International Support for Independence: The territory that today makes up the Libyan state was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1551. Much like the rest of the Empire’s north African possessions, by the beginning of the eighteenth century, locals eventually achieved significant autonomy from Istanbul. By the 1830s, however, members of the ruling dynasty were at war with each other, causing Ottoman troops to reimpose direct control over the territory in 1835 in order to preempt any European designs over it. The Empire applied the law of provincial administration in the territory, which eventually allowed the establishment of a municipality as an administrative unit. By the 1870s, several urban centers had local advisory councils that were responsible for overseeing public works. The country remained poor in comparison to other North African territories, but by the start of the twentieth century, commercial centers, courts, and other institutions had been established and had contributed to the emergence of a local elite.1