, a
province in Libya.
• They claimed to be
liberating Libya from
the Ottoman Empire.
• Libya, consisted of two
provinces under the
Ottoman Empire:
Tripolitania and
Cyrenaica.
• The battle lasted from
September 29, 1911 to
October 18,1912
Italian Soldiers looking over
dead Libyan soldiers.
How Did They Gain Control?
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•
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A Libyan fighter being
arrested by fascists.
Despite the face that the
Libyans were revolting
against the Italians, the
Ottoman Empire gave up
Libya.
The Ottoman Sultan
handed over Libya by
signing the 1912 Treaty of
Lausanne.
From 1912 to 1927,
territory known as Italian
North Africa. In 19271934, the territory was
split into two colonies;
Italian Cyrenaica and
Italian Tripolitania. They
were run by Italian
governors.
The Extent of Their Control
• In 1934, they adopted
the name Libya.
• During their control,
Tripoli was under
control by 1914,
however two other
regions (Cyrenaica and
Fezzan) were home to
rebellions led by the
Senussis.
• The Senussi (Sanussi) is
a Muslim politicalreligious order in Libya
and other places,
founded in Mecca in
1837.
The Positive Effects of
Imperialism on Libyans
• Improved
infrastructure
• Cultivated new
farm lands from the
deserts
• 400 km of railroads
• 4,000 km of new
roads
• Italy is now paying
Libya 5 billion
dollars for
occupying the
Libyan’s lands
The Negative Effects of
Imperialism on Libyans
• Death of nearly half
of all the Libyans
• Forced to live in
concentration
camps
• Italy ignored world
war treaties while
fighting for control
over Libya
Libya gains Independence
• After Italy was
defeated in World War
II, Libya was taken by
both Britain and France
in 1943
• Italy renounces its
claim on Libya in 1947
• Libya’s goal was to
become independent
before the start of
1952
• After 8 years of ruling
from Britain and
France, Libya declares
it’s independence on
December 24th, 1951
Omar Mukhtar – The leader of the
rebels against Italy until he was
executed in 1931
Libya Today
• Today, Libya is has a
jamahiriya government, or
“a republic ruled by the
masses”
• The Libyan economy
survives mostly on the
export of oil which is onefourth of its GDP (gross
domestic product)
• Libya offers free
education to all citizens,
many of which study at
the high school level
• The dominant religion in
Libya in Islam with 97%
of citizens being Islamic
Benghazi Campus, the first
university of Libya