Introduction

The early months of the Western Desert Campaign of WWII are an interesting period of military history. Despite the Italians numerical advantage in troops over the British Commonwealth forces of 8:1 (more on this potentially misleading ratio is intended for a later post), the Italians were pushed back within one year and called upon support from Germany; this was provided in the form of the highly successful Deutsche Afrika Korps led by General Erwin Rommel, the 'Desert Fox'.

The purpose of this post is briefly to summarise how Italy happened to control Libya in 1940, when they declared war in support of the Axis powers. The post is intended to be an introduction to why the Italians were in Libya with the equipment they had when they first engaged in combat with British Commonwealth forces then based in Egypt.

Most of the material has been obtained from Wikipedia; linked references are provided at the end of this post.

The Ottoman Empire - Reference 1

The Ottoman Empire was founded circa 1299 in North Western Turkey. By circa 1550, much of the Coast of North Africa (except Morocco) was part of the Empire. The Empire started to decline in 1699 and came to an end in November 1922.

Italy's Claim to Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica

The Ottoman Empire was a combatant in the Russo-Turkish War from 1877 to 1878 - Reference 2. This started when the Eastern Orthodox Coalition (EAC) (led by the Russian Empire), with several goals in mind, attacked the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans and Caucasus. One of these goals was to free the citizens of Balkan nations from excesses of the Ottoman Empire.

The significant military success of the EAC was halted with the signing of the temporary Treaty of San Stefano - Reference 3. From June to July 1878, representatives from the six Great Powers in Europe (Russia, Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Germany), the Ottoman Empire and four Balkan states (Greece, Serbia, Romania and Montenegro) met at the Congress of Berlin. The Congress resulted in the Treaty of Berlin, which replaced the Treaty of Stefano.

After the Congress of Berlin, representatives from France and Great Britain verbally agreed to the occupation of Tripoli by Italy - Reference 4. France and Great Britain would occupy Tunisia and Cyprus, respectively; this was effectively part of the Scramble for Africa (1881 - 1914) by European powers - Reference 5.

By the end of March 1911, the Italian press began to lobby for invasion of the regions Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. On 29 September 2011, after failure of diplomatic efforts to gain control of the regions, Italy declared war.

Italy's Control of Libya

Italian Landings in Libya

The regions invaded by Italy may have been little more than forgotten outposts of an empire that had been in decline for 2 centuries. They were defended by only 4,800 regular Ottoman troops with antiquated equipment and the indigenous population.

On 5 November 1911, Italy declared control over the the regions. In practice, they controlled most of the coast-line, primarily because of their naval superiority, use of aircraft and large quantities of infantry (up to 100,000) primarily to defend conurbations. This conflict has been credited with the first use of aircraft for reconnaissance and for bombing.

The Italians undertook further consolidation until 18 October 1912, when the Treaty of Lausanne was signed. This brought an end to conflict with the Ottoman Empire whom withdrew from North Africa. The financial cost of the Italian invasion was very much higher than anticipated and caused economic imbalance to Italy.

The Italians continued to fight against what were effectively guerrilla actions by the indigenous population from South of the coastal strip. The Italians sometimes responded with brutal repression, until resistance came to an end circa 1931.

The Libyan flag in 1934

In 1934, the regions were unified and became known as Libya - Reference 6. By 1939, circa 13% of the population of Libya was from the Italian ethnic group; circa 150,000 people had relocated from Italy to Libya over the preceding couple of decades.

In 1940, the indigenous Libyans in the coastal areas were granted limited Italian citizenship. This enabled ambitious locals to take up civil administrative and military posts. As a consequence, 2 divisions of indigenous Libyan infantry were raised to fight in the Italian Army.

The Military Legacy and Capability in 1940

As was (and remains) so often the case, the aggressor (Italy) underestimated the force-requirements, time and finance required for a successful invasion and assimilation. The Italians had found themselves on the wrong side of guerrilla war fought over inhospitable territory for 20 years. (Does this sound familiar?)

By 1940, the Italian army in Libya was still more or less organised to outnumber small, lightly armed, enemy forces that operated with equipment of low technology; the Italian's based themselves predominantly in static defence of regional hubs. Presumably, over the preceding years, there had been little money available to provide modern equipment. Arguably, they were still set-up to fight their previous conflict.

Shortly before the declaration of war by Italy (in June 1940), the Governor-General of Libya, Marshal of the Air Force, Italo Balbo advised Mussolini that - Reference 7:

It is not the number of men which causes me anxiety but their weapons ... equipped with limited and very old pieces of artillery, almost lacking anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons ... it is useless to send more.

In Libya, Italy had circa 250,000 troops divided into 14 divisions, in 2 armies. Mobile communication was hampered by too few radios. Whilst the Italian trucks had a good reputation, there were too few of them. Simultaneous movement of large quantities of troops would predominantly be via Shanks's pony; although, horses were used to tow artillery pieces. 'Mechanised' in the description of a unit generally indicated that vehicles (not horses) were used to tow artillery; the infantry would still march. Those units with motorised infantry generally had too few trucks.

Arguably, in 1940, the British Commonwealth was ill-prepared for warfare against Germany but generally, their technology and organisation were far superior to those of Italy; just as well since there were only 36,000 troops in Egypt at the time Italy declared war on them.