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1907
== > The Banco di Roma establishes a branch
in Tripoli. Italian economic interests are increasingly penetrating Libya.
1910
==Oct.--- > Ibrahim Pasha, the new Ottoman
governor, arrives in Tripoli with orders prohibiting foreign corporations
from buying land. Italy believes that it’s being frozen out by German
influence.
1911
==Jun.--- > Germans are buying up land in
Tripolitania.
==Aug.--- > The King of Italy suspects that Germany
is about to seize Libya.
==Sep.03 > 80,000 Italian troops are demobilized
after their annual maneuvers; evidently, at this late date Italy still has no
plans for invading Libya.
==Sep.23 > Italy issues a warning on Libya to the
Turks.
==Sep.26 > An Ottoman troop transport
arrives in Tripoli, alarming the Italian government
==Sep.27 > Italy calls up its reservists.
==Sep.28 > Italy issues a 24-hour ultimatum
to the Turks. The Turks respond by offering Italy broad guarantees on Libya,
to no avail. The Italian fleet takes up positions off Tripoli.
==Sep.29 > The Tripolitanian War breaks out:
an unprepared Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire, with no prior orders
to the Italian military to mobilize an invasion force, no discussions in the
Italian cabinet, and no information given to Parliament. The Italian public
is told that the war will be quick with few casualties. The Italian left is
soon alienated and isolated, and support for liberal Premier Giolitti erodes.
==Sep.29 > The Italian crisis brings down Ibrahim
Hakki’s government in Constantinople. The popularity of the CUP (better known
as the Young Turks) suffers.
==Sep.29-30 > Italian warships shell Preveza in
Turkish Epirus.
==Sep.30 > The Italian fleet blockades Tripoli.
==Oct.03-05 > Italian warships bombard
Tripoli. Turkish forces evacuate, and Italian forces occupy the town on
Oct.05.
==Oct.04 > Italian troops land near Tobruk.
==Oct.early > Young Turk leader Enver persuades
the Turkish government to send officers to Libya to organize a guerrilla war
against the Italians
==Oct.08 > A Turkish force attacks the Italians at
al-Karkaf near Derna.
==Oct.14 > The ultra-radical Italian socialist
Benito Mussolini is arrested for fomenting anti-war riots.
==mid.Oct > A severe cholera outbreak erupts in Italian-occupied
Tripoli.
==Oct.20 > Italian forces capture Benghazi.
==Oct.22 or Oct.23 > The first use of an airplane
in war: Captain Piazza flies a reconnaissance mission between Tripoli and
Azizia.
==Oct.23-26 > The Italians are defeated by the
Turks and the Arabs at al-Hani outside Tripoli. The Italian advance stalls
==Oct.23-May 1912 > Fighting around
al-Markib, near al-Khums in Tripolitania.
==end.Oct > Panicky Italian troops execute 1000
Arab prisoners of war.
==Oct.30 > In Bologna, an Italian colonel
exhorting his troops on the Libyan War is run over by an automobile driven by
a disgruntled soldier shouting “Anarchy lives!”
==Oct.--- > The Italians have occupied
Derna and Homs. They pledge equality for Arabs and protection for the Islamic
religion, but the Libyans rally to the Turks.
==fall > An Italian landing at Misurata
makes little headway. About the same time, the Italians are defeated at
Rumeila.
==fall > Enver and other pro-CUP Turkish officers
arrive in Libya to organize guerilla resistance against the Italians. Mustafa
Kemal (later known as Ataturk) arrives in December.
==Nov.01 > Italian planes bomb an oasis in
Libya - the world’s first aerial bombing and the first offensive use of an
aircraft.
==Nov.02 > Martial law is proclaimed in
Cairo in response to Egyptian unrest over the Tripolitanian War.
==Nov.05 > Italy proclaims the annexation
of Libya. The international response is negative.
==Nov.12 > Enver is appointed the commander
of Ottoman forces in Cyrenaica
==Nov.20 > The Moslem Sanusi sect signs a
peace accord with Italy, but soon abandons it under Turkish pressure.
==Nov.28 > Fighting near Benghazi - the
Italians are driven back into the city.
1912
==Jan.-Feb. > Austria warns Italy against undertaking
any military actions on the Aegean or Balkan coasts.
==Jan.--- > The Carthage-Manouba Incident:
Italy detains two French ships suspected of aiding the Turks. France sharply
protests.
==Jan.-Feb. > Italian warships shell Syrian
coastal towns.
==Feb.24-25 > In Tripoli, Captain Piazza
takes the first known aerial photos of enemy forces.
==Feb.--- > The Italian assembly is finally
recalled to endorse the declaration of war on theTurks. Premier Giolitti
tells them that military affairs and foreign policy are royal prerogatives
and cannot be questioned by parliament. Few deputies object to these claims.
==Feb.--- > The Italian fleet enters the
Red Sea and shells Hodeida
==Mar.03 > Arab and Turkish forces clash
with the Italians at Sidi Abdallah near Derna and at al-Nadura near Tobruk.
==Mar.09 > The European powers ask Italy to
state the terms on which it would agree to end the war.
==Mar.10-Jun. > Italy begins using
non-rigid airships in Libya for reconnaissance and light bombing.
==Mar.--- > Italian warships bombard Beirut.
==Apr.16-19 > The Italian fleet shells the
Turkish defenses at the Dardanelles.
==Apr.18-May.04 > The Turks close the
Straits in response to the Italian naval attack, dealing a blow to Russian
commerce.
==Apr.19 > The Italians take the first
known aerial movies of enemy positions, from an airship over Tripoli.
==Apr.24-May.20 > Italy occupies Rhodes and
the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean.
==May.02 > Italian forces secure al-Markib
near al-Khums in Tripolitania, after five months of clashes.
==May.--- > The Italian Republican Party
splits over the war. The war is radicalizing the left-of-center Republican,
Radical, and Socialist parties, and is strengthening the far-right
nationalists.
==Jul.19 > Italian warships again attack
the Dardanelles.
==Jul.-Oct. > Italian forces push out from
their enclaves on the Libyan coast.
==Sep.--- > Italy shakes up its Libyan
command and threatens to launch an Aegean offensive. Turkish-Italian peace
talks soon begin at Lausanne.
==Oct.15 > The secret Italian-Ottoman
Treaty of Ouchy: the Turks recognize Italian sovereignty over Libya,
although the Ottoman Sultan remains the nominal religious head.
==Oct.18 > The public Italian-Ottoman
Treaty of Lausanne formally ends the Tripolitanian War, though fighting
continues in Libya.
==Nov.--- > The Sanusi religious sect claim
to be the legitimate rulers of Libya, supposedly endorsed by verbal
instructions from the Ottoman Sultan.
==1912 >The Italian treasury is depleted by
the Libyan War, and the nation is facing serious budget deficits.
1913
==Apr.--- > The Italians take Tulmaitha,
Barqa, and Abiar in Cyrenaica.
==May.16 > After taking Martuba, an Italian
offensive near Derna is defeated by the Arabs at Yawm al-Djuma (Sidi Aziz).
==Sep.--- > Italian forces take al-Zawiya and
al-Baida in Libya, and surround the Sanusi stronghold in the Jabal al-Akhdar.
==end.1913 > The Italians control all
important coastal towns, Ghadamis and Jabal Nafusa near the Tunisian border,
and Marzua in the Fezzan. Turkish officers who have been secretly aiding the
Arabs are withdrawn from Libya.
1914
==Mar.--- > Italian forces occupy
Nawfaliyya. Italy controls all main positions on the Libyan coast, but
sporadic fighting continues in the interior.
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