Italo-Turkish War of 1911-1912
 

This war was undertaken by Italy to gain colonies in North Africa by conquering the Turkish provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica.

Italy took advantage of a period of international uncertainty following the Moroccan crisis of 1911, and of Turkish weakness to achieve its long-desired goal of establishing a colony in North Africa. Using the pretext of the infringement of Italian interests in the two provinces, the Italian government of Giovanni Giolitti issued an ultimatum to Turkey on Sept. 28, 1911, and on the next day declared war. Italian forces quickly occupied the towns of Tripoli, Derna, and Benghazi, but unexpected resistance on the part of the Muslim population forced the Italian commander General Carlo Caneva to confine operations to the coastal areas.
 


depicting a mujahid (issued in
1950)

In May 1912, with the failure of the military campaign in Libya, Italy sent its naval forces to occupy the island of Rhodes and several Dodecanese islands off the Turkish coast. The war remained at a stalemate until a successful Italian offensive in North Africa from July to October 1912. Turkey, now menaced by the Balkan states, sought peace. By the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne (also called Treaty of Ouchy; Oct. 18, 1912), Turkey conceded its rights over Tripoli and Cyrenaica to Italy. Although Italy agreed to evacuate the Dodecanese, its forces continued to occupy the islands. Ironically, the occupation of these islands, which was originally designed to force the Ottomans to relinquish Libya, continued for over thirty years (ending as in Libya in 1943).

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