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MEDITERRANEAN IMBROGLIO: THE DIPLOMATIC ORIGINS OF MODERN LIBYA (THE DIPLOMACY OF THE BELLIGERENTS DURING THE ITALO-TURKISH WAR, 1911-1912

Posted on:1983-09-22Degree:Ph.DType:Dissertation
University:Georgetown UniversityCandidate:CHILDS, TIMOTHY WINSTONFull Text:PDF
GTID:1476390017464708Subject:Modern history
Abstract/Summary:
The Italo-Turkish war of 1911-1912 over Libya played a part in the progressive disintegration of the Concert of Europe prior to the outbreak of the 1914 war. This study is based largely on unpublished material from the papers of the then Italian Prime Minister, Giovanni Giolitti, and the diplomatic archives of the Ottoman Foreign Ministry. Italy was in an unusually favorable diplomatic situation in 1911-1912: allied to Germany and Austria, she was courted by the rival Entente Powers who hoped to persuade her to leave the Triple Alliance. The Ottoman Empire, on the other hand, was diplomatically isolated. After the outbreak of war, Italy was able to occupy only the Libyan coast; she could not effectively control the interior owing to the resistance of the Ottoman garrison, aided by Arab irregular forces. In these circumstances, Italy prematurely declared the annexation of the entire territory, to prevent neutral mediation that might have awarded her less than she sought. But this complicated the peace-making process, because the Ottoman Empire initially refused to recognize the illegal annexation or to negotiate on the basis of it. In an attempt to end the diplomatic stalemate and force the Ottoman Empire to the bargaining-table, Italy occupied the Dodecanese islands. That caused Italy diplomatic problems with Austria and with the Entente Powers. Meanwhile the increasingly unpopular government at(' )Istanbul was obliged to resign in the face of a threatened army revolt, and the new cabinet resolved to renew the peace talks begun under the previous regime. The Ottoman Empire concluded peace with Italy just as the Balkan states declared war on the Empire, in October 1912. Italy's irresponsible policy of colonial aggrandizement encouraged the Balkan states to plot the further dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, contributing to the disintegration of the Concert of Europe. The Ottoman Empire emerged from the war determined to end its diplomatic isolation, and convinced that Germany was the Power with which to seek an alliance when the opportunity presented itself.
Keywords/Search Tags:Diplomatic, War, Ottoman empire
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