War, resistance, and memory in Libya’s oral history project

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the Libyan Oral History Project, an archive created in the 1970s to record the memories of mujahidin involved in anti-Italian resistance in Libya. Though it was not the original intention of the archive, this article argues that the memories of the mujahidin contribute to an effort among historians to reconceptualise the global significance of the First World War. A careful reading of the accounts of the mujahidin reveals a chronological continuity from the initial struggle against the Italian occupation to armed warfare against European forces throughout the region in the interwar era. By interpreting the First World War from the southern coast of the Mediterranean, we gain new appreciation for the significance of the war not just as a conflict among empire, but also as the beginning of a longer struggle between imperial forces and anti-imperial resistance.