he war in Libya may be one of those quietly telling moments in the history of more important nations. Some of NATO’s members did not participate, or did not participate with combat aircraft, such as Spain and Turkey. Germany simply refused to take part, even in setting up a no-flight zone. Only eight of the 28 allies engaged in combat and most ran out of ammunitions, having to buy at cost price, ammunition stockpiled by the United States.
The economic crisis has only highlighted Europe’s unwillingness to live up to its grand ambitions to play a global role in foreign and defense matters. Robert Gates, the former US Defense Secretary, has rightfully spoken about the fading of Europe and a “dim if not dismal future” for NATO, which is turning into an “irrelevant” alliance.
With eyes still on Libya, an interesting book, “The Sanusi’s Little War” by Russell Mcguirk, recounts the fascinating story of a little known war, fought out on the fringe of the great First World War. It also shows how powerful and unchallenged European powers were at the turn of the 20th century.
This book will delight historians and anyone interested in Middle Eastern politics. The author has conducted a first class research based on original source material. We relive day by day, from October 1912, the events that led to the Tara Incident in November 1915 and to the Turco-Sanusi invasion of Egypt between 1915 and 1917. Sayyid Ahmad Al-Sharif, the Grand Sanusi, a charismatic Arab leader, was caught between the rivalries of the Turco- German alliance and the British Empire.
The Sanusi Brotherhood founded by an Algerian, Muhammad bin Ali Al-Sanusi, born in 1787, developed in Libya in the mid-19th century. After a long period of traveling, his return to Algeria in the 1840s was prevented by the French occupation. He then decided to settle in Cyrenaica, the easternmost province of Libya, bordering Egypt. Known for his intelligence, knowledge and religious devotion, Muhammad Al-Sanusi set up a movement, which had at its heart the “Zawiya,” a place of religious teaching, a staging post for caravans, a hostel for travelers, as well as a center of agricultural development. At the time of Muhammad Al-Sanusi’s death in 1859, the Sanusi Brotherhood was flourishing.
“By the end of the 19th century there were about a hundred zawiyas in the three provinces of greater Libya, more than thirty in Egypt’s Western Desert, over a dozen on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea and a similar number in the Sudan. To the west there were zawiyas all along the caravan routes to Timbuktu and beyond, to Nigeria and Senegal…It is important to emphasize that from the start of the Sanusi movement in the 1840s to the dawn of the 20th century its sole purpose was to bring better living conditions and religion to desert nomads. At no time in this period did Sanusi leaders show any interest in converting religious and economic influence into political power,” writes McGuirk.
A French attack on a “Zawiya” 60 miles from Lake Chad set off the Franco-Sanusi War. From this time onward, the Sanusi movement became more political. The founder’s first-born son, who was only 15 when he succeeded his father, was a great leader, and under his guidance, the Sanusiya became the most influential religious movement in all of North Africa. At his death in 1902, his first-born, Muhammad Idris, was too young. Therefore, his nephew, Ahmed Al-Sharif assumed the leadership. Muhamad Idris eventually ruled as King of Libya from 1951 to 1969 when he was overthrown in a military coup orchestrated by Col. Gaddafi in September 1969.
One of the heroes of the book is Captain L.V. Royle. He played an invaluable role in locating the crew of the Tara who were taken prisoners of war by the Turkish and Sanusi army, after their ferryboat was torpedoed by a German U-boat on Nov. 5, 1915, near Sollum on the north-west coast of Egypt. He was sadly never rewarded for his actions and did not receive a DSO, which he thoroughly deserved.
The 92 crewmen, who survived the sinking of the Tara, were eventually taken to Bir Hakim. The British prisoners were disappointed by what they saw upon their arrival. This was not the idyllic oasis with palm trees and pools of fresh water, they had dreamed of. They discovered instead a desert lying “ between two gravelly mounds, a small stone blockhouse, a few tower-shaped kilns, a single tent, and an ancient graveyard.”
They were finally rescued by the Duke of Westminster, leading a large column of Roll Royce armored cars and Model T Fords on Friday, March 17. A detailed account of the event was written by Captain Williams:
“Suddenly someone shouted there was a motor-car coming, and we all ran out to see, not daring to believe our eyes and fearful of disappointment…Suddenly more cars appeared, and more and more, all tearing towards us over the stones… We were certain now. We went mad. We yelled ourselves hoarse. We could see now that some were armoured cars and others ambulances. The latter drew up at our tattered tents and in a moment, we were tearing at bully-beef, bread and tinned chicken and drinking condensed milk out of tins. We tore our food like famished wolves, with tears in our eyes…”
As for the Sanusi, they signed a peace treaty with the British on April 14, 1917 and three days later, with the Italians. Although Sayyid Ahmad was still the Grand Sanusi, both parties preferred to deal with his nephew, Muhammad Idris, who was the first in line to succeed to the Sanusi leadership and should have been Grand Sanusi had he not been so young.
In a letter he wrote to the British High Commissioner in Egypt, he said: “I am really sorry for what Sayyid Ahmad has done. He shows firstly that he is a fool, and secondly that he is ungrateful. I did my best to prevent this fighting, but I failed.”
The Italians stayed in Libya until 1947 when they signed a peace treaty with the Allies after the Second World War and gave up all claims over Libya. A hundred years later, the European nations are far weaker. Defeating Libya proved far more difficult and expensive than previously anticipated. “The Sanusi’s Little War” marks the beginning of the end of European dominance in world affairs. Or so it appears….
