Independence

In 1951, after some years of Allied occupation, Libya won independence. It became a constitutional monarchy with the Sanussi leader, Sayid Idris, as king. The new nation faced many handicaps. Libya had few well-educated citizens and had to depend on foreigners to run much of the government. With few resources of its own the nation for years was dependent on foreign aid. The discovery of oil brought wealth to Libya in the 1960's, and Idris was able to expand the school system greatly and to begin development projects.

Idris's young army officers, however, were influenced by revolutionary movements in other Arab nations. While the king was abroad in 1969, they seized the government and abolished the monarchy. A revolutionary Command Council was organized, with Muammar Qaddafi as its head.

Qaddafi enormously increased Libya's armaments and called for war against Israel. Under his leadership, the Italian minority was expelled and some businesses were nationalized. In 1973 Qaddafi launched a “cultural revolution,” a movement to purge Libya of foreign influences in favor of Islamic values and Qaddafi's socialist ideas.

During the 1970's Qaddafi made a number of attempts—all of them unsuccessful—to unite other Arab nations, notably Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia, with Libya. Qaddafi also tried to foment coups in Sudan and Egypt and provided money and arms to terrorists and revolutionary organizations in many parts of the world, including Northern Ireland, the Philippines, Eritrea, and Chad.

Qaddafi's activities were condemned by the United States and in 1981 Libyan diplomats were expelled from the country. Later in the year, two U.S. Navy planes shot down a pair of Libyan fighters that had attacked them over the Gulf of Sidra, which Libya claims as part of its territorial waters.

In the late 1980's, military clashes between Libya and the United States continued. The most notable took place in 1986, in response to a terrorist attack on American soldiers in Berlin, which United States leaders attributed to a Libyan-supported group. The United States retaliated with a massive air strike against many Libyan targets.

In 1992, the United Nations imposed sanctions on Libya for failing to turn over to the aggrieved countries—France, the United States, and Great Britain—suspects involved in bombing airliners in 1988 and 1989. After years of isolation, an agreement was reached in 1999 whereby Libya surrendered the suspects to a special Scottish court meeting in the Netherlands. After turning over the suspects, United Nations sanctions were lifted, but the United States maintained unilateral sanctions until 2004.