Italy's African Destiny - The Colonisation of Libya | BETWEEN 2 WARS I 1931 Part 1 of 3 - YouTube (2)
land at low prices the state-run libyan Colonization Society has plans to settle
half a million native Italians in Libya over the next three decades the original
inhabitant we'll be relocated to less arable and
less valuable land with lesser attractive model villages created in
which to force the nomadic population to settle by 1939 some 110 thousand
Italians will have arrived so around 12% of the population will be native Italian
however they'll be concentrated on the Mediterranean coastline mainly around
Tripoli and Benghazi where they make up a third of the population while the
colonial masters also invest in infrastructure like roads electricity
railroads irrigation ports the indigenous population will see little
improvement and will continue to suffer from the wartime destruction and the
ensuing attrition of the rural economic life this creates the first major urban
migration wave in the region for many centuries concentrating the social
problems that have now arisen in the cities though attempts will be made to
expand health services for the locals they will be limited the same goes for
access to education with only 120 Arabs attending the only secondary school in
Tripoli for indigenous students in 1939 however the Italians have learned from
their mistakes and do not continue a militaristic program of intimidation
instead seeking local support for their endeavors despite continuing
inequalities between Italians and Libyans in fact they want to integrate
the northern shore of Libya as the quarter fonda the fourth Shore into
Italy proper rather than as a distinct colonial entity the colony now begins
mirroring homeland institutions so that when for instance mainland Italy has the
fascist youth organisation opera Nazi on a label ela which is the Italian
equivalent of the Hitler Youth Libya gets the Gio Vento Arab Adele tutorial
Arab littoral youth for some indigenous adults membership will even be open in
the associazione a muscleman Adela Torrio the local Muslim branch of the
national fascist party additionally Libya
we'll be granted a middle status of colonial citizenship though not fully
equal this does pave the way for a theoretical path to a modified form of
citizenship conditional on a certain level of Italian education and loyalty
to Italy you see as odd as it might sound
Mussolini with his traditional Catholic upbringing does not promote hatred of
Muslims instead he makes a concerted effort to increase cooperation with the
Muslim world according to his son-in-law Galeazzi Oceanos diary El Duque even
wants to build a mosque in Rome as a projection of its relationship to the
Islamic world though he backs down after a papal opposition in Libya he titles
himself throat Authority Delhi Islam protector of Islam once the title of the
khalif's of the recently abolished Ottoman
Caliphate but as always with El Duque there's a twist and a cunning plan in
the making you see most of the Islamic world is
ruled by France and Great Britain at this point and the leader of the
fascists wants to put a wedge in that relationship he also still has his eyes
on Abyssinia where there is a long-standing conflict between the Arab
influenced Muslims and the Alaric speaking Orthodox elite that governs
their so in essence Mussolini is already making plans for a new conflict with the
other colonial powers and continued colonial expansion it's all part of what
Mussolini and the fascist called the destino africana del Popolo italiano the
African destiny of the Italian people's a belief that they have somehow
inherited the rights to the ancient Roman colonies it is a belief and
ambition that sets them on a path of conflict that will tip the power scales
in the entire world in 1935 when Italy once again wages war on the Ethiopian
Empire during the ensuing Abyssinian crisis Italy faces massive protests by
the League of Nations while the u.s. France and Great Britain secretly tried
to appease the situation it ends in chaos
as France and Great Britain under hand-up
are leaked to the public massive sanctions are imposed on Italy who quits
the League of Nations in protest and still seizes three-quarters of the
Ethiopian Empire during the second Italo Abyssinian war if the League of Nations
had ever been a functioning organization is doubtful but it is this incident that
puts the final nail in its coffin through all of that mess Italy does get
support from its Nazi associates in Germany though so that after the crisis
the fascists and Nazis find themselves isolated together with the more
democratic Western powers as common opposition if that is a tipping point is
questionable but they will in any case soon be full out allies first under the
anti Comintern fact and then military allies under the pact of Steel or Rome
Berlin axis in eastern Africa it makes Italy and Great Britain neighboring
enemy powers on multiple fronts come 1940 it is on these fronts that Italy
and Great Britain will begin that part of World War two known as the North
African campaign raging for two years eleven months and three days it will
once again cost thousands and thousands of lives in yet another effort to
control the valuable resources and strategic positions in Africa and the
Middle East if you have not seen our episode about how the Middle East was
carved up after World War one you'll see a link here in just a moment also check
out the weekly episode of World War two when hostilities between Italy and Great
Britain come to Africa in 1940 our time ghost army member for this week is Troy
Willis it's thanks to the financial contribution by people like Troy that we
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