Cyrenaica under British Rule

Since Falschung has taken care of Tripolitania, I'll throw in some Cyrenaica. Probably everyone here is familiar with Libyan politico-geography. Nonetheless, I'll belabor the issue.

Tripolitania covers the northwest section of Libya, while Cyrenaica occupies the eastern part. A third area, Fezzan, occupies a large section of the southwest. It is mostly desert and is lightly populated. It hasn't played much of a role in Libyan politics.



Tripolitania is the most populous area, and was the home district of the late dictator, Moammar Gaddhafi. He was tracked down and killed in Tripolitania in 2011.

When Libya gained its independence in 1951, an emir from Cyrenaica was chosen as ruler. That was King Idris, who ruled for nearly two decades. In 1969, he went to Turkey for medical treatment. A group of army officers took the opportunity to overthrow him. Gaddhafi later consolidated power and emerged on top.

The stamps below are from the period when Libya was an Italian colony. Italy seized Libya from the Turks in a war in 1911-12. The Italians subsequently lost their Libyan colony in World War II.


C12 & C13


C14 & C15


C16 & C17

The next two stamps commemorated a flight of 24 aircraft from Italy to Chicago. They were led by Italo Balbo, who was second to dictator Benito Mussolini in the Fascist hierarchy.


C18 & C19

Balbo was acclaimed worldwide for his mass flights. Mussolini disliked such competition, and exiled Balbo to Libya as governor. He was there when Italy entered World War II on the Germans' side. Balbo opposed the Nazi alliance, but nonetheless prepared to attack the English in Egypt. Flying into Tobruk, Libya, his aircraft was mistaken for an English bomber and shot down. Balbo was killed.