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The Forgotten War That Previewed World War I For Anyone Who Was Watching
Featuring all of the new technology and casualty rates
In 1911, three years before the outbreak of the Great War, the Sick Man of Europe was coughing up a lung. The Ottoman Empire had slowly been declining since the start of the 20th century to the point where they could hardly control the borders of their core territories. The Ottoman navy was a shadow. The Ottoman armies were spread out, trying to put down various revolts leaving key territories completely undefended. The status of the Ottoman Empire did not escape the eye of hungry nationalists in Italy, who had long harbored a rivalry with North African kingdoms.
The result was that on September 28th, 1911, a fleet of Italian ships appeared off the coast of Tripoli with orders to secure the city as a bridgehead to take all of Libya (Tripolitania Vilayet.) The war shocked Italians living inside the Ottoman Empire and the Ottomans themselves. The resulting fight lasted less than a year but foreshadowed the warfare that would be seen on a much larger scale beginning in 1914.
Eary Success
Italy was so sure of its ability to quickly subdue the Ottomans in Africa that they budged just 300 million lire for a campaign lasting just a few months. At first…
