Italian-Ottoman War 1911-1912

The Italian-Ottoman War (also called the Italian-Turkish War) was initiated by Italy, with the objective of gaining a colony in North Africa, through the conquest of the Ottoman territories of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (modern Libya). Italy took advantage of a period of international uncertainty following the Moroccan crisis of 1911 to achieve this objective. Since about 1880, with the encouragement of the government in Italy, a growing number of Italian immigrants and merchants were arriving in the Ottoman provinces. In 1911, using the pretext of an infringement of Italian interests in the two provinces, the Italian government issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire on September 28th and on the next day, September 29, 1911, Italy declared war.

An Italian army of 50,000 troops was sent to Libya and the Turkish forces on the ground were unprepared. After bombarding Tripoli, the city fell to Italian forces in October 1911; pro-Ottoman Senussi tribes attempted to recapture Tripoli between October 23rd and 26th. Meanwhile, Egypt, nominally independent though occupied by the UK, declared its neutrality and refused to allow the transit of Ottoman troops. Only a few Ottoman officers were able to reach Libya and organize native resistance but this was enough to help stalemate the war by November 1911. Italians were forced to confine their operations to the coastal areas due to unexpected resistance on the part of the Muslim population. In 1912, Italy then began a naval campaign, bombarding Beirut and Smyrna, occupying various Dodecanese Islands and bombarding the Dardanelles, forcing the closing of the straits. But the war remained at a stalemate until a successful Italian offensive in Libya, from July to October 1912 during which they systematically expanded their control and decisively defeated Ottoman forces at Derna and Sidi Bilal. This campaign was notable for being the first time an armored fighting vehicle (an armored car called the Bianci) was used in combat. The Ottoman Empire then sued for peace.

By the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne (also called Treaty of Ouchy), signed on October 18, 1912, the Ottoman Empire ceded Tripoli and Cyrenaica (Libya) to Italy. Although Italy agreed to evacuate the Dodecanese, its forces continued to occupy the islands and in further negotiations later on the Turks ceded them too. Italian conduct of the war did not enhance its military prestige but the war did upset the precarious international balance of power just prior to World War I by revealing Ottoman weakness and, within Italy, it reinforced nationalist and imperialist sentiment that guided government policy in the following decades.

References

Clodfelter, 635; COW97; Dupuy and Dupuy, 1014-5; EB - Italo-Turkish War; Kohn, 237-8; Turkey - A Country Study.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

North Africa

Belligerents

Italy, Ottoman Empire, Senussi

Dispute

Territory

Initiation Date

September 29, 1911

Termination Date

October 18, 1912

Duration

1 year, 20 days
(386 days)

Outcome

Negotiated Settlement
(Italian victory)

Fatalities

Total: 20,000
Italy: 6,000
Ottoman: 14,000

Magnitude

4.1