I'm a Turkish citizen and let me share that this war very important in Turkish history and lectured to all students from middle school to the high schools due to several reasons. First, it's very important for us as modern day Libya was the last possession of Ottoman Empire in the North Africa at that time. This war also made us witness to see the rise of two major historical figures in the battlefield. First and foremost, it was the first active military operation of founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and Enver Pasha, the de facto ruler of Ottoman Empire a couple of years later at the WW1. This war was the first of a serial of wars which totally ended Ottoman Empire. Trablusgarp War as we call it (1911), Both Balkan Wars (1912-1913), WWI (1914-1918), and Indepence War (1919-1922). Fun fact I was helping my 13 year old daughter to study this war for her homework last week :)
Unfortunately in Italy we barely dedicate 2 Minuten. start of the Lessons: we Went to libya and occupy it End of Lessons I must say I consider this imperialistic adventure of Italy with despise as every imperialistic adventure. Many italians also saw this conflict as unuseful pain and they felt nothing heroic about.
I agree that they came back to touch on this very important conflict speaks to their dedication. Speaking of the Italo-Ottoman war I always felt Italy did themselves a huge disservice by being aggressive with The Turks when they should have stuck with their partners in Europe and gone after French Colonies in North Africa after defeating the French with the Germans in 1914. Had Italy joined then there would have been no WW1 just another Continental war. Probably no Russian Revolution as the Germans would have dealt with the Russians after beating the French and the Czar would never have had to put his country under 3 years of warfare it would have been over in 2 tops.
As an Italian, thanks for covering this war in details. Even in Italy this conflict is barely mentioned and I didn't know much about it except the final outcome... No wonders now that I know what happened...
Actually the war was well discussed as part of the scramble for africa and as a prelude of the balkans war that almost disintegrated the Ottoman empire, as the Italians showed that the empire was weak and couldn’t properly defend its territory. The war was also a clear Italian victory.
A prime problem for the Ottomans was Britain's refusal to allow Ottoman reinforcements to transit Egyptian territory despite the fact that Egypt was nominally an Ottoman province under Britain's protection.
Love these longer specials about the more obscure peripheral conflicts before and after The Great War. They provide lots of vital context for the war and are fascinating to learn about. Great work as always Jesse and team. This might be heresy to say on this channel, but I actually prefer Jesse's straightforward and direct style of narration.
The former narrator made it harder to focus on the substance for the sake of some "epic" style. I dropped the original series because of this. The switch to Jesse made things substancially better from day 1 in my opinion. Most of all because a feeling of romanticisation is not in the best of taste for such topics.
Growing up, one of my classmates was a Libyan girl whose great-grandfather was a Libyan artilleryman in the Ottoman Army, who then joined the Libyan guerrillas after his artillery unit was disbanded, and who fought with them until the very end of the guerrilla campaign in 1931. He was one of the lucky ones to survive, despite being wounded multiple times.
@spindletea : Yes. Her family was well acquainted with the service of her great-grandfather, who was essentially their family patriarch. Even their family surname had changed during the years of the guerrilla campaign, as her great-grandfather earned a sobriquet associated with his artillery service. Because his guerrilla comrades so regularly referred to him by this particular sobriquet rather than by his original surname, this was eventually adopted by her great-grandfather (and by his descendants) as their new family name (although of course the family never forgot their original surname, they simply stopped using the old one).
My grand grandpa fought in this war, on the italian side. Some of the pictures I have from him are absolutely horrible, especially the ones with the Lybian civilians...but history is history and should be teached without filters and favoritisms towards one side or another. Grazie mille!
My grandfather too was a soldier in Libian war. He was a NCO Sardegna grenadier. One beatiful day his platoon was ordered to search a group of bersaglieri which had been sent to scout the ground and never came back. My grandfather's platoon found them all slaughtered in an ambush. Their bodies had been cut in pieces probably still alive by the arabians. So once back at the military camp he purchased a small revolver to take always with him in order to kill himself if in dire straights.
After peace treaty Ottoman soldiers/officers had no way to coming back. So they kept fighting. There are lots officers' letters to home. And we know for sure ottoman officers' contunied to guerilla warfare more than a dacade. Last officer's letter contunied to came 27 years after the beginning of war(or after the peace treaty i dont remember which one). Rest in peace forgotten souls.
Great presentation Jesse and team. These wars that fed and followed WW1 are fascinating, showing how much WW1 was a continuation of events earlier than 1914 -- and continued beyond 1918
Fantastic documentary. Oddly, one of the great accounts of this largely-forgotten war, was by the Italian Futurist poet, Marinetti, whose avant-garde poem, Zang Tung Tumb, which contains a piece called "The Siege of Adrionople", and was among the first literary works to experiment widely with syntax, typography and imagery. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn more about this particular moment in history.
My Great-Great Grandfather fought in this war on the Italian side in the 86 Reggimento Fanteria. We still have postcards that he wrote back home. Several years later, he would be called to serve again in WW1.
Great, there is more pre-WW1 to come in 2022. Next up in January: Russo-Japanese War. But of course we will also cover more 1922 events as well. In February, we will revisit the Russian Civil War.
@@TheGreatWar i would like to see more about the British defeat, because when it comes to British you tells some glorious storys, even the humiliating retreat from Dünnkirchen you turned it in a big successfully retreat!!! you need a more objective view, not mentioning always British sources, even during the Greco-Turkish wars you mentioned always British sources, would be great to hear Turkish, Greeks sources, or German and others!
My grandmother's father was from Italy and fought in the 8th Reggimento Bersaglieri which among others seized Derna at the very beginning of the Campaign. Six years later he was with the AEF to fight the Germans in the Argonnes! very lucky class! interesting video thanks for posting. Cheers from Virginia.
As far as i know from my highschool classes, ottoman send only the officers to Libya in order to reorganise locals against Italy. They couldn't send troops because of no land connection. There were small divisions but not enough for war. Yet salute to all nameless souls.
We didn't have powerful warships. It was not possible to send troops without protection of warships when Italian Navy was blockaging shores. There were only 5000 Turkish soldiers in Libya.
If the Spanish Civil War was a trial for the Second World War, the Italo-Turkish War and the Balkan Wars of 1912-14 could be interpreted as a trial for the Great War?
I wasn't sure if I liked your story-driven narrations of the wars, but it turns out you're my favorite history channel now. Really appreciate the quality content with the deep understanding! Keep it on!
These pre-Great War videos are historical gems. In school, historians tended to sum them up in one or two lines and jump into the Great War itself. Thanks very much for producing these.
This war really highlighted how far behind the Ottomans were when it came to industry and technology. The Italians absolutely eviscerated them with planes and airships.
Osmanlı’nında uçakları vardı doğru değil. Osmanlı sizin gibi tek ırktan ibaret değildi. Ve 4 5 ayrı cephede savaşıyordu. Avusturya Ruslar Yunan Bulgar sırp Arnavut Ermeni Araplar. Hepsi Osmanlı toprağında yaşadılar ve isyan ettiler. Osmanlı teknolojisi sandığınız kadar kötü değildi.
The 1st Balkan war started as a direct result of this Italo-Ottoman one, the Italians pushed the Balkans to revolt/conquer, and the NEXT DAY the Ottomans ended the Italian war.
@@tommy-er6hh It would have happened anyway, just maybe not at that exact moment. There were uprising against Turks all the time in the Balkans and some countries were already formed by rebellion against Ottomans. Liberation of the rest of the Balkans was just a matter of time.
@@parabelluminvicta8380 what is not true? Ottoman empire was already in decline before this war. Half of the Balkan was already independent and the other half was just waiting for liberation and had multiple rebellions. The Italian war just ment that it was the right time to strike, but even if it didnt happen the Balkan nations would attack Ottomans to finish the liberation.
We have more than 2 millenia of history, for us the notion of historical continuity is normal, for younger civilizations This may sound strange but not for us.
@@CDSAfghan Italy is not 160 years old, Italy is a civilization, not a nation, like Germany and Japan. Their history trascends the notion of Nation in the post Revolutionary sense.
@@CDSAfghan I repeat the concept, Probably your limited intellectual capabilities prevent you from understanding it so you have to resort to emoticons and crying faces to make a point. ITALY IS A CIVILIZATION. CIVILIZATION differs from NATION. This same definition applies to other countries which eventually had to give themselves the structure of a Nation state. The concept of Italia is as old as the Etruscans and the First greek colonies, and a political unification already existed under the Ostrogoths, the Holy Roman Empire, without counting Dante,Guicciardini, Machiavelli and their writings, including the last Chapter of the Prince. The only Countries Which had a similar historical experience are Germany and Japan, in fact they both achieved Nation State Form in the late 19th century. So your argument is invalid, and based on pure ignorance.
Well done. I read "Box of Sand", and was amazed about the cooperation between Pollio and Caneva. Still, they had communication gaps fortunately, Regia Marina utterly trounced the Ottomans at sea. Another interesting point is that the great Diaz cut his teeth by being wounded at Zanzur and developed strategical ideas focusing primarily on speed and innovation.
Once again, as has become tradition now, I must give you full praise for really truly making every effort to pronounce the names and words of whatever language you are covering. You are a consummate professional.
My great grandfather fought in this war (subsequentely also in WWI). My girlfriend’s grandfather fought in this war too and received a gold medal pour le mérite - one of the few to reiceive it still alive. There are a couple of statues here in Italy to remember his action (1 in Milan and 1 in Merano)
Thank you so much for posting this. My great grandfather and great uncle fought for Italy in this war. My great grandfather died of illness he picked up in Libya. Apart from that I knew nothing about it. Keep up the great work featuring lesser known conflicts.
Hopefully your family has some letters/journals etc from your great grandfather and great uncle. The perspective of the fighting men would be fascinating when compared to the grand statements from the generals and diplomats.
My father's uncle served in this war in the Italian Army as a first lieutenant and won the Silver Medal For Military Valor. He was a career officer who retired many years later as a Brigadier General.
@@awfan221 For fighting in the Battle of Adwa, his father's uncle should have been born about 150 years ago, which is therefore unlikely. More likely he fought in the Second Ethiopian War
I,m Polish rather old 60 + and I never heared about this War. And I know my history. So I thought. Thanx You never to old to learn. I don,t give "likes" any more since YT is censoring
The Great War is my favorite channel of all the chronological war channels purely because it tells (and tells very well) the story of more obscure lesser-known conflicts.
I'm a Turkish citizen and this war has always been a part of our curriculums from primary to high school but it's usually given about half a page. I've never seen so much detail before in any school books or documentaries. Thank you for enlightening.
Frankly, I'm sorry. I had a brotherly relationship with Turkish friends, but out of respect for the friendship that bound me I never mentioned it. After all, what does it matter? My father fought in two wars and felt this. Every shot I fire, I hope it misses. I could hit a boy like me and who like me has affections to defend, a boy who has never done anything to me and in life he could even have been my best friend ''!
Would it be possible for you at some point to make documentaries about the Senucci and Persian campaigns of WW1? The coverage in the "Week by Week"-series of these campaigns was to sporadic to get any clear picture about their dynamics, and I think many of the fans would greatly appreciate a more detailed presentation of them. As always, great episode, love the work you guys are doing!
This war is the beginning of non-ending 11 years of war for Turkish side. It started with this war and followed by Balkan wars, WW1 and Turkish War of Independence, ending in 1922. Turks lost %35 of their healthy male population during these wars due to battles, diseases and hunger.
Great job, congratulations to the team. I find very interesting the succession of the words "necessity" and "appetite", a greed can be publicly justified by a promoter as a necessary step forward to make. The balance of the powers on the European scene was indeed so complex before 1914 that even the behaviour of a single ally in a set of alliances could be a trouble for the whole structure of security in Europe. WWI was not unavoidable at that stage but yet, the decades lasting stability was shaken.
the italo-turkish war showed to the world that the ottoman empire was weak and undeveloped. This allowed the balkan powers to wage the first balkan war against the ottomans and push them from their balkan territories
16:40 Giuseppe Rossi is like the most generic Italian name imagineable, kind of like being called John Smith. And funnily enough its also the name of an Italian footballer.
Fantastic video! The coverage of the Italo-Turkish War as a prelude to WWI is both insightful and engaging. It’s great to see this often-overlooked conflict explored in such depth. Well done!
Superb video of the conflict! I found the description of some of the - hitherto unknown to me! - first use of aircraft in war fascinating! The Italian use of torpedo boats was skillful as well. Thank you for another great Great War learning experience!
I found this channel about 2 weeks ago from Vlogging Through History. I started on the 1st video and so far have watched over 60 of them, including about 10 just yesterday. Really enjoying the series a lot!!!
It is excellent to see you guys devoting time and resources to all the lesser known conflicts pre and post WW1 (and indeed, the lesser theatres during WW1 when you were covering the "main event" as it were).
The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War (Turkish: Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", Italian: Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captured the Ottoman Tripolitania Vilayet, of which the main sub-provinces were Fezzan, Cyrenaica, and Tripoli itself. These territories became the colonies of Italian Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, which would later merge into Italian Libya. During the conflict, Italian forces also occupied the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea. Italy agreed to return the Dodecanese to the Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of Ouchy[10] in 1912. However, the vagueness of the text, combined with subsequent adverse events unfavourable to the Ottoman Empire (the outbreak of the Balkan Wars and World War I), allowed a provisional Italian administration of the islands, and Turkey eventually renounced all claims on these islands in Article 15 of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.[11] Although minor, the war was a precursor of the First World War as it sparked nationalism in the Balkan states. Seeing how easily the Italians had defeated the weakened Ottomans, the members of the Balkan League attacked the Ottoman Empire starting the First Balkan War before the war with Italy had ended.[12] The Italo-Turkish War saw numerous technological changes, most notably the use of airplanes in combat. On 23 October 1911, an Italian pilot, Capitano Carlo Piazza, flew over Turkish lines on the world's first aerial reconnaissance mission,[13] and on 1 November, the first ever aerial bomb was dropped by Sottotenente Giulio Gavotti, on Turkish troops in Libya, from an early model of Etrich Taube aircraft.[14] The Turks, lacking anti-aircraft weapons, were the first to shoot down an airplane by rifle fire.[15] Another use of new technology was a network of wireless telegraphy stations established soon after the initial landings.[16] Guglielmo Marconi himself came to Libya to conduct experiments with the Italian Corps of Engineers.
I'm giving you thumbs down for trying to sound clever and explain the same topic that this video covers. If you want the glory, you need to have made a video about it, instead of spouting off your knowledge in the comments section.
@@clintfalk The video is full of allied propaganda, it transforms everything in a defeat for Italy, litterally called the failed turkish counteroffensive where the italians beat them back causing a lot of losses a "defeat" for Italy. Shame
Simpatici voi anglosassoni..Questa del 1911 fu l'ultima guerra coloniale? :-) perchè quella vostra in Kenia negli anni cinquanta cos'era? la guerra degli USA nelle Filippine?
Credono di poter insegnare la storia ad un popolo con almeno 27 secoli di storia, credono ancora di essere ancora un Impero, beh lo siamo stati molto prima di loro e per molto più tempo di loro. Purtroppo troppe persone nel mondo ed anche Italiani, specialmente una certa parte, continua a credere alla loro Propaganda ridicola.
@@RobertLonghi-c8w Il Marocco diventa una colonia francese nel 1912. La guerra del Rif è ancora successiva, ed è sicuramente un'impresa coloniale, ancora in N. Africa.
Excellent video on a forgotten war. I saw the movie "Lion of the Desert" with Anthony Quinn who played Omar Mukhtar in the 1980 film. The only film I know made about the war. It was criticized at the time since Kahdafi provided the financing.
@@Leucemia29 the rebellion was a continuation If the war of 1911-12. The local Arabs never stopped fighting against the Italians. Like France Had in Morroco, Italy had a lot of problems when they reduced their troops in Africa to fight in WW1. They Just could defend the coastal regions of Libya, the Arabs recapture all of its interior the Italians Had captured prior to 1915. Italy had also a lot of internal difficulties after 1918. When Mussolini became the Duce, He want to rebuild the Roman Empire, so one of his first decissions was to send more troops to Lybia.
Great episode as always, but as mad map enthusiast I have to point mistake with Libyan coastal cities. Tobruk is too far to the west, it should be half way between Derna and Egyptian border. Where Tobruk is shown should be Misrata.
The Italians are not Europeans and originally come from Romania and the Middle East. The Germans gave guns to the Italians because otherwise the Italians would run away like cowards
Absolutely outstanding. This is so far above anything I have ever seen on TH-cam. An absolute revelation. Outstanding work, fully referenced. No hype and no BS. I am now a subscriber and will be clicking on all ads. Thank you for real education on obscure events.
I wonder how many wars have been fought throughout history where the invaders "expected to be welcomed as liberators"? We seem to never learn. Thanks for this video, such great information! Hopefully you do the other prelude to WWI, the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913.
the first use of anti aircraft gun was used in this war by a ottoman soldier and Allama Iqbal wrote on peotry on this war: Jhalakti Hai Teri Ummat Ki Aabru Iss Mein Tarablas Ke Shaheedon Ka Hai Lahoo Iss Mein See here, oh Lord, the honour of your people brimming up! The martyred blood of Tripoli, oh Lord, is in this cup.’
As a Turkish and military history buff, Ottoman troops also fought heroically in Italians. However, the resistance of the Libyan people did not end even after we Turks withdrew. The Senusis were defeated during the Fascist italy period. I recommend the movie omer muhtar, the lion of the desert.
IIRC one of the offers the ottomans made to Italy after the ultimatum was a similar arrangement that existed with the British in Egypt at the time. That is to say allowing Italy to occupy Libya and nominate a friendly governor while retaining de jure ottoman sovereignty. Giolitti(Who afaik wasn’t so keen on the war in the first place) might’ve been ready to accept that if he wasn’t under such huge nationalist pressure for direct annexation.
@@uffa00001 yeah Italian ultra nationalist wanted to establish a settler-colony in Libya alas French Algeria (even though this didn’t really start with that until the 1930s) while the British presence in Egypt was more for strategic purposes (controlling the Suez Canal) And yeah as you said the population density in Libya is much lower than in Egypt making it much easier to colonize with settlers
@@flyingcow4194 It wasn't really the "ultra-nationalists" but the fact that Italy was a country with a huge emigration at the time (we filled North and South America with Italian emigrants...), overall 29 millions Italians have emigrated in XIX and XX century, the present population is 60 millions but, at the time, it was something like 40 millions. The idea was that all those people could emigrate "in Italy" rather than going abroad. At the time, going to America was like going "to the moon", very long and expensive journey, it meant severing most contacts with the relatives and the motherland. Libya is just South of Sicily. There also was this nationalist idea that manpower means wealth, and it was better to have all this manpower to remain in Italy (Libya) rather than going to America to enrich other countries. Britain did not have this emigration problem (only Ireland) and did not feel the need to find land for excess population. Besides, Britain already had plenty of colonies where people could settle (South Africa especially).
@@uffa00001 South Africa, Rhodesia, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Canada where British settler-colonies A lot of British(which at this time included the whole of Ireland) people also migrated to the USA Very interesting point you made about the distance.
Nobody's knows it, but we Italians invented Aerial warfare. Before this war, aircrafts was not considered as a weapon. After this war, every country in the world started looking at airplanes as an instrument to support armies during their advance. Italians are pioneers of modern war. 😤
It was pilot Captain Carlo Maria Piazza who bombed the Turkish positions from above. But it seems that the first aerial bombardment was carried out by the Austrians against Italian positions in the First World War
When I was a student in Italy, long, long time ago, this war was barely mentioned. The idea was that Italy 'had the right to its piece of Africa' which is a funny paradox consider the emphasis that is placed in the curriculum on the 'righteous' wars for Italian independence.
@@youtubeyoutube936 Actually The Netherlands did not have African colonies. They reserved all their civilizing love and their torture chambers for what is now called Indonesia. But, independently from this detail, your argument is equivalent to say: "others did it so I can do it too". Are you really at this level? I hope not.
Francesco bar. 1 I said I thought it was wrong 2. Yep I include the Neathelands who had colonies in the Far East and a couple in South America - Caribbean. 3. My comment was directed at the comment ref close to Germany etc what does it even mean in the context of 1912 ? 4 conquest and colonialism should only be within the same ethnic groups and thus avoid issues of race ( ironic comment)
Libya and the Ottomans fought a very honorable war side by side. So for me, the Libyan people are definitely in a very special place. Years later, we fought together again. To Libya, with love from Turkey.
@@pluto-9047 there is no keyword. Ottoman Army was a multinational army because the ottoman state was a multinational state. Most of the "conscripted" Arabs didnt wanna fight and die for the Empire. As we saw in the last stages of the battle of gaza and in the other arabian fronts in ww1 (and also in the gallipoli as the Mustafa Kemal Pasha reported about the unwillingliness of the Arabian regiments and that they were incompetence). And mass arabian deserters in the army and the rebels attacking the flanks of the ottoman army from the desert led to the wholly withdrawal of the palestine and syria. We stopped the Brits for 2 years in the western palestine. "Islam" didnt stopped neither the Brits nor the Arabian rebelliance in there.
@@felixsteiner8320 Then why did Muslim fundamentalists from around the world and from different racial and cultural backgrounds join ISIS? Or why did Muslims the world over celebrate the reopening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque in Turkey? Or Why American declared-jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan had Muslim men come out of the woodwork in droves? As for the Arab revolt against the Ottomans that was a divide and conquer ploy by Britain and everybody knows now. During the Spanish Civil War, Nationalists spread a rumor in the Moroccan Riff that Franco converted to Islam and needed the natives help in fighting the Godless Republicans, and they did join the war and perpetrated untold horror in the Iberian Peninsula! You were right though about Arab inherent incompetence.
Ottoman Empire has been losing ground for centuries when this happened. After this conflict in 1911-1912 came balkan wars in 1912 in which ottomans fought againist 4 countries and lost in 1913. Right after that world war 1 started in 1914-1918 with some victories againist allies ottomans had to accept defeat again but this time a revolution came. Turks united new as a nation state in anatolia and started Turkish war of independence from 1919 to 1923. This time Turks fought for the mainland anatolia and won. All this history has been an identifying factor turkish national identity. Turkish republics border was not drawn with rulers by colonialists, the country didnt start with consessions it started with series of military victories againist worlds most advanced nations at that time. From Turkish perspective it was almost non stop fighting from 1911 to 1923. Turkish national assembly in Ankara didnt accept the treaty of serves which crushed ottoman empire and kept fighting until desired outcome. This final victory stopped wests expansion towards east into turkish controlled territories and/or turkish heartland since 1683.
@@savasgenc1877 osmanlı daki etnik yapı avusturya macaristanın çok ötesinde fazlaydı avusturya macaristandaki etnik gruplar Germenler-Macarlar-Sırplar-Hırvatlar-Ukraynalılar-Çekler-Slovaklar Osmanlıdakiler Türkler-Araplar-Rumlar-Ermeniler-Gürcüler-Berberiler-Sırplar (Güney Toprakları Osmanlıdaydı) Boşnaklar-Çerkezler-Tatarlar-Azerbaycan Türkleri-Kürtler-Zazalar Daha Bir Çok Etnik Kökenden İnsanlar Vardı
@@matthewgray469 Brits and Europeans of the era disagreed. After the surrender of British troops in Kut al-Amara in 1915 British media wrote that at least their soldiers were taken prisoner by an honourable enemy, the "Clean-fighting" Turks. Believing an empire that was lasted 623 years could be founded and ruled by savagery is simply ignorance and stupidity.
Due to My job inside One of the most visited monument in Rome, for 25 Years, the Pantheon, i could meet hundreds of visitors per day. Turkish people were One of the most talkative, friendly, nice, people ever met in My Life. I'm Sorry that in the past there was a war with them. 🇮🇹❤️🇹🇷.
Libya was an abandoned land. In my opinion, giving you the Aegean islands had worse consequences than giving you Libya. Of course, you never know what the consequences will be when you make a change in history. Furthermore, our losses were much smaller than the losses of the Libyan people. And in our war of independence, the Italians did not go to war with us in southern Anatolia. In fact, Italy gave us back the lands it annexed from Anatolia. You also helped us with sea transportation in our independence war. In other words, our history's view of Italy is neutral. Our late history main villains are England(especially England, not U.K.) and France. TR❤IT
In 'The Sleepwalkers,' Christopher Clark posits that the Italo-Turkish War led to the First Balkan War, when Serbia, Rumania and Bulgaria saw how weak the Ottomans were and decided to start reducing Turkish hegemony in the Balkans.
Great video summery. PS1 - Just imagine if oil had been discovered in Libya during this period by Italy and by France in Algeria. PS2 - just imagine if aircraft had been a bit more advanced re ground attack.
Excellent as ever! It's nice to get the extra context and better understanding of how the situation prior to the assassination of the archduke cane about. It's staggering how often us Europeans blithely thought we were superior to the inhabitants of other countries, and that that somehow entitled us to walk in and take them over without a by-your-leave. I'm in my 60s, and it has been both fascinating and annoying to learn, over the years, just how one-sided some of the history that I learnt in childhood was.
Well, the Italians WERE trying to steal from the Ottomans...who themselves stole it from someone else, so on and so forth. Tbf; people just used whatever excuse to take territory it seems lol
My grandfather fought against the Italians, and the cost for Libyans from 1911 to 1933 reached around 350 thousand dead, soldiers+militias+civilians. He was captured in Dinnar Valley and sentenced to death then overturned to life in prison finally was exiled to island of Ustica.
My great grandfather fought in the Italo-Turkish War before he immigrated to Argentina. My mother had found his conscription documents, a commendation letter and some notes when my grandfather died this year. When i saw it i couldnt belive it. As far i knew, i though one of my other great grandfathers died in Sicily during operation Husky.
Love these longer episodes. But also really like the shorter ones for a quick break. I can't tell you how much I have learned through your many series. Thank you.
First in 1900 no italian would like to restore Roman Empire. That was Mussolini rethoric, 25 years later. Italy would just like to have colonies like France, Germany and UK + there was a rivalry with Ottoman Empire since crusades, muslim pirates raids during 1000-1500, Lepanto, Wien siege etc.
Italian unification in 1871? That's German unification. Italian's one was in 1861. Also, it would be more accurate to say Ottoman - Italian war. Turkey, as we know nowadays, starts in 1921 or so, I'm not sure about the year, with Atatürk. If I'm wrong, please correct me.
Ottoman Empire was known as Turkey in Europe and MENA. Actually Ottoman Empire is an exonym. The Ottoman Empire did not have a name, and it was simply called as “Devlet-i Âlîyye” which means “The Sublime State”. Sometimes it was used as “Devlet-i Alîyye-i Osmânîyye” which means “The Sublime State of Ottomans”. Another name was “Devlet-i Ebed-Müddet” or “Devlet-i Alîyye-i Ebedpeyvend” which both means “The Eternal State” (the second one means “The Eternal Sublime State”).
I'm a Turkish citizen and let me share that this war very important in Turkish history and lectured to all students from middle school to the high schools due to several reasons. First, it's very important for us as modern day Libya was the last possession of Ottoman Empire in the North Africa at that time. This war also made us witness to see the rise of two major historical figures in the battlefield. First and foremost, it was the first active military operation of founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and Enver Pasha, the de facto ruler of Ottoman Empire a couple of years later at the WW1. This war was the first of a serial of wars which totally ended Ottoman Empire. Trablusgarp War as we call it (1911), Both Balkan Wars (1912-1913), WWI (1914-1918), and Indepence War (1919-1922). Fun fact I was helping my 13 year old daughter to study this war for her homework last week :)
The sad reality is Enver was totally worthless and did everything wrong.
Talat was more powerful than Enver, not only did he become Grand Vizier but he ran the CUP
This is interesting, such the fate of last caliphate of Arabs...
@@kaykhosrow3263 What?
Unfortunately in Italy we barely dedicate 2 Minuten.
start of the Lessons:
we Went to libya and occupy it
End of Lessons
I must say I consider this imperialistic adventure of Italy with despise as every imperialistic adventure. Many italians also saw this conflict as unuseful pain and they felt nothing heroic about.
The persistence of this channel and the steady improvement after the drop off of the end of the actual Great War shows. Great job guys!
thanks!
it's cause we all already know of The Somme and Gallipoli. I want that nitty-gritty.
I agree that they came back to touch on this very important conflict speaks to their dedication.
Speaking of the Italo-Ottoman war I always felt Italy did themselves a huge disservice by being aggressive with The Turks when they should have stuck with their partners in Europe and gone after French Colonies in North Africa after defeating the French with the Germans in 1914. Had Italy joined then there would have been no WW1 just another Continental war. Probably no Russian Revolution as the Germans would have dealt with the Russians after beating the French and the Czar would never have had to put his country under 3 years of warfare it would have been over in 2 tops.
I mean you can’t blame someone who thinks Libyans are Arabs
@@TheGreatWar love you guys xoxo
As an Italian, thanks for covering this war in details. Even in Italy this conflict is barely mentioned and I didn't know much about it except the final outcome... No wonders now that I know what happened...
Because in military terms it was a shame for Italy.
Italy won but ok
@@alviseossena3238 Italy didn't win in Libya. They forced the Turkish government to secede it by invading Dodecanese.
Italy won and conquered Libya,Rhodes and the dodecanese. Learn a bit of history.
Actually the war was well discussed as part of the scramble for africa and as a prelude of the balkans war that almost disintegrated the Ottoman empire, as the Italians showed that the empire was weak and couldn’t properly defend its territory. The war was also a clear Italian victory.
A prime problem for the Ottomans was Britain's refusal to allow Ottoman reinforcements to transit Egyptian territory despite the fact that Egypt was nominally an Ottoman province under Britain's protection.
Exactly
Brits have a reputation for being duplicitous
@@weylandyutani9622 Much like dealing with the French when it comes to their intrusive, self serving politics in Africa.
@@weylandyutani9622
Countries don’t have friends,only interests.
@@weylandyutani9622 Can you name a major nation that isn't duplicitous?
Love these longer specials about the more obscure peripheral conflicts before and after The Great War. They provide lots of vital context for the war and are fascinating to learn about. Great work as always Jesse and team. This might be heresy to say on this channel, but I actually prefer Jesse's straightforward and direct style of narration.
But would they then have joined the central powers in WWI?
Be careful when using "if" 😉
Agree about Jesse too
The former narrator made it harder to focus on the substance for the sake of some "epic" style. I dropped the original series because of this. The switch to Jesse made things substancially better from day 1 in my opinion. Most of all because a feeling of romanticisation is not in the best of taste for such topics.
they should stop to use always British sources!!! this brings a only British view of the whole scenario, the same in the Turkish - Greco war video war
Well said.
Growing up, one of my classmates was a Libyan girl whose great-grandfather was a Libyan artilleryman in the Ottoman Army, who then joined the Libyan guerrillas after his artillery unit was disbanded, and who fought with them until the very end of the guerrilla campaign in 1931. He was one of the lucky ones to survive, despite being wounded multiple times.
Did he mutilate and torture Italians, who already surrendered, as well?
@spindletea : Yes. Her family was well acquainted with the service of her great-grandfather, who was essentially their family patriarch. Even their family surname had changed during the years of the guerrilla campaign, as her great-grandfather earned a sobriquet associated with his artillery service. Because his guerrilla comrades so regularly referred to him by this particular sobriquet rather than by his original surname, this was eventually adopted by her great-grandfather (and by his descendants) as their new family name (although of course the family never forgot their original surname, they simply stopped using the old one).
a true hero 👍
I mean you can’t blame someone who thinks Libyans are Arabs
Awesome guy
My grand grandpa fought in this war, on the italian side. Some of the pictures I have from him are absolutely horrible, especially the ones with the Lybian civilians...but history is history and should be teached without filters and favoritisms towards one side or another. Grazie mille!
My grandfather too was a soldier in Libian war. He was a NCO Sardegna grenadier. One beatiful day his platoon was ordered to search a group of bersaglieri which had been sent to scout the ground and never came back. My grandfather's platoon found them all slaughtered in an ambush. Their bodies had been cut in pieces probably still alive by the arabians. So once back at the military camp he purchased a small revolver to take always with him in order to kill himself if in dire straights.
Did he fight in the battle of Adwa in Ethiopia?
@@awfan221 no, I think he never went to Ethiopia.
@@awfan221 you were in superiority in Ethiopia with russian and french support of guns. Not tell again Adwa there is 1936
Turks are so prideful of all their military wins...
After peace treaty Ottoman soldiers/officers had no way to coming back. So they kept fighting. There are lots officers' letters to home. And we know for sure ottoman officers' contunied to guerilla warfare more than a dacade. Last officer's letter contunied to came 27 years after the beginning of war(or after the peace treaty i dont remember which one). Rest in peace forgotten souls.
Where can I read up on that ? Thats sounds really interesting!
@@mertroll1 search the "Senussi campaign" for starters.
cope+seethe cockroach, Lepanto gang rules
Can you give me a link to read those letters.
Aga ne anlatiyo tam olarak ingilizcem yok dikatimi cekti
Great presentation Jesse and team. These wars that fed and followed WW1 are fascinating, showing how much WW1 was a continuation of events earlier than 1914 -- and continued beyond 1918
"History doesn't happen in vacuum."
-Indy Neidell (and others)
Seconded, great job, thank you all for shedding light on the forgotten parts of public education !
Actually the weakness of the ottoman empire and the expansion of the voracious franch brits is i the main course to follow leading to WW1.
Fantastic documentary. Oddly, one of the great accounts of this largely-forgotten war, was by the Italian Futurist poet, Marinetti, whose avant-garde poem, Zang Tung Tumb, which contains a piece called "The Siege of Adrionople", and was among the first literary works to experiment widely with syntax, typography and imagery. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn more about this particular moment in history.
Ogni cinque secondi, cannoni d'assedio sventrare spazio, con un accordo
Enver Bey ve Mustafa Kemal Bey, ruhlarınız şad olsun...
Enver is an idiot but Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is most respectful and genius leader of the 20th century!
Amin.
Amin
Amin🙏
AMİN
My Great-Great Grandfather fought in this war on the Italian side in the 86 Reggimento Fanteria. We still have postcards that he wrote back home. Several years later, he would be called to serve again in WW1.
Aw yeah! Glory And Defeat got me extremely excited for pre-WW1 content. Keep up the excellent work!
Great, there is more pre-WW1 to come in 2022. Next up in January: Russo-Japanese War. But of course we will also cover more 1922 events as well. In February, we will revisit the Russian Civil War.
The Great War will you cover the Egyptian revolution of 1919 and the 1922 unilateral declaration of Egyptian “independence” by the British in 1922?
@@TheGreatWar My heart began pounding with excitement for the Russian events you mentioned. I look forward to it!
@@TheGreatWar i would like to see more about the British defeat, because when it comes to British you tells some glorious storys, even the humiliating retreat from Dünnkirchen you turned it in a big successfully retreat!!! you need a more objective view, not mentioning always British sources, even during the Greco-Turkish wars you mentioned always British sources, would be great to hear Turkish, Greeks sources, or German and others!
Yet here we are, typing in English. Those who win write history.
I agree that it'd be interesting to hear more quotes from a variety of sources.
My grandmother's father was from Italy and fought in the 8th Reggimento Bersaglieri which among others seized Derna at the very beginning of the Campaign. Six years later he was with the AEF to fight the Germans in the Argonnes! very lucky class! interesting video thanks for posting. Cheers from Virginia.
My great grandfather fought into this war and for the bersaglieri in ww1
Ciao da Italia !
My grandfather was a Bersagliere too!
Einmal mehr ein informativer Beitrag über einen weniger bekannten Krieg. Sehr gut!
As far as i know from my highschool classes, ottoman send only the officers to Libya in order to reorganise locals against Italy. They couldn't send troops because of no land connection. There were small divisions but not enough for war. Yet salute to all nameless souls.
Didnt they have ships? Sounds like losers excuse
@@indefiniteabyss1257 the italians and greeks captured the islands and the ottoman navy was burned by the russians
What can be the excuse, you are fighting 10 different nations in just 10 years
We didn't have powerful warships. It was not possible to send troops without protection of warships when Italian Navy was blockaging shores. There were only 5000 Turkish soldiers in Libya.
If the Spanish Civil War was a trial for the Second World War, the Italo-Turkish War and the Balkan Wars of 1912-14 could be interpreted as a trial for the Great War?
sure, there is also an academic push to regard the period 1911-1923 as The Greater War.
@@TheGreatWar thanks. Never heard of that designation/term before.
@@TheGreatWar btw, there's the term of th period of 1914-45 as a Secord Thirty Years War. Do you guys think that is right?
@@thenoobgameplays I just wanted to mention that!
and the Balkan Wars too !
I wasn't sure if I liked your story-driven narrations of the wars, but it turns out you're my favorite history channel now. Really appreciate the quality content with the deep understanding! Keep it on!
These pre-Great War videos are historical gems. In school, historians tended to sum them up in one or two lines and jump into the Great War itself. Thanks very much for producing these.
Excellent work in highlighting this forgotten war.
This war really highlighted how far behind the Ottomans were when it came to industry and technology. The Italians absolutely eviscerated them with planes and airships.
Osmanlı’nında uçakları vardı doğru değil. Osmanlı sizin gibi tek ırktan ibaret değildi. Ve 4 5 ayrı cephede savaşıyordu. Avusturya Ruslar Yunan Bulgar sırp Arnavut Ermeni Araplar. Hepsi Osmanlı toprağında yaşadılar ve isyan ettiler. Osmanlı teknolojisi sandığınız kadar kötü değildi.
I had always heard of the 1st and 2nd Balkan Wars, but had never heard of this one. Great job drawing attention to a forgotten conflict.
The 1st Balkan war started as a direct result of this Italo-Ottoman one, the Italians pushed the Balkans to revolt/conquer, and the NEXT DAY the Ottomans ended the Italian war.
@@tommy-er6hh It would have happened anyway, just maybe not at that exact moment. There were uprising against Turks all the time in the Balkans and some countries were already formed by rebellion against Ottomans. Liberation of the rest of the Balkans was just a matter of time.
@@DelijeSerbia thats not true and stop undermining the italians you must thank them
@@parabelluminvicta8380 what is not true? Ottoman empire was already in decline before this war. Half of the Balkan was already independent and the other half was just waiting for liberation and had multiple rebellions. The Italian war just ment that it was the right time to strike, but even if it didnt happen the Balkan nations would attack Ottomans to finish the liberation.
@@parabelluminvicta8380 it would happen anyway but probably with much more casualties on Balkan allies side, so thank you Italy.
Using Cesar as a contemporary source is the most Italian thing ever.
Benito Mussolini seen furiously taking notes.
We have more than 2 millenia of history, for us the notion of historical continuity is normal, for younger civilizations This may sound strange but not for us.
@Giuliano il Filosofo Italy is 160yrs old, "historical continuity" 😂 you guys always with the jokes
@@CDSAfghan Italy is not 160 years old, Italy is a civilization, not a nation, like Germany and Japan. Their history trascends the notion of Nation in the post Revolutionary sense.
@@CDSAfghan I repeat the concept, Probably your limited intellectual capabilities prevent you from understanding it so you have to resort to emoticons and crying faces to make a point. ITALY IS A CIVILIZATION. CIVILIZATION differs from NATION. This same definition applies to other countries which eventually had to give themselves the structure of a Nation state. The concept of Italia is as old as the Etruscans and the First greek colonies, and a political unification already existed under the Ostrogoths, the Holy Roman Empire, without counting Dante,Guicciardini, Machiavelli and their writings, including the last Chapter of the Prince. The only Countries Which had a similar historical experience are Germany and Japan, in fact they both achieved Nation State Form in the late 19th century. So your argument is invalid, and based on pure ignorance.
Fascinating content! He appreciate the research done to compose this segment.
Well done, gang.
Well done 👍
Much appreciated!
Well done. I read "Box of Sand", and was amazed about the cooperation between Pollio and Caneva. Still, they had communication gaps fortunately, Regia Marina utterly trounced the Ottomans at sea. Another interesting point is that the great Diaz cut his teeth by being wounded at Zanzur and developed strategical ideas focusing primarily on speed and innovation.
I love how you meticulously list your sources in these videos. Another great video!
Once again, as has become tradition now, I must give you full praise for really truly making every effort to pronounce the names and words of whatever language you are covering. You are a consummate professional.
Thanks!
My great grandfather fought in this war (subsequentely also in WWI). My girlfriend’s grandfather fought in this war too and received a gold medal pour le mérite - one of the few to reiceive it still alive. There are a couple of statues here in Italy to remember his action (1 in Milan and 1 in Merano)
Thank you so much for posting this. My great grandfather and great uncle fought for Italy in this war. My great grandfather died of illness he picked up in Libya. Apart from that I knew nothing about it. Keep up the great work featuring lesser known conflicts.
Hopefully your family has some letters/journals etc from your great grandfather and great uncle. The perspective of the fighting men would be fascinating when compared to the grand statements from the generals and diplomats.
@@manzelli1981 Unfortunately nothing like that has survived, but yes the foot soldier's perspective is always fascinating.
My father's uncle served in this war in the Italian Army as a first lieutenant and won the Silver Medal For Military Valor. He was a career officer who retired many years later as a Brigadier General.
@@awfan221 For fighting in the Battle of Adwa, his father's uncle should have been born about 150 years ago, which is therefore unlikely. More likely he fought in the Second Ethiopian War
I,m Polish rather old 60 + and I never heared about this War. And I know my history. So I thought. Thanx You never to old to learn. I don,t give "likes" any more since YT is censoring
The Great War is my favorite channel of all the chronological war channels purely because it tells (and tells very well) the story of more obscure lesser-known conflicts.
I'm a Turkish citizen and this war has always been a part of our curriculums from primary to high school but it's usually given about half a page. I've never seen so much detail before in any school books or documentaries. Thank you for enlightening.
olmaz mı ya..çok detaylı anlatılmıştır bir çok kitapta,senin eksiğin olmuş
@@burak4254 Okul kitaplarından bahsediyorum. Şimdi nasıl bilmiyorum. Benim dönemimde öyleydi
Curricula (o scrivi bene in latino oppure scrivi in inglese )
@@franz490 he used curriculum correctly but you are not able to respond him in english :D
Frankly, I'm sorry. I had a brotherly relationship with Turkish friends, but out of respect for the friendship that bound me I never mentioned it. After all, what does it matter? My father fought in two wars and felt this. Every shot I fire, I hope it misses. I could hit a boy like me and who like me has affections to defend, a boy who has never done anything to me and in life he could even have been my best friend ''!
Another great video Jessie, and everyone else involved in production and research.
Would it be possible for you at some point to make documentaries about the Senucci and Persian campaigns of WW1? The coverage in the "Week by Week"-series of these campaigns was to sporadic to get any clear picture about their dynamics, and I think many of the fans would greatly appreciate a more detailed presentation of them. As always, great episode, love the work you guys are doing!
This war is the beginning of non-ending 11 years of war for Turkish side. It started with this war and followed by Balkan wars, WW1 and Turkish War of Independence, ending in 1922. Turks lost %35 of their healthy male population during these wars due to battles, diseases and hunger.
Great job, congratulations to the team. I find very interesting the succession of the words "necessity" and "appetite", a greed can be publicly justified by a promoter as a necessary step forward to make. The balance of the powers on the European scene was indeed so complex before 1914 that even the behaviour of a single ally in a set of alliances could be a trouble for the whole structure of security in Europe. WWI was not unavoidable at that stage but yet, the decades lasting stability was shaken.
the italo-turkish war showed to the world that the ottoman empire was weak and undeveloped. This allowed the balkan powers to wage the first balkan war against the ottomans and push them from their balkan territories
The father of my grandmother was there, he was an Alpino. Quite an interesting tale.
Sounds like he was a bit out of place there.
Mountain troops are always needed
16:40 Giuseppe Rossi is like the most generic Italian name imagineable, kind of like being called John Smith. And funnily enough its also the name of an Italian footballer.
Multiple Italian footballers are called Giuseppe Rossi. Unfortunately none of them amounted to anything major
Or French: François Tremblay, or Spanish Garcia Hernandez
Mario Rossi is more generic
In turkish mehmet yilmaz
😂true. I from Italy, Rossi in my nation is a adress most generic,but the name most generic is Mario. Sorry for my english😅. Bye Bro
Great in depth documentary! Love that you covered it in 1 episode
4:15 "Austria-Hungary wanted stability in the Balkans"
That quote didn't age well. :D
aged like Conrad von Hötzendorffs legacy
aged like Conrad von Hötzendorffs legacy
I did not know much about this war, especially with how much significance it had on history. Thanks for creating and sharing.
You're welcome.
Fantastic video! The coverage of the Italo-Turkish War as a prelude to WWI is both insightful and engaging. It’s great to see this often-overlooked conflict explored in such depth. Well done!
Superb video of the conflict! I found the description of some of the - hitherto unknown to me! - first use of aircraft in war fascinating! The Italian use of torpedo boats was skillful as well. Thank you for another great Great War learning experience!
You're welcome.
I found this channel about 2 weeks ago from Vlogging Through History. I started on the 1st video and so far have watched over 60 of them, including about 10 just yesterday. Really enjoying the series a lot!!!
Be careful, I started watching in 2015 and now I just can't wait for the next video. Highly addictive.
It is excellent to see you guys devoting time and resources to all the lesser known conflicts pre and post WW1 (and indeed, the lesser theatres during WW1 when you were covering the "main event" as it were).
I'd consider myself a history Buff but I knew absolutely nothing about this conflict. Really fascinating, thanks for the video!
I mean you can’t blame someone who thinks Libyans are Arabs
I have studied history most of my 67 years of living but this is the first time I have heard of this conflict. You learn something new every day.
The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War (Turkish: Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", Italian: Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captured the Ottoman Tripolitania Vilayet, of which the main sub-provinces were Fezzan, Cyrenaica, and Tripoli itself. These territories became the colonies of Italian Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, which would later merge into Italian Libya.
During the conflict, Italian forces also occupied the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea. Italy agreed to return the Dodecanese to the Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of Ouchy[10] in 1912. However, the vagueness of the text, combined with subsequent adverse events unfavourable to the Ottoman Empire (the outbreak of the Balkan Wars and World War I), allowed a provisional Italian administration of the islands, and Turkey eventually renounced all claims on these islands in Article 15 of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.[11]
Although minor, the war was a precursor of the First World War as it sparked nationalism in the Balkan states. Seeing how easily the Italians had defeated the weakened Ottomans, the members of the Balkan League attacked the Ottoman Empire starting the First Balkan War before the war with Italy had ended.[12]
The Italo-Turkish War saw numerous technological changes, most notably the use of airplanes in combat. On 23 October 1911, an Italian pilot, Capitano Carlo Piazza, flew over Turkish lines on the world's first aerial reconnaissance mission,[13] and on 1 November, the first ever aerial bomb was dropped by Sottotenente Giulio Gavotti, on Turkish troops in Libya, from an early model of Etrich Taube aircraft.[14] The Turks, lacking anti-aircraft weapons, were the first to shoot down an airplane by rifle fire.[15] Another use of new technology was a network of wireless telegraphy stations established soon after the initial landings.[16] Guglielmo Marconi himself came to Libya to conduct experiments with the Italian Corps of Engineers.
I'm giving you thumbs down for trying to sound clever and explain the same topic that this video covers. If you want the glory, you need to have made a video about it, instead of spouting off your knowledge in the comments section.
@@clintfalk He litteraly just copy-pasted the Wikipedia article lol.
@@clintfalk The video is full of allied propaganda, it transforms everything in a defeat for Italy, litterally called the failed turkish counteroffensive where the italians beat them back causing a lot of losses a "defeat" for Italy. Shame
Simpatici voi anglosassoni..Questa del 1911 fu l'ultima guerra coloniale? :-) perchè quella vostra in Kenia negli anni cinquanta cos'era? la guerra degli USA nelle Filippine?
Dialogare con uno statunitense o un inglese riguardo l' Italia é impresa divina.
Credono di poter insegnare la storia ad un popolo con almeno 27 secoli di storia, credono ancora di essere ancora un Impero, beh lo siamo stati molto prima di loro e per molto più tempo di loro. Purtroppo troppe persone nel mondo ed anche Italiani, specialmente una certa parte, continua a credere alla loro Propaganda ridicola.
In Kenya non c'era nessun guerra. La guerra USA-Filippine era conclusa nel 1902.
@@RobertLonghi-c8w Il Marocco diventa una colonia francese nel 1912. La guerra del Rif è ancora successiva, ed è sicuramente un'impresa coloniale, ancora in N. Africa.
Excellent video on a forgotten war. I saw the movie "Lion of the Desert" with Anthony Quinn who played Omar Mukhtar in the 1980 film. The only film I know made about the war. It was criticized at the time since Kahdafi provided the financing.
Great film.
“Lion of the desert” wasn’t about that war,it was about the italian “war” against libyan guerrilla in the ‘20s leaded by Rodolfo Graziani
@@Leucemia29 the rebellion was a continuation If the war of 1911-12. The local Arabs never stopped fighting against the Italians.
Like France Had in Morroco, Italy had a lot of problems when they reduced their troops in Africa to fight in WW1. They Just could defend the coastal regions of Libya, the Arabs recapture all of its interior the Italians Had captured prior to 1915.
Italy had also a lot of internal difficulties after 1918.
When Mussolini became the Duce, He want to rebuild the Roman Empire, so one of his first decissions was to send more troops to Lybia.
Well, its propagandistic nature and the Arab nationalist ideals behind it are quite obvious to say the least.
It is a piace of propaganda, totally unacceptable
Great episode as always, but as mad map enthusiast I have to point mistake with Libyan coastal cities. Tobruk is too far to the west, it should be half way between Derna and Egyptian border. Where Tobruk is shown should be Misrata.
Perhaps they too used Caesar's maps?
He actually mistook Tobruk for Misrata !
Ain Zara was also terribly pronounced. It’s pronounced Aen Zara (soft As), not Aayn Zaa-raa.
@@EdMcF1 probably :)))
The Italians are not Europeans and originally come from Romania and the Middle East. The Germans gave guns to the Italians because otherwise the Italians would run away like cowards
Absolutely outstanding. This is so far above anything I have ever seen on TH-cam. An absolute revelation. Outstanding work, fully referenced. No hype and no BS. I am now a subscriber and will be clicking on all ads. Thank you for real education on obscure events.
I wonder how many wars have been fought throughout history where the invaders "expected to be welcomed as liberators"? We seem to never learn.
Thanks for this video, such great information! Hopefully you do the other prelude to WWI, the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913.
The saying that there is never a just war has a lot of meaning.
A lot.. I believe is more for propaganda..
Well, in WW1 a lot of arabs fought against ottoman empire, that' s not strange
@@theillusiveman2139 they was not dissatisfied like Libyian ppl they was just greedy and at the end they lost everything (Karma)
@@muysli.y1855 Türksün belli :)
This is an excellent documentary about an often-overlooked war. Thank you for making this video!
the first use of anti aircraft gun was used in this war by a ottoman soldier and Allama Iqbal wrote on peotry on this war:
Jhalakti Hai Teri Ummat Ki Aabru Iss Mein
Tarablas Ke Shaheedon Ka Hai Lahoo Iss Mein
See here, oh Lord, the honour of your people brimming up!
The martyred blood of Tripoli, oh Lord, is in this cup.’
Just found this channel and having a great time with it. Thank you
As a Turkish and military history buff, Ottoman troops also fought heroically in Italians. However, the resistance of the Libyan people did not end even after we Turks withdrew. The Senusis were defeated during the Fascist italy period. I recommend the movie omer muhtar, the lion of the desert.
Un vergognoso film di propaganda anti italiana
Sacma propaganda film, beş para etmez.
I been waiting for this thanks to the great War channel.
Each episode a pearl! Congrats Jesse and Team!
IIRC one of the offers the ottomans made to Italy after the ultimatum was a similar arrangement that existed with the British in Egypt at the time. That is to say allowing Italy to occupy Libya and nominate a friendly governor while retaining de jure ottoman sovereignty.
Giolitti(Who afaik wasn’t so keen on the war in the first place) might’ve been ready to accept that if he wasn’t under such huge nationalist pressure for direct annexation.
@@uffa00001 yeah Italian ultra nationalist wanted to establish a settler-colony in Libya alas French Algeria (even though this didn’t really start with that until the 1930s) while the British presence in Egypt was more for strategic purposes (controlling the Suez Canal)
And yeah as you said the population density in Libya is much lower than in Egypt making it much easier to colonize with settlers
@@flyingcow4194 It wasn't really the "ultra-nationalists" but the fact that Italy was a country with a huge emigration at the time (we filled North and South America with Italian emigrants...), overall 29 millions Italians have emigrated in XIX and XX century, the present population is 60 millions but, at the time, it was something like 40 millions. The idea was that all those people could emigrate "in Italy" rather than going abroad. At the time, going to America was like going "to the moon", very long and expensive journey, it meant severing most contacts with the relatives and the motherland. Libya is just South of Sicily. There also was this nationalist idea that manpower means wealth, and it was better to have all this manpower to remain in Italy (Libya) rather than going to America to enrich other countries. Britain did not have this emigration problem (only Ireland) and did not feel the need to find land for excess population. Besides, Britain already had plenty of colonies where people could settle (South Africa especially).
@@uffa00001 South Africa, Rhodesia, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Canada where British settler-colonies
A lot of British(which at this time included the whole of Ireland) people also migrated to the USA
Very interesting point you made about the distance.
Such an awesome video Great War team!
Nobody's knows it, but we Italians invented Aerial warfare. Before this war, aircrafts was not considered as a weapon.
After this war, every country in the world started looking at airplanes as an instrument to support armies during their advance.
Italians are pioneers of modern war. 😤
Nobody knows it but we Turks downed first bomber/fighter aircraft in history!
@@kuvikina turks are the first bombed by aircraft people in rhe world...nobody knows 🇮🇹💪
It was pilot Captain Carlo Maria Piazza who bombed the Turkish positions from above. But it seems that the first aerial bombardment was carried out by the Austrians against Italian positions in the First World War
@@Alesxandros Nobody knows, but we were the first Turks to invade Italy :)
Only to get the a$$e$ kicked in the end. @@SametFake
another great video from the team! Awesome work!
Another excellent material on little know pages of the history. I expect nothing less from TGW channel! Much love to you guys!
When I was a student in Italy, long, long time ago, this war was barely mentioned. The idea was that Italy 'had the right to its piece of Africa' which is a funny paradox consider the emphasis that is placed in the curriculum on the 'righteous' wars for Italian independence.
not too far away from Germany and their idea that they deserve "a place under the sun"
I think it was wrong but go France Spain GB Netherlands Portugal Germany had African territories. Uncle dies there 1912. Not that I knew him
@@youtubeyoutube936 Actually The Netherlands did not have African colonies. They reserved all their civilizing love and their torture chambers for what is now called Indonesia. But, independently from this detail, your argument is equivalent to say: "others did it so I can do it too". Are you really at this level? I hope not.
Francesco bar. 1 I said I thought it was wrong 2. Yep I include the Neathelands who had colonies in the Far East and a couple in South America - Caribbean. 3. My comment was directed at the comment ref close to Germany etc what does it even mean in the context of 1912 ? 4 conquest and colonialism should only be within the same ethnic groups and thus avoid issues of race ( ironic comment)
Francesco just have to add that by then the Netherlands had lost their colony in what is now South Africa.
Absolutely superb presentation! Your vocal cadence and tone are engaging and admirably supported by your images.
It's incredible how content with this quality is available for free
Thank you for all the hard work to bring history to life. I can't imagine the work and effort. Best Regards and Best Wishes!
Awesome video, I’ve never really known much about this conflict!
Our Libyan brothers and sisters fought honorably.
My greatest respects to Omar Muhtar and his followers.
Greetings to Libya from Turkiye.
As a historian I cannot praise this channel highly enough. Excellent work!
This is a very well-resourced and compact study that makes us understand more about world tensions that even remain today.
You guys do such a great job with your videos. Always a pleasure to watch
Highly recommend MacMillans "Paris: 1919" this was the book i read to get a real understanding about the war
Libya and the Ottomans fought a very honorable war side by side. So for me, the Libyan people are definitely in a very special place. Years later, we fought together again. To Libya, with love from Turkey.
I like how Ottoman Empire can mobilize their diverse Army is quite similar like the British Empire
The keyword is: Islam.
@@pluto-9047 there is no keyword. Ottoman Army was a multinational army because the ottoman state was a multinational state. Most of the "conscripted" Arabs didnt wanna fight and die for the Empire. As we saw in the last stages of the battle of gaza and in the other arabian fronts in ww1 (and also in the gallipoli as the Mustafa Kemal Pasha reported about the unwillingliness of the Arabian regiments and that they were incompetence). And mass arabian deserters in the army and the rebels attacking the flanks of the ottoman army from the desert led to the wholly withdrawal of the palestine and syria. We stopped the Brits for 2 years in the western palestine. "Islam" didnt stopped neither the Brits nor the Arabian rebelliance in there.
@@felixsteiner8320 Then why did Muslim fundamentalists from around the world and from different racial and cultural backgrounds join ISIS? Or why did Muslims the world over celebrate the reopening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque in Turkey? Or Why American declared-jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan had Muslim men come out of the woodwork in droves?
As for the Arab revolt against the Ottomans that was a divide and conquer ploy by Britain and everybody knows now. During the Spanish Civil War, Nationalists spread a rumor in the Moroccan Riff that Franco converted to Islam and needed the natives help in fighting the Godless Republicans, and they did join the war and perpetrated untold horror in the Iberian Peninsula!
You were right though about Arab inherent incompetence.
@@felixsteiner8320 But didn’t islam help with cooperation with the several muslim inhabitants during the wars?
@@felixsteiner8320 Say atajew who fled from damascus without shooting one bullet go back to your cave atheist your lies don't work anymore
Great work! Loved to hear how great powers influenced the course of the war!
Fantastic I never knew of this conflict and I’m glad I learned something new!
Ottoman Empire has been losing ground for centuries when this happened. After this conflict in 1911-1912 came balkan wars in 1912 in which ottomans fought againist 4 countries and lost in 1913. Right after that world war 1 started in 1914-1918 with some victories againist allies ottomans had to accept defeat again but this time a revolution came. Turks united new as a nation state in anatolia and started Turkish war of independence from 1919 to 1923. This time Turks fought for the mainland anatolia and won. All this history has been an identifying factor turkish national identity. Turkish republics border was not drawn with rulers by colonialists, the country didnt start with consessions it started with series of military victories againist worlds most advanced nations at that time. From Turkish perspective it was almost non stop fighting from 1911 to 1923. Turkish national assembly in Ankara didnt accept the treaty of serves which crushed ottoman empire and kept fighting until desired outcome. This final victory stopped wests expansion towards east into turkish controlled territories and/or turkish heartland since 1683.
the ethnic diversity amongst the Ottoman troops is always fascinating. you can really see just how far spanning the empire was
Austria-Hungary: Am I joke to you? :)
@@savasgenc1877 osmanlı daki etnik yapı avusturya macaristanın çok ötesinde fazlaydı avusturya macaristandaki etnik gruplar Germenler-Macarlar-Sırplar-Hırvatlar-Ukraynalılar-Çekler-Slovaklar Osmanlıdakiler Türkler-Araplar-Rumlar-Ermeniler-Gürcüler-Berberiler-Sırplar (Güney Toprakları Osmanlıdaydı) Boşnaklar-Çerkezler-Tatarlar-Azerbaycan Türkleri-Kürtler-Zazalar Daha Bir Çok Etnik Kökenden İnsanlar Vardı
@@matthewgray469 Brits and Europeans of the era disagreed. After the surrender of British troops in Kut al-Amara in 1915 British media wrote that at least their soldiers were taken prisoner by an honourable enemy, the "Clean-fighting" Turks. Believing an empire that was lasted 623 years could be founded and ruled by savagery is simply ignorance and stupidity.
oh damn i have been wanting pre ww1 material since i found this channel. so many unanswered questions i hope to now get context for.
Due to My job inside One of the most visited monument in Rome, for 25 Years, the Pantheon, i could meet hundreds of visitors per day.
Turkish people were One of the most talkative, friendly, nice, people ever met in My Life.
I'm Sorry that in the past there was a war with them.
🇮🇹❤️🇹🇷.
Libya was an abandoned land. In my opinion, giving you the Aegean islands had worse consequences than giving you Libya. Of course, you never know what the consequences will be when you make a change in history. Furthermore, our losses were much smaller than the losses of the Libyan people. And in our war of independence, the Italians did not go to war with us in southern Anatolia. In fact, Italy gave us back the lands it annexed from Anatolia. You also helped us with sea transportation in our independence war. In other words, our history's view of Italy is neutral. Our late history main villains are England(especially England, not U.K.) and France. TR❤IT
In 'The Sleepwalkers,' Christopher Clark posits that the Italo-Turkish War led to the First Balkan War, when Serbia, Rumania and Bulgaria saw how weak the Ottomans were and decided to start reducing Turkish hegemony in the Balkans.
Great video summery.
PS1 - Just imagine if oil had been discovered in Libya during this period by Italy and by France in Algeria.
PS2 - just imagine if aircraft had been a bit more advanced re ground attack.
Excellent as ever! It's nice to get the extra context and better understanding of how the situation prior to the assassination of the archduke cane about. It's staggering how often us Europeans blithely thought we were superior to the inhabitants of other countries, and that that somehow entitled us to walk in and take them over without a by-your-leave. I'm in my 60s, and it has been both fascinating and annoying to learn, over the years, just how one-sided some of the history that I learnt in childhood was.
It's notike the locals were any different.
Well, the Italians WERE trying to steal from the Ottomans...who themselves stole it from someone else, so on and so forth. Tbf; people just used whatever excuse to take territory it seems lol
Excellent presentation and topic selection of an important but forgotten piece of history. Well done!
Colonization of foreign lands for resources is as old as mankind. Thank you for educating me as to a “ small war” that helped trigger The Great War.
My grandfather fought against the Italians, and the cost for Libyans from 1911 to 1933 reached around 350 thousand dead, soldiers+militias+civilians. He was captured in Dinnar Valley and sentenced to death then overturned to life in prison finally was exiled to island of Ustica.
My great grandfather fought in the Italo-Turkish War before he immigrated to Argentina. My mother had found his conscription documents, a commendation letter and some notes when my grandfather died this year. When i saw it i couldnt belive it. As far i knew, i though one of my other great grandfathers died in Sicily during operation Husky.
Love these longer episodes. But also really like the shorter ones for a quick break.
I can't tell you how much I have learned through your many series.
Thank you.
Magnificent video. Subscribed.
I learned something new… again. This channel is great for that!
First in 1900 no italian would like to restore Roman Empire. That was Mussolini rethoric, 25 years later. Italy would just like to have colonies like France, Germany and UK + there was a rivalry with Ottoman Empire since crusades, muslim pirates raids during 1000-1500, Lepanto, Wien siege etc.
As always a great presentation.
Italian unification in 1871? That's German unification. Italian's one was in 1861.
Also, it would be more accurate to say Ottoman - Italian war. Turkey, as we know nowadays, starts in 1921 or so, I'm not sure about the year, with Atatürk. If I'm wrong, please correct me.
The completion of italian unification was in 1871 with the annexion of the remaining Papal States and Rome by the kingdom of Italy.
@@fandemusique4693 ok, I'll check on that, tks.
@@aeliusromanus9338 arabs were conscripted in military only in ww1...
Ottoman Empire was known as Turkey in Europe and MENA. Actually Ottoman Empire is an exonym. The Ottoman Empire did not have a name, and it was simply called as “Devlet-i Âlîyye” which means “The Sublime State”. Sometimes it was used as “Devlet-i Alîyye-i Osmânîyye” which means “The Sublime State of Ottomans”.
Another name was “Devlet-i Ebed-Müddet” or “Devlet-i Alîyye-i Ebedpeyvend” which both means “The Eternal State” (the second one means “The Eternal Sublime State”).
@@fandemusique4693 Yes but Unification of Italy was proclaimed in 5 of may 1861
A very sound analysis, Angelo.
Sublime work you guys, can t express how much I m enjoying your channel. Keep it up with the great job!
My great grandfather (Italy) fought in this then into WW1 then migrated to Australia in 1921