This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(May 2024) |
Sirtica campaign | |||||||||
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Part of the Second Italo-Senussi War | |||||||||
Meharists led by Amedeo D'Aosta during the campaign | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Italy | Senussi Order | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Colonel Mezetti | Omar al-Mukhtar | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
3 battalions & squadrons, 1 battery and more Number of troops unknown, but it is stated that 1/3 of troops that took part in the offensive were colonial troops[ citation needed ] | Unknown |
The Sirtica campaign, or Sirte campaign, was a military campaign executed by the Regio Esercito that took place between November 1924 and March 1925. It was one of the first actions during the Second Italo-Senussi War.
At the outbreak of World War I, Italy found itself in difficulty in maintaining control over its territory in Fezzan where, moreover, was the activity of the Senussi rebels who were supported by Turkish garrisons led by commander Enver Bey, who remained in Libya even after the signing of the peace treaty. In December 1914, therefore, all the Italian military garrisons in Fezzan were abandoned, including the one of Brak, where the forces had been concentrated before the retreat. Since then, Italian dominion remained precarious and limited to a narrow coastal strip. During the conflict, Italy withdrew part of its troops and dismantled the garrisons in the interior of the two regions, also because of the defeats at Gasr Bu Hadi and Sidi Abu Arqub, while it maintained its coastal garrisons in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica to counter Senussi offensives who were supported by Ottoman and German supplies. After the campaign, which ended in a Central Powers defeat, a new conflict rose up, which would totally confirm Italian rule in Libya.
Colonel Mezetti was given responsibility for dispersing the Senussi forces in Sirte. To regain possession of northern Tripolitania, all that was needed was the reoccupation of Sirtica, in which leaders and armed men from the newly conquered territories had taken refuge. The Governor deemed it appropriate this time to precede a brief political preparation, through which numerous people from Misuratino and Orfella were able to return to their countries. Then, decided to act energetically. Colonel Mezzetti who, concentrating his forces including 3 battalions, 3 squadrons, 1 battery, and other elements near Misrata, advanced along the western coast of Great Sirte and, after defeated some light enemy resistance at Gasr Bu Hadi (south of Sirte itself), entered Sirte on 23 November 1924. With these actions, after 35 months of prudent political and military action, the cycle that brought all of northern Tripolitania back under direct Italian rule was closed. Since then, the activity of the Government of Tripolitania was dedicated to the preparation of the troops and especially to the establishment of special Saharan units, as well as to the political-military organization of the territory with the establishment of "civil police stations" in the Gebel area and with the creation of the «Command of the territories of the southern Tripoli area».
Idris was King of Libya from 24 December 1951 until his ouster in the 1 September 1969 coup d'état. He ruled over the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, after which the country became known as simply the Kingdom of Libya. Idris had served as Emir of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania from the 1920s until 1951. He was the chief of the Muslim Senussi Order.
The Provinces of Libya were prescribed in 1934, during the last period of colonial Italian Libya, and continued through post-independence Libya until 1963 when the Governorates system was instituted.
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.
The Kingdom of Libya, known as the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, was a constitutional monarchy in North Africa that came into existence upon independence on 24 December 1951 and lasted until a bloodless coup d'état on 1 September 1969. The coup, led by Muammar Gaddafi, overthrew King Idris and established the Libyan Arab Republic.
The Senussi campaign took place in North Africa from November 1915 to February 1917, during the First World War. The campaign was fought by the Kingdom of Italy and the British Empire against the Senussi, a religious order of Arabic nomads in Libya and Egypt. The Senussi were courted by the Ottoman Empire and the German Empire. Recognising French and Italian threats, the Ottoman Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, had twice sent his aide-de-camp Azmzade Sadik El Mueyyed to meet Sheikh Muhammed El Mehdi El Senussi to cultivate positive relations and counter the west European scramble for Africa. In the summer of 1915, the Ottomans persuaded the Grand Senussi, Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, to declare jihad, attack British-occupied Egypt from the west and encourage insurrection in Egypt, to divert British forces.
The military history of Libya covers the period from the ancient era to the modern age.
Ramadan Sewehli, also spelt as Ramadan al-Suwayhili, was a prominent Tripolitanian nationalist at the outset of the Italian occupation in 1911 and one of the founders of the Tripolitanian Republic.
Libya was a colony of Fascist 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.
The Libyan Coastal Highway, formerly the Litoranea Balbo, is a highway that is the only major road that runs along the entire east-west length of the Libyan Mediterranean coastline. It is a section in the Cairo–Dakar Highway #1 in the Trans-African Highway system of the African Union, Arab Maghreb Union and others.
Conflicts took place in North Africa during World War I (1914–1918) between the Central Powers and the Entente and its allies. The Senussi of Libya sided with the Ottoman Empire and the German Empire against the British Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. On 14 November 1914, the Ottoman Sultan proclaimed a jihad and sought to create a diversion to draw British troops from the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Italy wished to preserve its gains from the Italo-Turkish War. The Senussi Campaign took place in North Africa from 23 November 1915 to February 1917.
The Allied administration of Libya was the control of the ex-colony of Italian Libya by the Allies from 13 May 1943 until Libyan independence was granted in 1951. It was divided into two parts:
The British Military Administration of Libya was the control of the regions of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania of the former Italian Libya by the British from 1943 until Libyan independence in 1951. It was part of the Allied administration 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 Gasr Bu Hadi occurred during the Italian colonization of Libya. It was the worst Italian defeat since the Battle of Adwa.
The Battle of Al-Rahiba was a military engagement between the Senussi order led by Omar al-Mukhtar and the Italians. The Senussi won a resounding victory against the Italians.
The Battle of Wadi Marsit was a military engagement between the Senussi order and the Italians. The Senussi won a major victory against the Italians.
The Battles for Murzuch, or the Reconquest of Fezzan, was a series of operations in the region today known as Fezzan. Italian soldiers and local fighters fought for who would have control over the region and the city of Murzuch, and the Italians were eventually victorious.