Italian invasion of Libya

Italian Invasion of Libya
Landing of Italian marines at Tripoli
Date September 29, 1911 – November 1911 Location Libya Result Italian victory
Belligerents
Italy	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Carlo Caneva	Mehmed V Enver Pasha Mustafa Kemal Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi
Casualties and losses
3,380 4,220 wounded	more than 8,000

The Invasion of Libya by Italy happened in 1911, when Italian troops invaded the Turkish province of Libya, then part of the Ottoman Empire and started the Italo-Turkish War.

The claims of Italy over Libya dated back to verbal discussions after the Congress of Berlin (1878), in which France and Great Britain had agreed for the occupation of Tunisia and, respectively, Cyprus, both part of the then ailing Ottoman Empire. When Italian diplomats hinted about a possible opposition of their government, the French replied that Tripoli would have been a counterpart for Italy. In 1902 Italy and France had signed a secret treaty which accorded freedom of intervention in Tripolitania and Morocco. However, the Italian government did little to put in practice the opportunity, and knowledge of the Libyan territory and resources remained scarce in the following years.

The Italian press began a massive lobbying campaign in favour of an invasion of Libya, at the end of March 1911. It was fancily depicted as rich of minerals, full of water, and defended by only 4,000 Ottoman troops. Also the population was considered hostile to the Ottoman Empire and friendly to the Italians. The future invasion was described as little more than a "military walk".

The Italian government showed initially hesitant, but in the summer the preparations for the invasion were finally carried out, and Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti began to probe the other European major powers about their reactions of a possible invasion of Libya. The Socialist party had strong influence over the public opinion. However, it was in opposition and also divided on the issue. It acted ineffectively against the military intervention.

An ultimatum was presented to the Ottoman government of CUP, in the night of 26 – September 27. The CUP, through the Austrian intermediation, replied with the proposal of handing over control over Libya without warring, maintaining a merely formal Ottoman suzerainty. This suggestion was comparable to the situation in Egypt, which was under formal Ottoman suzerainty, but was actually controlled by the United Kingdom. Giolitti refused, and war was declared on September 29, 1911.

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Wikipedia