The expulsion of Italians from Libya took place following 21 July 1970, when the

Libyan Revolutionary Command Council The Libyan Revolutionary Command Council was the twelve-person governing body that ruled the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977. Its chairman was Muammar Gaddafi, who had the most influence. In 1977, the Libyan Arab Republic was abolished an ...

(RCC) issued a special law to "regain wealth stolen from the Libyan people by Italian oppressors", as stated by

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

in a speech a few days later. With this law, Italians who had long lived in Libya were required to leave the country by October 1970.

Background

On 1 September 1969, while King

Idris of Libya Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi ( ar, إدريس, Idrīs; 13 March 1890 – 25 May 1983) was a Libyan political and religious leader who was Kingdom of Libya, King of Libya from 24 December 1951 until his overthrow on 1 September ...

was in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

for medical treatment, he was deposed in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

by a group of

Libyan army The Libyan Army ( ar, الجيش الليبي) is the brand for a number of separate military forces in Libya, which are under the command of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). Since December 2015 the groups of t ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

s under the leadership of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

(later

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

)

. The

Kingdom of Libya The Kingdom of Libya ( ar, المملكة الليبية, lit=Libyan Kingdom, translit=Al-Mamlakah Al-Lībiyya; it, Regno di Libia), known as the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, was a constitutional monarchy in North Africa which ca ...

was abolished and the

Libyan Arab Republic Muammar Gaddafi became the ''de facto'' leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. After the king had fled the country, the Revolutionary Comman ...

proclaimed. The coup pre-empted Idris'

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...

and the succession of his heir, Crown Prince

Hasan as-Senussi Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Senussi (August 1928 – 28 April 1992) was the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Libya from 26 October 1956 to 1 September 1969, when the monarchy was abolished. Biography Hasan was born in 1928 the fifth s ...

, the following day. Over the next few months, Libyan policy towards foreigners changed drastically. The revolutionary council approved a new constitution, which described Libya as Arab, free, and democratic. In the name of

Arab nationalism Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language an ...

the new government nationalized most oil holdings, seized Italian possessions, closed U.S. and British military bases (including the American

Wheelus Air Base Wheelus Air Base was a United States Air Force base located in British-occupied Libya and the Kingdom of Libya from 1943 to 1970. At one time it was the largest US military facility outside the US. It had an area of on the coast of Tripoli. T ...

, renamed "'' Oqba ibn Nafi''" after the first Arab-Muslim conqueror of

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Expulsions of Italians

On 21 July 1970 the revolutionary council issued a special law to ‘regain wealth stolen from the Libyan people by Italian oppressors’ (as stated by Gaddafi in a speech a few days later). With this law, Italians who had long lived in Libya were required to leave the country by 7 October 1970. 7 October would be celebrated as the Day of Revenge, a Libyan national holiday. About 20,000 Italians were expelled from the country. The ''coup d'état'' of Muammar al-Gaddafi (influenced by

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...

’s Arab nationalism) was driven by the conviction that foreigners were still exploiting Libya, and Gaddafi made their eviction a hallmark of his program. By the end of 1970 all foreign holdings were seized, and nearly all Italians had left the country. Gaddafi officially abolished the celebrations in 2004, after a treaty between Libya and Italy was signed. In 2009 he invited the expelled Italians, as well as their descendants, back to Libya.

Italians in Libya

The

Italian invasion of Libya The Italian invasion of Libya occurred in 1911, when Italian troops invaded the Turkish province of Libya (then part of the Ottoman Empire) and started the Italo-Turkish War. As result, Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica were established ...

dated back to 1911, as a result of Italian ambitions in North Africa. Libya was annexed to the Italian Kingdom with the

Lausanne Treaty The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the conflic ...

of 1923, which concluded the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...

of 1911–12. For several years, few Italian nationals lived in the new colony. When the

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

regime gained power in Italy, the colonization of Libya was increased; thousands of Italian settlers poured into the country with promises of free land and financial aid. By 1939, Italians in Libya numbered 108,419 (12.37 percent of the total population) according to census figures; plans envisioned 500,000 Italian settlers by the 1960s. The Italian population was concentrated in the coast around the cities of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

(37 percent of its population) and

Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη (''Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghazi ...

(31 percent). With the Italian defeat in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Italian influence waned as a result. After several years under British mandate, on 24 December 1951 Libya declared its independence as the

United Kingdom of Libya The Kingdom of Libya ( ar, المملكة الليبية, lit=Libyan Kingdom, translit=Al-Mamlakah Al-Lībiyya; it, Regno di Libia), known as the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, was a constitutional monarchy in North Africa which ca ...

(a constitutional, hereditary monarchy under

King Idris Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi ( ar, إدريس, Idrīs; 13 March 1890 – 25 May 1983) was a Libyan political and religious leader who was King of Libya from 24 December 1951 until his overthrow on 1 September 1969. He ruled ov ...

). Between 1951 (the independence of Libya) and 1970, the Italian population was not granted Libyan citizenship. Although many Italians had already left the former colony, many remained as well (primarily farmers and craftsmen). King Idris was a tolerant monarch, and generally treated the Italian population well.

Remembrance

The ''

Day of Revenge The Day of Revenge ( ''Yūm al-Intiqāmi'') was a Libyan holiday celebrating the expulsion of Italians from Libyan soil in 1970. Some sources also claim that the 1948-67 departure of Libyan Jews was also celebrated. It was cancelled in 2004 af ...

'' ( ''Yūm al-Intiqāmi'') was a Libyan holiday celebrating the expulsion of Italians from Libyan soil in 1970. It was cancelled in 2004 after

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

apologized for Italian colonization in Libya, but reintroduced the next year. Later, it was renamed the Day of Friendship because of improvement in Italy–Libya relations.

References

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Bibliography