North African Campaign (World War I)

Conflicts took place in North Africa during World War I (1914–1918), between the Entente and the Central powers. The Senussi of Libya sided with the Ottoman Empire against the British Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. On 14 November 1914, the Ottoman Sultan proclaimed Jihad and sought to create a diversion to draw British troops from the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The Italian state wished to preserve the gains made in the Italo-Turkish War. The Senussi Campaign took place in north Africa, from 23 November 1915 – February 1917.

In the summer of 1915, the Ottoman Empire persuaded the Grand Senussi Ahmed Sharif to attack British-occupied Egypt from the west, raise jihad and encourage an insurrection in support of an Ottoman offensive against the Suez Canal from the east. The Senussi crossed the Libyan–Egyptian border at the coast in November 1915. British Empire forces withdrew at first and then defeated the Senussi in several engagements, including the Action of Agagia. The British re-captured the territory along the coast by March 1916, with the Western Frontier Force of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, which included the 1st South African Infantry Brigade.

Further west, the inhabitants of areas recently conquered or seized by European powers from the Ottoman Empire, exploited the unsettled conditions caused by the war in Europe, to regain control of their lands. Uprisings took place in Morocco and Niger against the French colonialists, some of which lasted longer than the First World War. In Sudan, hostilities took place between the Anglo-Egyptians and the Sultan of Darfur, who was believed to have prepared an invasion of Egypt, to be synchronised with Senussi operations on the western frontier. Operations by the British were conducted by small numbers of men equipped with motor vehicles, aircraft and wireless, which multiplied their effectiveness and enabled them frequently to surprise their opponents by the speed of their manoeuvres.

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