Editing History of Libya (section)

==Italian Libya==
{{Main|Italian Tripolitania|Italian Cyrenaica|Italian Libya}}
{{see also|Italian colonization of Libya}}
[[File:Territorial growth of Italian Libya.svg|thumb|Territorial growth of Italian Libya: Territory ceded by Ottoman Empire 1912 (dark-green) but effectively Italy controlled only five ports (black), territories ceded by France and Britain 1919 and 1926 (light-green), territories ceded by France and Britain 1934/35 (red)]]
[[File:9 Div Tobruk(AWM 020779).jpg|thumb|Australian infantry at [[Tobruk]] during World War II. Beginning on 10 April 1941, the [[Siege of Tobruk]] lasted for 240 days.]]
From 1912 to 1927, the territory of Libya was known as [[Italian North Africa]]. From 1927 to 1934, the territory was split into two colonies, [[Italian Cyrenaica]] and [[Italian Tripolitania]], run by Italian governors. Some 150,000 Italians settled in Libya, constituting roughly 20% of the total population.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-46562/Libya Libya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430102144/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/339574/Libya |date=30 April 2013 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica.</ref>

[[File:Omar Mukhtar 13.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Omar Mukhtar]] was the leader of Libyan resistance in Cyrenaica against the Italian colonization.]]
In 1934, Italy adopted the name "Libya" (used by the Greeks for all of North Africa, except Egypt) as the official name of the colony (made up of the three provinces of [[Cyrenaica]], [[Tripolitania]] and [[Fezzan]]). Idris al-Mahdi as-Senussi (later [[Idris of Libya|King Idris I]]), Emir of Cyrenaica, led Libyan resistance to Italian occupation between the two world wars.
[[Ilan Pappe]] estimates that between 1928 and 1932 the Italian military "killed half the Bedouin population (directly or through disease and starvation in camps)".<ref>[[Ilan Pappe]], ''The Modern Middle East''. Routledge, 2005, {{ISBN|0-415-21409-2}}, p. 26.</ref> Italian historian Emilio Gentile sets to about 50,000 the number of victims of the repression.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://retedue.rsi.ch/home/networks/retedue/oggilastoria/2011/03/01/patriota-cirenaica.html |title=Un patriota della Cirenaica |publisher=retedue.rsi.ch |date=1 March 2011 |access-date=24 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511094034/http://retedue.rsi.ch/home/networks/retedue/oggilastoria/2011/03/01/patriota-cirenaica.html |archive-date=11 May 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1934, the political entity called "Libya" was created by governor [[Italo Balbo|Balbo]] with capital Tripoli.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://bjuniornewblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/italian-tripoli.html |title=Italian Tripoli |access-date=6 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044654/https://bjuniornewblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/italian-tripoli.html |archive-date=6 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Italians emphasized infrastructure improvements and public works. In particular, they hugely expanded Libyan railway and road networks from 1934 to 1940, building hundreds of kilometers of new roads and railways and encouraging the establishment of new industries and dozens of new agricultural villages.

During [[WW2]], since June 1940 Libya was at the center of destructive fighting between the [[Axis Powers|Axis]] and the British empire: the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] conquered from Italy all of Libya only by February 1943.

From 1943 to 1951, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were under [[British Military Administration (Libya)|British military administration]], while the [[Fezzan-Ghadames (French Administration)|French controlled Fezzan]]. In 1944, Idris returned from exile in [[Cairo]] but declined to resume permanent residence in Cyrenaica until the removal of some aspects of foreign control in 1947. Under the terms of the [[Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947|1947 peace treaty]] with the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]], Italy relinquished all claims to Libya.<ref>Hagos, Tecola W., (20 November 2004), [http://www.tecolahagos.com/part4.htm "Treaty Of Peace With Italy (1947), Evaluation And Conclusion"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207051037/http://www.tecolahagos.com/part4.htm |date=7 December 2012 }}, ''Ethiopia Tecola Hagos''. Retrieved 18 July 2006.</ref>