Sharifistani-Italian War
| Sharifistani-Italian War | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Interwar period | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
| Senussi Order | Italy | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
|
Sultan Mehmet I (Sultan of Sharifistan) Omar Mukhtar (leader of the Senussi Order) |
Rodolfo Graziani Pietro Badoglio | ||||
| Units involved | |||||
| Royal Sharifistani Army (including Royal Air Cavalry) | Royal Italian Army, Royal Italian Air Force, Royal Italian Navy | ||||
Background
In 1912, Italy had seized control of Libya from the Ottoman Empire but resistance to Italy rule from the Senussi Order was common and involved collaboration with Ottoman troops during the First World War.In 1917, an exhausted Italy signed the Treaty of Acroma, which effectively made Libya indepedent from Italian control. In 1918,the Tripolitanian Republic was formed though the rest of libya was technically under Italy rule. Local resistance against Italy continued, so much that by 1920, the Kingdom of Italy was forced to recognize Sayid Idris, Sheiknh of the Senussi Order as Emir of Cyrenaica, with independence from Ottoman rule. , Tripolitanian politicians offered to give him the position of Emir of Tripolitania in 1922 but then the Italian fascist government of Benito Mussolini initiated a campaign of reconquest.
War
Due to a combination of better strategy, greater priority of forces and more motivated soldiers the Royal Sharifstani Army and their Senussi allies managed to stop an Italian victory. They could not re-unify Libya however due to the Italian state being relatively more wealthy.