Timeline of Events
1934 -Italy consolidated its three North African colonies of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Fezzan into a single entity of Italian Libya.
1930s- Italy embarked on many major infrastructure projects in Libya, most notably in transportation, which included coastal roads, railroads, expansion of ports, and the establishment of a major airfield in Tripoli.
January 9,1939- Royal Decree No. 70 was issued to make Italian Libya within the metropolitan territory of Italy, thus lifting the region's status from a mere colony to a part of the Italian Empire.
September 13, 1940- Italy’s Rodolfo Graziani attacked British forces in western Egypt
December 9, 1940 - British counterattacks, resulting in Italian defeat in Tubruq, Libya
Early 1941 - as British troops began pushing Italian troops back across the Egyptian-Libyan border, German general Erwin Rommel and a force later known as the German Africa Corps arrived at the region, pushing the Allies east and allowing Italian Libya's borders to expand to cover most of the Western Desert.
February 12, 1941, German General Erwin Rommel arrived in Libya to take command of troops sent to reinforce Germany's Italian allies. The German units were rapidly expanded to the size of an Army Corps and renamed the Deutsches Afrika Korps (German Africa Corps). Rommel launched an offensive, bypassed Tobruk, reached the Egyptian border.
November 18, 1941- Operation Crusader begins, British armies push axis armies back to Libya.
January 21, 1942 -Rommel launches a second attack, Axis troops reached Al-Gazala, just west of Tobruk. This happens partly due to the fact that the Germans were able to shift resources to North Africa after stabilizing the eastern front, and because the British were focused on meeting the Japanese threat.
May 26, 1942, German and Italian troops launched another offensive, Operation “Venezia,” that enabled them to encircle Tobruk and drive Allied forces back to the Egyptian border.
August 30, 1942, the Axis launched its final offensive of the Western Desert campaign.
October 23, 1942.- With new troops and supplies, including U.S. supplied tanks, the British Lieutenant Montgomery attacked German General Rommel’s forces at El Alamein. Ten days later, the axis forces retreat.
November 17, 1942, Italian Libya expanded into the French protectorate of Tunisia.
January 23, 1943- Rommel left the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and reaches the Tunisian border a week later.
IFeb 1943, Axis forces abandoned Libya and consolidated into Tunisia for the final defense of Axis holdings in North Africa, which ended in May of the same year, ending the Desert War. Tunisia was given to the Free French, the Western Desert had already been re-captured by British forces, and Libya was placed under British (former Tripolitania and Cyrenaica) and French (former Fezzan) control.
1947, Italy signed the agreement to relinquish all claims to territory in North Africa.
November 21, 1949, the United Nations passed the resolution for Libya's full independence.
December 24 1951, the United Kingdom of Libya was declared.
1930s- Italy embarked on many major infrastructure projects in Libya, most notably in transportation, which included coastal roads, railroads, expansion of ports, and the establishment of a major airfield in Tripoli.
January 9,1939- Royal Decree No. 70 was issued to make Italian Libya within the metropolitan territory of Italy, thus lifting the region's status from a mere colony to a part of the Italian Empire.
September 13, 1940- Italy’s Rodolfo Graziani attacked British forces in western Egypt
December 9, 1940 - British counterattacks, resulting in Italian defeat in Tubruq, Libya
Early 1941 - as British troops began pushing Italian troops back across the Egyptian-Libyan border, German general Erwin Rommel and a force later known as the German Africa Corps arrived at the region, pushing the Allies east and allowing Italian Libya's borders to expand to cover most of the Western Desert.
February 12, 1941, German General Erwin Rommel arrived in Libya to take command of troops sent to reinforce Germany's Italian allies. The German units were rapidly expanded to the size of an Army Corps and renamed the Deutsches Afrika Korps (German Africa Corps). Rommel launched an offensive, bypassed Tobruk, reached the Egyptian border.
November 18, 1941- Operation Crusader begins, British armies push axis armies back to Libya.
January 21, 1942 -Rommel launches a second attack, Axis troops reached Al-Gazala, just west of Tobruk. This happens partly due to the fact that the Germans were able to shift resources to North Africa after stabilizing the eastern front, and because the British were focused on meeting the Japanese threat.
May 26, 1942, German and Italian troops launched another offensive, Operation “Venezia,” that enabled them to encircle Tobruk and drive Allied forces back to the Egyptian border.
August 30, 1942, the Axis launched its final offensive of the Western Desert campaign.
October 23, 1942.- With new troops and supplies, including U.S. supplied tanks, the British Lieutenant Montgomery attacked German General Rommel’s forces at El Alamein. Ten days later, the axis forces retreat.
November 17, 1942, Italian Libya expanded into the French protectorate of Tunisia.
January 23, 1943- Rommel left the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and reaches the Tunisian border a week later.
IFeb 1943, Axis forces abandoned Libya and consolidated into Tunisia for the final defense of Axis holdings in North Africa, which ended in May of the same year, ending the Desert War. Tunisia was given to the Free French, the Western Desert had already been re-captured by British forces, and Libya was placed under British (former Tripolitania and Cyrenaica) and French (former Fezzan) control.
1947, Italy signed the agreement to relinquish all claims to territory in North Africa.
November 21, 1949, the United Nations passed the resolution for Libya's full independence.
December 24 1951, the United Kingdom of Libya was declared.
German General Erwin Rommel in North Africa
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Australian soldiers in Tobruk, Libya
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A military hospital in Tripoli, Libya
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In order to understand the Axis involvement in Libya, it's crucial to understand how German technology used in North Africa was superior to most of the weapons of the allies. Go here for more:
