This video is an excerpt
from the classic "Lion in the Desert", depicting
the Islamic Libyan independence war against the Italian Fascist
colonial occupants.
For a brief historical walkthrough,
as the languishing Ottoman empire fell into decline behind
the military and economic superiority of the European powers,
its periphery territories and vassals of North Africa were
up for grabs. The young nation of Italy, seeking to establish
its place in the imperial sun, declared war on the broken
Ottoman backwater with the hopes of conquering Libya (Cyrenaica
and Tripoli). It succeeded by 1910, but only conquered very
few of the resilient Libyan tribes. Although Italy did not
pressure to proceed with the conquest very thoroughly, the
failure to gain a fully functional colony was yet another
one of Italy's colonial failures alongside the disaster at
Ethiopia.
Benito Mussolini, Italy's
new populist Fascist dictator, sought to reverse the embarrassing
status of the Italian nation by re-establishing the mighty
Roman empire, of which Cyrenaica and Tripoli (today's Libya)
were integral breadbaskets. Mussolini expanded the conquest
to include the whole country and all its tribes. However,
he was pre-empted by the pan-Islamic uprisings of hard-line
Islamist Salafists, especially the Sanussis (still influential
today). The most famous leader was Umar Mukhtar. The film
portrays a very rational and peaceful leader, although he
was more accurately engaged in intense guerilla violence against
Italian civilian settlers and soldiers alike in the interests
of liberating a Muslim state from a foreign oppressor (sanctioned
in the Qur'an). Many prominent Libyan Islamic leaders -- including
Mukhtar -- were influenced by Wahhabism and other related
doctrines of Islam, including "Sanussism", which
calls for a return to Islamic piety in government and society.
Atrocities were committed on both sides: brutal Muslim assaults
against civilian colonial camps were met by scorched-earth
attacks by Italian Fascist soldiers.
The uprising failed miserably.
Mussolini, in one of his few victories, crushed Libya and
all of its tribes and announced the glory of Italy to the
world (for the time being). Umar Mukhtar, however, had inspired
his people into a unified resistance against foreign colonial
conquest that would solidify the nationality of Libya. Libya
was one of the first nations to break from European colonial
rule, as many perceived that it was "ready" to become
a state due to the Sanussis' creation of a pan-Islamic, pan-Arabic
national affiliation. He is a national hero for Libya and
considered a Ghazi or holy warrior by most Muslims. When Mumar
Qadafi overthrew Libya's first king (Idris) and established
a hard-line Islamic state, he cited Umar Mukhtar as a lion
of Libya.
You can view our History
of Italian Colonization Map here.
________________________________________
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is a historian
and the Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I have
a Cum Laude BA in History with a Minor in Germanic Studies
(language and history), am presently working for my Masters
in History, and plan to immediately progress to my PhD Doctorate.
I have a special academic interest in Europe's diverse ethnic
identities, languages, and cultures, and the political struggles
of native European and immigrant minority identities. See
my staff entry for more information.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
The film "Lion in the
Desert", directed by Mustafa Akkad, with the copyright
expired.
Copyright ongoing since 2008-,
European Heritage Library®. www.euroheritage.net.
All Rights Reserved. The European Heritage Library is a non-profit academic
organization owned by
Chairman James Mayfield.
No email addresses or personal information is redistributed. No articles
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