The
section of the North
African coast to the
west of Egypt has been known as
Libya for several millennia. Much of its
population has always lived close to the coastline, as a very large proportion
of the area of modern Libya is formed by
desert (up to ninety per cent, although the desert is a relatively recent
phenomenon, appearing only in the last four thousand years or so). Therefore
much of its recorded history has concentrated on the struggle for ownership
of this coastline. Berbers have existed here since about 8000 BC, attracted
by the Mediterranean climate and the prospects for early farming.
The name Libya is ancient, and comes via Classical Greece and
Rome. Berber
tribesmen known as the Libu were attested by Egypt in the eighth century BC, and
the
Meshwesh Libyans provided Egypt's twenty-second and twenty-third dynasties.
The Tamahu and Tjehenu were also important tribes. In the classical period Libya
was known to the Greeks as a place of fairly barbarous, tough-fighting kings who
led a tribal peoples but which appeared not to be a unified kingdom, more a series
of territories perhaps ruled by individual kings. In the south, the
Garamantes developed their own fully
independent pan-Saharan civilisation. No firm borders and very few dynasties
are known, but the region was a continual threat to Egypt.
A body of Lukka take part in the Libyan-led attack on
Egypt which includes various
Sea Peoples. Two hundred
casualties are recorded for the Lukka at the Battle of Per Yer, a very small
part of the overall number.
Libya is a mixture of rocky coastline, verdant fields in the
near-coastal strip, and an increasing expanse of desert to the
south - but even the desert has played host to civilisation,
such as that of the Garamantes
Mawasun
First known in a dynasty of native Libyan
Meshwesh rulers.
Neb-Neshi / Nebneshi
Son or successor.
c.1100 BC
In the south of Libya, a native civilisation begins to emerge
in the form of the water-mining
Garamantes, which spans the Sahara and extends into sub-Saharan Africa.
The civilisation flourishes from the fifth century BC.
A series of
Meshwesh Libyans rule
Egypt from circa
943 BC until 720 BC, beginning with Nimlot's successor,
Shoshenq. They had been settled in Egypt since the
Twentieth dynasty.
Although the dynasty seems to have originated at Bubastis, the
kings almost certainly rule from Tanis, which is their capital and the city
in which their tombs have since been excavated.
836 - 805 BC
At the start of the reign of Shoshenq III of the Twenty-Second Dynasty, a separate group of Libyans in
Leontopolis gains power over the
Middle and Upper Egypt area. By 805 BC a further group, the
Libu, gain the western Delta around Sais.
A separate ruling group emerges in eastern Libya.
fl c.810s BC
Iarbos / Hiarbas
Native ruler of eastern Libya.
814 BC
Neighbouring
Carthage becomes a colony of
Tyre when it is
founded by Elissa, sister of the king of Tyre. The men of
Utica greet their brother Phoenicians
warmly, and the 'king of Libya', Iarbos, gives them free entry into his
territory. He allows Elissa (whom the natives call Deido or Dido, the
'wandering one') to select the hill of Byrsa, where the city is built and
named Qarthadasht, or 'new city'.
Events in Libya remain unchronicled for about two centuries, until the
founding of the Greek colony of Cyrene
in the mid seventh century BC. In the south, a native civilisation emerges
in the form of the water-mining
Garamantes.
Cyrene (Cyrenaica / Libya) c.630 BC - 75 BC
Cyrene was a Greek city state colony that was founded in the eastern half
of modern Libya. Eventually becoming
a large and prosperous city, it was located about fifteen kilometres (ten
miles) from the coast, on the top of the Cyrenaican Mountains about 609
metres above sea level. Its economy was based on agriculture, although horses
were bred and raised there too. A medicinal plant named silphium was a
major export until the reserves were almost entirely extinct (which happened
during the Roman period, making it impossible to identify). Then cereals and
corn took over.
The Greek settlers who first arrived here from the island of Thera were
escaping a seventh century BC famine. They founded several settlements
along Libya's coastline. They developed five cities, including the largest,
Cyrene, which was founded in 631 BC. Together with four other newly-founded
cities - Arsinoe (Teucheira, today better known as Tocra), Balagrae (modern
al Bayda), Barce (modern al Marj), and Euesperides or Bernice (not far from
modern Benghazi) - this Greek colony became known as the Pentapolis (the
'five cities'), or alternatively as Cyrenaica after the dominant city.
According to Greek records the colony took about eight years to establish,
following a failed two-year period on the island of Platea and six years
at Aziris, south of Platea. The leader of the Greeks who moved to Cyrene
about 631 BC was Aristoteles, maternal grandson of King Etearchus of Oaxus
and a descendant of Euphemus, helmsman on the Argo under the command of
Jason of Iolkos.
He took the Libyan title or surname, Battus or Battos (meaning 'king'),
and founded the Battaid dynasty as a result.
Once Alexander the Great had conquered
Egypt,
Cyrene became a possession of the
Ptolemies. It was
usually held by a junior member of the dynasty, and sometimes directly by
the pharaoh himself or herself. Sometimes its Greek ruler attempted to break
away from Egypt and sometimes the attempt was successful. The fall of Egypt
to Rome
meant Roman domination for centuries.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from The
Histories, Herodotus (Penguin, 1996), from The Garamantes and
Trans-Saharan Enterprise in Classical Times, R C C Law (The
Journal of African History, Vol 8, No 2, 1967), from The Garamantes
of Central Sahara, Raymond A Dart (African Studies, Vol 11,
Issue 1, March 1952), from the Encyclopaedia of the Roman Empire,
Matthew Bunson (1994), and from The Cambridge History of Africa,
Vol 2, J D Fage (Ed, Cambridge University Press, 2002).)
The Libyans (probably Berber tribes) have become resentful of the flourishing
and expanding Greek colony under Battus. He has invited in new settlers from
Greece, with large numbers coming from Crete and the Aegean islands, and from
the Peloponnese on the mainland. The native Asbystai have especially suffered
from losses in territory, and now seek an alliance with
Egypt. The Egyptian
troops who are sent by Pharaoh Apri�s are wiped out by the Cyrenaeans at the
Battle of the Well of Thestis almost to a man due, according to Herodotus,
to not taking the Greeks seriously as an opponent.
The period between Greek, Egyptian, and Roman domination
left behind a rich heritage of ruins and remains,
including this gladiator mosaic now at the museum in
Tripoli
c.560 - 550 BC
Arcesilaus / Arkesilas� II 'Chalepos'
Son. Strangled by Learchus.
c.550 BC
Learchus is the ill-mannered advisor (and brother) to Arcesilaus II
'Chalepos' (meaning 'the Harsh') who, when his plotting to replace the
king is discovered, flees to the Cyrenaean city of Barce (or founds it,
along with the king's other four brothers). He invites other disaffected
Cyrenaeans to join him in forming an independent splinter state. When the
king attacks him initially he flees, but when he does give battle near a
place called Leucon he is victorious. The king subsequently falls ill and
is then strangled by Learchus who is able to claim the throne. He is almost
immediately overthrown by Cyrenaean nobles led by the late king's wife,
Eryxo, and son.
c.550 BC
Learchus / Laarchus
Brother & advisor. Later a usurper. Overthrown by
nobles.
c.550 - 530 BC
Battus III 'the Lame'
Son of Arcesilaus.
c.530 - 515 BC
Arcesilaus / Arkesilas� III
Son.
Persian vassal c.521 BC. Killed by Cyrenaean exiles.
525 BC
Egypt is conquered
by the
Persian empire under Cambyses and is annexed as a great satrapy. During
Cambyses' occupation of Egypt the capture of Memphis seems to be enough to
allow the whole country to be claimed as a conquered territory. The Persians
do not initially venture westwards into the Pentapolis.
c.521 BC
The
Persian ruler Darius the Great becomes the first official Twenty-Seventh
Dynasty pharaoh of
Egypt after the
death of Cambyses, who appears to have spent much of the last years of his
reign in Egypt. Darius also receives the submission of the Pentapolis and
exacts tribute from Nubia.
Soon afterwards, an oracle bodes ill for Arcesilaus so he retires to the
sister city of Barce, leaving his mother in command of Cyrene.
c.521 - 515 BC
Pheretime
Mother.
Regent of Cyrene.
c.515 BC
Both Arcesilaus and Alazeir, ruler of Barce, are murdered in that city.
Pheretime applies for help to Satrap Aryandes of
Egypt who provides
her with an army and strengthens his own hold over the Pentapolis. Barce is
besieged and captured, the implicated murders of Arcesilaus are put to
death, and a large proportion of the population is carried off into
Persian slavery in a new settlement of Barce which is located in distant
Bakhtrish.
Satrap Achaemenes of
Egypt is killed
at the Battle of Pampremis in 460 or 459 BC. His opponents are Inarus (or
Inaros), son of a Psamtik and leader of the Second Rebellion in Egypt, and his
Athenian
allies. The Greek threat is finally ended in 454 BC when Megabyzus, former
satrap of
Ebir-nāri,
arrives with a fresh army. Inarus is hauled off to
Susa
where he is reported to be crucified.
Cyrene flourished under its third king, and it
maintained a position of regional dominance right
through the subsequent Persian, Hellenic, and
Roman periods
440 BC
Battus V
Son. Killed by the people. Never ruled.
440 - c.300 BC
The
Cyrenaean people, tired of the increasingly tyrannical rule of Arcesilaus
IV, rebel and throw out the kingship, deciding on a republic to replace it,
although one that is still under the suzerainty of
Persia. In terms of more everyday activities, it is probable that the
Cyrenaeans are trading for salt with the
Garamantes people to the south.
332 BC
Egypt
is handed over to Alexander the Great of
Macedonia without a fight. Soon afterwards, the Greek king receives
tribute from the cities of the Pentapolis, which effectively acknowledges
him as their overlord.
The Pentapolis is formally annexed by Ptolomey I Soter of
Egypt. Later in
his reign he marries Berenice I, who already has a son by a former
marriage. The son, Magas, is given the governorship of Libya, and
following the death of his stepfather, he makes several attempts to
gain independence, finally crowning himself king about 276 BC.
Magas attacks Egypt,
but has to call off his planned invasion thanks to a revolt of the native
Libyan Marmaridae. The remainder of Magas' rule is concerned with
maintaining his kingdom's independence, and following his death a relative
is invited from Greece to take the throne.
264 - 241 BC
The
First Punic War erupts between
Rome and
Carthage. Following its conclusion,
there is a rebellion amongst mercenaries who have not been paid. The leaders
of the Libyan mercenaries, Spendius and Matho, lay siege to
Utica and nearby Hippocritae.
Despite being rescued by generals Hanno and Hamilcar of Carthage, both cities
defy Carthaginian governance and have to be brought into line by force.
c.250 - 249 BC
Berenice
(II)
Dau. m Demetrius of
Macedon, then Ptolemy III of
Egypt.
c.250 - 249 BC
Demetrius the
Fair
Son of Demetrius
I Poliorcetes of
Macedon. Killed.
249 - 246 BC
With the death of Demetrius at the hands of Berenice, his wife, Cyrene
becomes a republic again in 249 BC. The state's short-lived experiment
with renewed kingship and republicanism is ended when it is recaptured by
Ptolemy II of Egypt
in 246 BC and Berenice is restored and by 244/243 BC she has married Ptolemy
III of Egypt to become his co-ruler.
Ptolemy Euergetes increased Egyptian imperial borders at the
expense of Seleucid Syria, something that few of his successors
were ever able to manage
Apart from three limited breaks,
Egypt retains direct
control of Cyrene until 163 BC. In 240 BC a republic is briefly declared
under the Megalopolitan philosophers, Ecdelos and Demophanes, mentioned
by Plutarch. The details are unknown, but it seems probable that Egypt
retakes control almost immediately.
The
murder of Berenice in 221 BC makes the titular head of Cyrene somewhat
uncertain. However, given the fact that her son is Ptolemy IV of
Egypt, the throne of
Cyrene probably passes to him, Berenice's killer.
205 - 204 BC
Philemon
Another attempt at removing Libya from
Egypt's control?
163 BC
Upon
being deprived of the pharaonic throne following his brief usurpation of it,
Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II claims the throne of Cyrene with
Roman
backing. He retains this throne throughout the rest of his life, even during
two further periods of rule in
Egypt.
163 - 116 BC
Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II 'Physcon'
Pharaoh of
Egypt
(171-163 BC, 145-131 BC, & 127-116 BC).
132 - 131 BC
Cleopatra II makes the most of an Alexandrine revolt against her cousin-husband,
Ptolemy Euergetes. he and Cleopatra III flee to
Cyprus
while she is left in sole command in
Egypt. Ptolemy Memphitis
is the son of both parties, named after the location of his birth. He is
proclaimed pharaoh by Cleopatra II. Ptolemy Euergetes still manages to have
him killed and cut into quarters, with the remains being sent to Cleopatra.
Civil war ensues, along with a general collapse of central government.
128 - 128 BC
Ptolemy Euergetes has seized all of
Egypt except Alexandria,
which remains loyal to Cleopatra until its fall in 126 BC. In 128 BC,
Seleucid ruler Demetrius attempts to intervene in the Egyptian civil
war, supporting Cleopatra II, mother of his first wife, Cleopatra Thea,
but he is defeated near Pelusium. Cleopatra Thea herself succeeds Demetrius
as the Seleucid ruler, serving as regent for her son, Seleucus V.
116 BC
The
death of Ptolemy Euergetes ends a highly eventful and unsettled period of
Ptolemaic history in
Egypt. His nominated
successors are Cleopatra III and one of her sons, with the choice of which
of them being hers. She prefers the younger of them, Alexander, but the
Alexandrines want Philometer Soter, current governor of
Cyprus.
She reluctantly complies, and Philometer becomes Ptolemy IX, while Alexander
takes his place on Cyprus.
The Ptolemies may have been viewed by some native Egyptians
as foreigners, just as the Greeks may have been viewed by the
native Berbers, but they certainly went wholeheartedly into
the costumes and styles of Egyptian nobility
116 - 110 BC
Ptolemy Apion
Son.
110 BC
Nikostratos the Tyrant
Briefly usurped power.
110 - 96 BC
Ptolemy Apion
Restored.
96 - 34 BC
Cyrene becomes part of the
Roman
republic in 96 BC, and in 75 BC is made a province of Rome. In 37 BC it is
restored to the Ptolemies by Marcus Antonius of
Rome
(Mark Antony), and his daughter by Cleopatra VII of
Egypt is made queen
in Cyrene.
34 - 30 BC
Cleopatra Selene II
Dau of Cleopatra VII of
Egypt and Marcus
Antonius of
Rome.
32 - 30 BC
The
agreement regulating the
Roman
Triumvirate has expired, and in the political manoeuvring that follows
Octavian gains and reads out Antony's will in public. It shows that his
heart belongs to Cleopatra and
Egypt, thereby making
it clear to most Romans that Antony could never be one of them. The Senate
declares war, and Octavian and Antony clash on 2 September 31 BC at the
naval Battle of Actium, off the western coast of Greece. Antony is defeated
as Cleopatra departs with the surviving fleet and he commits suicide. In
30 BC Cleopatra also commits suicide, handing Egypt to Rome. With Egypt
and Cyrene both Roman possessions, the
Garamantes to the south remain free
of Roman control. Cyrene is retained within the empire, and its
subsequent
Eastern Roman division.
Roman & Islamic Libya 30 BC - AD 1951
Incorporating Crete & Cyrenaica (67 BC-AD 297)
Octavian invaded Egypt
in 30 BC and Cleopatra VII, fearing captivity and humiliation in
Rome,
committed suicide. Egypt and its provinces in Libya became Roman provinces,
although the Garamantes to the south
remained free of Roman control. During that period,
Cyrenaica in the east gained a sizable
Jewish population which amounted to about a quarter of the total
population. Libya was retained within the empire and its subsequent
Eastern Roman
division until AD 643, despite a period of
Vandali incursion. Cyrenaica remained unconquered by the Vandali,
although by the seventh century AD the city's days of glory were a
long-faded memory.
In the tumultuous events of the seventh century, Libya was conquered by the
Islamic Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, leader of the expanding Islamic
empire for just ten years. A successive dynasty, the
Umayyad caliphs, was destroyed in 749-750 and the resultant shake-up in
the empire's governance meant that Libya was passed to the governor of
Abbasid Egypt. It
remained under Egyptian control until 1517, when the entire region was
taken by the
Ottoman
empire under Selim I Yavuz. Thereafter it remained an Ottoman province until
the modern age, when
Italy
became involved in its affairs.
The name 'Libya' did not come into use for this region of North Africa until
1911. Before then it had generally been applied to Africa as a whole (or at
least as far as the ancients understood Africa, great swathes of which were
not explored until the Victorian age). Until then, specific reference was
made to Libya's regions near the Mediterranean, Pentapolis and Tripolitania
(in the west, traditionally territory that was controlled from Tripoli
itself), both of which were part of the province of
Africa Proconsularis.
The eastern part of Libya was
Cyrenaica (gained by Rome in 96 BC),
which was combined with Crete into the province of Creta et Cyrenaica.
The
Garamantes who had served in Juba's army of 49 BC may have been nomads,
but Roman
attention is now focussed on them. Pliny the Elder records in his work,
Natural History, that General Lucius Cornelius Balbus marches against
the Phazanians and Garamantes, probably causing a good deal of upheaval. It
seems to be about this time that the older capital at Zinchecra is abandoned
and the royal residence is moved to Garama. Various skirmishes occur over
subsequent years, probably between Rome and Garamantes nomads.
AD 24
Writing at the end of the first century AD, the historian, Tacitus, mentions
the Garamantes assisting the Numidian rebel, Tacfarinas, raiding
Roman
coastal settlements.
Around the same time, archaeology has shown a significant degree of
interaction taking place from at least this century through until the
seventh century AD. This interaction is thought to have been primarily
driven by a trans-Saharan trade in slaves that is largely organised and
controlled by the Garamantes of the Libyan Sahara.
c.400
The
Garamantes appear to outgrow their ability to exploit the environment around
them. They have extracted an estimated thirty billion gallons of water
through the foggara system of subterranean tunnels during the six centuries
of their peak. In about the fourth century the water starts to run out, and
to dig deeper and further in search of it requires more slaves than the
Garamantes' military power can successfully deliver. From this moment their
civilisation is doomed to decline.
A relative decline in trading across the Late Antiquity period is thought
to mirror the failure of the Garamantes' underground irrigation systems.
The process of Garamantes decline may well be complete by the time of the
first Arab incursions into the
region in the mid-seventh century and may also contribute to the recorded
political instability in the northern Sahara and along the Roman frontiers
during the same period, most notably heralded by the arrival of the
Vandali.
Archaeological remains discovered at the Garamantes' capital city
near modern Germa revealed an impressive building (lower left)
with stone footings and columns, and a broad set of steps leading
up to the entrance (External Link:
Creative
Commons Licence 2.0 Generic) (click or tap on image to view full sized)
429 - 439
The
Vandali and
Alani
migrate from
Iberia into Roman North Africa. Once there, they carve out
a kingdom over the course of a decade, taking the cities of
Carthage
and Utica
in 439. The subsequent loss of
Roman
trade probably harms the Garamantes and possibly even sounds their final
death knell as a civilisation. Some scholars contend that the use of the
water mines continues to around AD 700, but by then the civilisation has
long since passed its peak.
1149
The collateral line assumes the
Fatamid throne in
Tunisia and is no longer considered to be Shiite Imams. The
Almohads occupy
Tunis, stretching the empire farther east than the
Almoravids had done before
them. They also encroach into modern Libya, maintaining dominion over
territory that is closer to the coast.
The Roman city of Leptis Magna had been greatly expanded at
the end of the second century AD by its favourite son, Emperor
Septimus Severus, but was abandoned following the Islamic
invasion of North Africa
1212
The Almohad ruler,
Muhammad ibn Yaqub, suffers a devastating defeat in
Spain
at Los Navos de Tolosa. Humiliated, the Almohads are forced to give way, and
their army never fully recovers from the disaster. In the east, the weakened
empire fades as local tribes begin to rebel against Almohad rule. Libya soon
falls out of Almohad control.
1801 - 1805
Having recommissioned its navy in 1794, the
USA is becoming increasingly reluctant to pay tribute to ensure the safe
passage of its merchant ships in the Mediterranean. The pasha of Tripoli
demands fresh tribute of the new government of Thomas Jefferson which is
refused, so Tripoli declares war on the USA.
Morocco and
Algiers do not join Tripoli
in the conflict. The small but highly modern American navy defeats Tripoli's
vessels in a number of naval skirmishes during the First Barbary War,
until Tripoli agrees peace terms and the US buys back its captured seamen.
1815 - 1816
The
Second Barbary War is fought by the
USA in response to renewed pirate raids while it has been preoccupied
with the War of 1812. A squadron of US ships captures several
Algerian vessels and,
after negotiations, the dey of Algiers agrees to return American
captives and vessels in return for a large one-off final payment. Although
this concludes the war, it does not conclude the piracy threat, so the
following year,
Britain sends a 'diplomatic mission' that is eventually forced to
bombard Algiers for nine hours on 27 August 1816. The dey loses
many of his corsairs and shore defences, and the threat of organised
Barbary piracy is ended once and for all.
1911 - 1934
Ottoman
Libya is invaded by
Italy.
An Italian protectorate is declared in 1912. Sheikh Sidi Idriss is recognised
as leader of the Senussi and is granted the rank of emir, until the decision
is reversed in 1929.
1920 - 1929
Sheikh Sidi Idriss
Recognised leader of the Senussi. Later king of
Libya.
1934 - 1942
The Libyan provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica are united by
Italy
as the colony of Libya.
1942 - 1951
Libya is captured by
Great Britain during the Desert War, a phase of the Second
World War which is fought between Britain and
Germany. Britain retains the colony and controls its administration
until it is granted independence in 1951 in the form of the kingdom of
Libya.
Around thirty-eight thousand members of the
Jewish Diaspora live in Libya in 1948. However, temporary Nazi
occupation during the war has resulted in a generally lower tolerance of
these communities of
Mizrahi Jews after the war's end.
Pogroms continue through 1948, while Zionist agents have for a decade or so
been drumming up interest in emigrating to a new
Israeli homeland. Outwards migration begins in 1949, with around thirty
thousand leaving Libya for Israel, approximately eighty percent of the
entire Jewish population.
Modern Libya is officially known as the 'State of Libya'. It is
located on the North African coast, in the Maghreb region, and
can traditionally be divided into three regions,
Cyrenaica (in the east, a
former Greek colony and kingdom), Fezzan (Phazania, former home to
the Garamantian empire in
the south, with Cyrenaica on its eastern border and the Sahara
Desert occupying much of its territory), and Tripolitania (in the
west, traditionally territory that has been controlled from Tripoli
itself, but which has shrunk over time). It is neighboured by
Egypt to the east,
Sudan to the far
south-east, Chad
and Niger to the
south, and Algeria
and Tunisia to
the west. The capital city is Tripoli.
The region was first properly colonised in the east as the Greek kingdom
of Cyrene and in the west by the
Phoenician city of Oea (now Tripoli), before being subjugated by
Rome,
the
Vandals, the
Byzantines,
Egypt and
Italy.
Freed by
Great Britain during the Second World War, the country gained full
independence in 1951 when the former emir, Sheikh Sidi Idriss, was
pronounced king of Libya. The new kingdom was initially made up of the
provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica, but these were later
subdivided into several smaller divisions known as shabiyat.
Since gaining independence, Libya has endured a troubled and somewhat
colourful existence. The king was deposed in 1969 by Colonel Gaddafi. He
pursued a pan-Arab agenda by attempting to form mergers with several Arab
countries, and introduced state socialism by nationalising most economic
activity, including the oil industry. Today, Libya boasts Africa's largest
proven oil reserves and has a small population of only six million, figures
not aided by Gaddafi's declaration of a 'cultural revolution' in 1973 and
a 'people's revolution' in 1977. Then he led the country into a prolonged
confrontation with the
USA and played political games which earned him few external friends.
In the end it was his own people who ended his regime, during the 'Arab
Spring' of 2011. Libya continues to recover from the subsequent civil war
and regional divisions.
One and only king of modern Libya. Died aged 94
in 1971.
1951 - 1959
King
Idris establishes a constitutional monarchy with his son as his heir. The
discovery of vast oil reserves in 1959 catapults Libya from amongst the
world's poorer nations to one of the wealthiest. However, much of that
wealth is concentrated in the king's hands, and growing resentment turns
into plotting a coup.
1969 - 1992
Hasan as-Senussi
Son and heir. Never ruled. Died 1992.
1969
The
ailing Idris is in
Turkey to receive medical treatment when he is ousted in a bloodless
coup which is led by Colonel Gaddafi. His intention to abdicate in favour
of his son, dated to just before the coup, is never enacted. The royal
family is exiled and stripped of all its possessions within Libya. They
eventually seek refuge in the
United Kingdom.
1969 - 2011
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Military colonel and dictator. Captured and killed.
1970s
Gaddafi elects to run the country along the 'Third Way' between communism
and capitalism via 'People's Committees' supposedly untainted by partisan
politics. In later years, it is Gaddafi's son, Saif, who is often regarded
as the driving force behind Libya's gradual escape from the international
diplomatic isolation that envelops it until the dawn of the twenty-first
century.
Colonel Gaddafi seized power in the 1969 coup, and held
onto it through the imposition of tough controls and a
sometimes bizarre streak of showmanship until his death
at the hands of his own people in 2011
1971
Signs of liberalisation appear in neighbouring
Chad, with President
Tombalbaye admitting that he has made mistakes in his presidency and rule
of the country. Reform is initiated, and
France withdraws the last of its troops from the country. Later in the
same year a coup attempt is uncovered, with links to Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi.
The reforms come to a shuddering halt, the border with Libya is closed, and
Tombalbaye allows anti-Gaddafi rebels to operate from northern Chad.
1975 - 1987
Libya becomes more deeply involved in the long-running
war in Chad, hoping to take
control now that
France has lost any influence. In 1980, Libyan forces invade and occupy
the Aozou Strip. This is followed later in the same year with the occupation
of much of northern Chad, but the Chadians under Hiss�ne Habr� force
them out in 1981. In 1983 they return to take northern Chad above Koro Toro,
and this time it takes until 1987 before the last Libyans are finally
ejected.
1992 - Present
Muhammad as-Senussi
Son of Hasan. Born 1962.
2011
A wave of popular protests against a deeply unpopular and dictatorial government
in Tunisia forces the
president to flee the country, paving the way for fresh elections and a new
start. The protests strike a chord in Arabs across North Africa and the Near
East, and similar protests are triggered in
Bahrain,
Egypt, Libya,
Morocco,
Syria
and Yemen.
Unlike some security forces in Tunisia and Egypt, their Libyan counterparts
are less hesitant to react violently to the protests in a country where
dissent is not tolerated and political parties are banned. The protests
quickly turn into a fully-fledged uprising against Gaddafi, with key areas
in western Libya and most of eastern Libya being removed from his control
by an enthusiastic mixture of civilians and military.
As Gaddafi's forces strike back with superior firepower, the United Nations
and Nato become involved, enforcing a no-fly zone over the country which
provides the poorly-organised uprising with its own air cover. Gaddafi's
territory begins to shrink and his regime falls apart when Tripoli is taken
by the uprising. On Thursday 20 October 2011, Gaddafi is discovered and
killed at the heart of his final stronghold in Sirte, his birthplace. News
of his death is announced by the National Transitional Council, paving the
way for the establishment of a new government.
Post-Gaddafi Libya quickly became embroiled in a painful
civil war as the various rebel factions fought for control
before some level of uneasy peace could be restored
2014
The fall of Gaddafi has not delivered the stability and unity that had been
hoped for. The government in Tripoli directly controls its own region but
has little authority in the east or south. In fact the three regions seem
slowly to be heading towards permanent separation.
A solution in the
restoration of the monarchy is considered, as many tribal sheikhs who had
lived under the monarchy prefer this form of government. The hereditary
king, though, sees the reality of Libya's situation and declines the idea.
Popular though his return may be, he would not be able to provide the magic
wand solution which Libya now needs.
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