Libyan Revolution of 1969
In September 1969 a bloodless coup by the Free Officers under Muammar Gaddafi ended the Senussi monarchy of King Idris.
Overview
King Idris was abroad for medical treatment when the young officers inspired by Nasserism moved. Gaddafi men took radio stations and barracks in Tripoli and Benghazi on 1 September 1969 with almost no resistance, and the Revolutionary Command Council proclaimed the Libyan Arab Republic. The new regime closed American and British bases, expelled the remaining Italian settlers, and pressed the oil companies for higher prices before nationalizing the industry. Gaddafi green book proclaimed a jamahiriya, a state of the masses with no formal office that he nonetheless ruled absolutely. Oil wealth funded development at home and an activist foreign policy abroad, including movements the West labeled terrorist. His rule ended with the uprising of 2011.
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