Jebel Akhdar campaign | |||||||||
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Part of the Second Italo-Senussi War | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Italy | Senussi Order | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Omar al-Mukhtar Yusuf Burahil † Omar Shegewi | |||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
More than 100,000 Bedouins deported [1] ~50% of the Cyrenaican population |
The Campaign in Jebel Akhdar refers to the fighting between Italian soldiers and Senussi rebels near the forested and mountainous areas of the Jebel Akhdar. The attacks by the Italians were initially met by strong guerrilla resistance, but this resistance soon fell as the Battle of Uadi Bu Taga took place. This conflict resulted in the execution of the main Senussi leaders and, subsequently, the end of the Italian pacification campaign.
In 1923, the fascist government of Benito Mussolini ordered generals Rodolfo Graziani and Pietro Badoglio to occupy the Jebel Akhdar area, building fortifications guarded by Savaris. [2] However, these positions where threatened by the Lion of the Desert and his army, who used guerrilla tactics to fight back the Colonials. During this campaign, 100,000 Bedouins, half of the population of the entire region of Cyrenaica, were deported to various barbed-wire concentration camps, most of them in Benghazi. [3] Due to this, Italian Generals and Omar Mukhtar tried to negotiate the course of the war, but none of the sides agreed and because of that, Italy began to plan the full conquest of Libya. [4] In a carefully prepared and coordinated operation with ten differently composed columns, Graziani tried from 16 June 1930, to encircle and destroy the units of Omar Mukhtar. However, the Senussi combat units were prepared for battle as they were again informed by the local population and by deserters from Italian colonial troops and, by dividing themselves into smaller groups of units, they managed to escape the encirclement by the Italian columns but with very heavy losses. [5] : 71 On 9 September 1931, Graziani started another offensive this time towards Slonta and Cyrene and this one was a success: the leader of the rebellion, Omar al-Mukhtar, was wounded and then captured in battle, ending definitely the War in Jebel Akhdar. [6]
Cyrenaica or Kyrenaika, is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, was part of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica, later divided into Libya Pentapolis and Libya Sicca. During the Islamic period, the area came to be known as Barqa, after the city of Barca.
The Senusiyya, Senussi or Sanusi are a Muslim political-religious Sufi order and clan in Libya and surrounding regions founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Sanussi, the Algerian Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi.
Fort Capuzzo was a fort in the colony of Italian Libya, near the Libya–Egypt border, next to the Italian Frontier Wire. The Litoranea Balbo ran south from Bardia to Fort Capuzzo, 8 mi (13 km) inland, west of Sollum, then east across the Egyptian frontier to the port over the coastal escarpment. The fort was built during the Italian colonial repression of Senussi resistance in the Second Italo-Senussi War (1923–1931), as part of a barrier on the Libya–Egypt and Libya–Sudan borders.
The Jebel Akhdar is a heavily forested, fertile upland area in northeastern Libya. It is located in the modern shabiyahs or districts of Derna, Jabal al Akhdar, and Marj.
Omar al-Mukhtār Muḥammad bin Farḥāt al-Manifī, called The Lion of the Desert, known among the colonial Italians as Matari of the Mnifa, was a Libyan revolutionary and Imam who led the native resistance in Cyrenaica under the Senussids, against the Italian colonization of Libya. A teacher-turned-general, Omar was a prominent figure of the Senussi movement and is considered the national hero of Libya and a symbol of resistance in the Arab and Islamic worlds. Beginning in 1911, he organised and led the Libyan resistance movement against the Italian colonial empire during the First and Second Italo-Senussi Wars. Externally, he also fought against the French colonization of Chad and the British occupation of Egypt. After many attempts, the Italian Armed Forces managed to capture Al-Mukhtar near Slonta when he was wounded in battle by Libyan colonial troops, and hanged him in 1931 after he refused to surrender.
Lion of the Desert is a 1981 epic historical war film about the Second Italo-Senussi War, starring Anthony Quinn as Libyan tribal leader Omar Mukhtar, a Bedouin leader fighting the Regio Esercito, and Oliver Reed as Italian General Rodolfo Graziani, who defeated Mukhtar. It was directed by Syrian-American director Moustapha Akkad and funded by the Libyan government under Muammar Gaddafi.
Savari was the designation given to the regular native Libyan cavalry regiments of the Italian colonial army from 1912 to 1943, in Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica, and later in Italian Libya. The word "savari" was derived from a Persian term for "horsemen" (Savārān).
The Italian colonizationof Libya began in 1911 and it lasted until 1943. The country, which was previously an Ottoman possession, was occupied by Italy in 1911 after the Italo-Turkish War, which resulted in the establishment of two colonies: Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica. In 1934, the two colonies were merged into one colony which was named the colony of Italian Libya. In 1937, this colony was divided into four provinces, and in 1939, the coastal provinces became a part of metropolitan Italy as the Fourth Shore. The colonization lasted until Libya's occupation by Allied forces in 1943, but it was not until the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty that Italy officially renounced all of its claims to Libya's territory.
Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi (1787–1859) was an Algerian Muslim theologian and leader who founded the Senussi mystical order in 1837. His militant mystical movement proved very significant and helped Libya to win its freedom from Italy on 10 February 1947. Omar Mukhtar was one of the most significant leaders of the Senussi military campaign launched by Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi. Al-Sanūsī's grandson Idrīs I ruled as king of Libya from 1951 to 1969.
The Frontier Wire was a 271 km (168 mi) obstacle in Italian Libya, along the length of the border of British-held Egypt, running from El Ramleh, in the Gulf of Sollum south to Jaghbub parallel to the 25th meridian east, the Libya–Egypt and Libya–Sudan borders. The frontier wire and its line of covering forts was built by the Italians during the Second Italo-Senussi War (1923–1931), as a defensive system to contain the Senussi population, who crossed from Egypt during their resistance against Italian colonisers.
Libya was a colony of Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, which had been Italian possessions since 1911.
Italian Tripolitania was an Italian colony, located in present-day western Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire after the Italo-Turkish War in 1911. Italian Tripolitania included the western northern half of Libya, with Tripoli as its main city. In 1934, it was unified with Italian Cyrenaica in the colony of Italian Libya. In 1939, Tripolitania was considered a part of the Kingdom of Italy's 4th Shore.
Italian Cyrenaica was an Italian colony, located in present-day eastern Libya, that existed from 1911 to 1934. It was part of the territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911, alongside Italian Tripolitania.
The Libyan resistance movement was the rebel force opposing the Italian Empire during its Pacification of Libya between 1923 and 1932.
During the Italian colonization of Libya, the Kingdom of Italy operated several concentration camps. During World War II, Fascist Italy operated several concentration camps and forced labor camps for the local population of Libya.
The Second Italo-Senussi War, also referred to as the Pacification of Libya, was a conflict that occurred during the Italian colonization of Libya between Italian military forces and indigenous rebels associated with the Senussi Order. The war lasted from 1923 until 1932, when the principal Senussi leader, Omar al-Mukhtar, was captured and executed. The Libyan genocide took place during and after the conflict.
The Battle of Kufra occurred during the Italian colonization of Libya and was a climactic moment in the Second Italo-Senussi War. The Italians were divided into divisions which attacked Awjila, Jalu, Zella, and Tazirbu, fighting mainly against Zuwayya tribe.
Orlando Lorenzini was an Italian general during World War II, posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor during World War II.
The Libyan genocide, also known in Libya as Shar, was the genocide of Libyan Arabs and the systematic destruction of Libyan culture during and after the Second Italo-Senussi War between 1929 and 1934. During this period, between 20,000 and 100,000 Libyans were killed by Italian colonial authorities under Benito Mussolini. Near 50% of the population of Cyrenaica was deported and interned in concentration camps, resulting in a population decline from 225,000 to 142,000 civilians.
The Battle of Uadi Bu Taga was fought in Libya in September 1931 between Italy and Senusiyya. The battle ended in a key Italian victory.