Giovanni Giolitti’s memoirs

“When war with Turkey was declared, many wondered why the [Italian] government had come to this decision. People had talked about secret considerations which had overcome my hesitation.

Nothing was further from the truth. The reasons which persuaded me to act were of a general political character. Once the question of Morocco was solved with the establishment of French dominion in Tunis and that of Egypt with diplomatic recognition of the English rule which had been established there for a long time, the condition of things in Libya under Ottoman rule could not be allowed to continue. In fact, whilst Western Africa from Tunis to Morocco and Egypt were under the protection of European administration, Libya was very much behind the times.” (page 253)
 
 

Memoirs of My Life published in London by Chapman and Dodd Ltd. In 1923             Back to Home Page

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