Abstract

The birth of the ministry of Colonies in 1912 put at the center of the debate the issue of the Italian administrative staff operating in Libya. The prevailing positions were essentially two: on the one hand, the idea of establishing corps of specialized agents, trained in managing colonial problems; on the other hand, a current of thought considering this specialized recruitment too expensive and useless. However, while this debate between supporters of different positions was going on in Italy, thousands of officials in uniform were already operating in Libya. The most urgent issue was related to the status of those officers, who held political and administrative functions.