A Series on Africa - Libya and Gaddafi - The Colonel of Controversy and Contradication

This is a short account of Libya, mainly after the arrival of Colonel Gaddafi in 1969, its history post Ottoman Empire, post-Italian rule and post-war. In 1945 when the world was finally putting away its weapons and picking up instead debris to clean away the ruins of communities the pride of ignorant men had brought about, other movements were beginning to take shape. There was an opportunity to build freedom and independence from colonial rule. Some of these were attained through aggression or in the case of Libya, for the first time ever, through the new United Nations organisation.

It must be noted first of all however that after this destructive war in which Italy had played an aggressive role under Mussolini, and France had been occupied by nazi Germany, these two nations, despite having had time to consider their own misfortunes, imm ...