Part of the North African theatre (First World War)
Area of operations, Senussi campaign
Date
January 1915 – November 1918
Location
Western Desert of Egypt, eastern Libya
24°N25°E / 24°N 25°E / 24; 25
Result
British–Italian victory
Belligerents
Senussi Ottoman Empire Supported by: German Empire
Italy
Italian Tripolitania
Italian Cyrenaica
British Empire
United Kingdom
Australia
New Zealand
India
South Africa
Commanders and leaders
Sayyid Ahmed Sharif Omar al-Mukhtar Jaafar Pasha Nuri Bey
William Peyton Alexander Wallace Henry Lukin Henry Hodgson
Strength
Senussi: 10,000 (1915)
Italy: 70,000 British Empire: 40,000
Casualties and losses
(Inflicted by British): c. 2,000
Italian: c. 11,000 (5,600 killed) British: c. 661 (117 killed and 544 wounded)
Non-battle casualties not counted
v
t
e
North African operations, World War I
Zaian War
Khénifra
El Herri
Senussi campaign
Wadi Marsit
Gasr Bu Hadi
Sidi Abu Arqub
Wadi Seinab
Wadi Majid
Halazin
Agagia
Sollum
Bir Hakeim
Dakhla Oasis
Siwa
Tunsia
Volta-Bani War
Darfur Campaign
Kaocen revolt
The Senussi campaign took place in North Africa from November 1915 to February 1917, during the First World War. The campaign was fought by the Kingdom of Italy and the British Empire against the Senussi, a religious order of Arabic nomads in Libya and Egypt. The Senussi were courted by the Ottoman Empire and the German Empire. Recognising French and Italian threats, the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II had twice sent his aide-de-camp Azmzade Sadik El Mueyyed to meet Sheikh Muhammed El Mehdi El Senussi to cultivate positive relations and counter the west European scramble for Africa.[1][page needed] In the summer of 1915, the Ottomans persuaded the Grand Senussi Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi to declare jihad, attack British-occupied Egypt from the west and to encourage insurrection in Egypt to divert British forces.
The Senussi crossed the Libyan–Egyptian border in November 1915 and fought a campaign along the Egyptian coast. At first British Empire forces withdrew, then defeated the Senussi in several engagements, culminating in the action of Agagia and the re-capture of the coast in March 1916. In the interior, the band of oases campaign continued until February 1917, after which a peace was negotiated and the area became a backwater for the rest of the war, patrolled by British aircraft and armoured cars.
The Senussicampaign took place in North Africa from November 1915 to February 1917, during the First World War. The campaign was fought by the Kingdom...
The Senusiyya, Senussi or Sanusi (Arabic: السنوسية, romanized: al-Sanūssiyya) are a Muslim political-religious Sufi order and clan in Libya and surrounding...
as-Senussi abdicated as leader of the Order, Idris took his position. The Senussicampaign was taking place, with the British and Italians fighting the Order...
March 1916, which concluded the coastal campaign. On 11 February 1916 Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, leader of the Senussi order in Cyrenaica, occupied Bahariya...
from the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Italy wished to preserve its gains from the Italo-Turkish War. The SenussiCampaign took place in North Africa from...
and Grand Senussi Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi declared jihad and attacked the Italians in Libya and British controlled Egypt in the SenussiCampaign. In 1915...
The Gallipoli campaign, the Dardanelles campaign, the Defence of Gallipoli or the Battle of Gallipoli (Turkish: Gelibolu Muharebesi, Çanakkale Muharebeleri...
Barrani in Egypt on 26 February 1916, during the SenussiCampaign between German and Ottoman-instigated Senussi forces and the British army in Egypt. On 11...
South-West Africa (Namibia) Fall of Togo Fall of German East Africa SenussiCampaign Battle of Tanga or Battle of the Bees Battle of Rufiji Delta Battle...
Mohammed El Senussi (Arabic: محمد السنوسي; Sayyid Mohammed er-Rida bin Seyyed Hasan er-Rida el-Mahdi es-Senussi; occasionally spelled as "...Al Senussi", "as-Senussi"...
British were forced to dispatch 12,000 troops to oppose them in the Senussicampaign. Their rebellion was finally crushed in mid-1916. Total Allied casualties...
The Somaliland Campaign, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Dervish War, was a series of military expeditions that took place between 1900 and 1920...
Commander of the VI Corps in the Romanian Campaign (1916-1918) Jaafar Pasha - Commander during the SenussiCampaign Cevat Pasha − Commander of the Dardanelles...
occupied by Egypt, and began a long campaign to relieve the Egyptian garrisons besieged by the Mahdists. The bitter campaigning was led by the Emperor Yohannes...
to rebellions led by the nomadic Senussi. Sheikh Sidi Idris al-Mahdi as-Senussi (later King Idris I), of the Senussi, led Libyan resistance in various...
The Serbian campaign was a series of military expeditions launched in 1914 and 1915 by the Central Powers against the Kingdom of Serbia during the First...
The Caucasus campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, later including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Mountainous...
Campaign the force grew into a large reserve to provide reinforcements for the Western Front, while the Western Frontier Force fought in the Senussi Campaign...
The Mesopotamian campaign or Mesopotamian front was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the...
fought in several battles and engagements, in the SenussiCampaign, the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, and in the Arab Revolt. The brigade suffered 246...
although the situation on the battle fronts was not favorable. The Romanian campaign was part of the Eastern Front of World War I, with Romania and Russia allied...
invasion of German Samoa on 29–30 August 1914 by New Zealand forces. The campaign to take Samoa ended without bloodshed after over 1,000 New Zealanders landed...
unrest among the Senussi in what is now Libya, when they attacked western Egypt and threatened the Sudan during the Senussicampaign. Egypt was neither...
Global Information
Senussi
Ottoman Empire
German Empire
British Empire
