Salta al menu principale di navigazione Salta al contenuto principale Salta al piè di pagina del sito

Dossier

V. 21 N. 3 (2019): Counting the Cost of War: the Great Wars Economic Impact on Africa

Blessed be the Sultan and the Money of the Italian: The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into War Expenditure on the Economic Management of Libyan Territories between 1913 and 1922

  • Fabio Ecca
Inviata
April 3, 2024
Pubblicato
2024-04-03

Abstract

“Blessed be the Sultan and the Money of the Italian” was a significant idiom used in the ‘Libyan’ territories during the WWI and after the war. This term not only reveals the importance for local economies of the funds disbursed by the Italian state but also referred to the complex and confused administrative and management system of funding for Cyrenaica and Tripolitania. For this reason, starting from 1920 the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into War Expenditure made an important effort to elaborate also on the economic and administrative management of the ‘Libyan territories’. Through the documentation collected and produced by the Commission itself, the author wants to contribute to the examination of the economic management of the WWI in the Libyan territories. Starting from the analysis of the Italian-Turkish war in the Italian state budget, the author identified the main management problems of the WWI in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, the responsibilities of the Italian colonial administrations and the criticalities of the cumbersome system of purchasing supplies. Drawing on a number of case studies, some of the numerous problems of the Italian administrative and economic management of the ‘Libyan’ territories from 1913 to 1922 are highlighted.