Idris of Libya

Born into the Senussi Order in 1890, Idris inherited its leadership when his cousin abdicated during the Order's war against Britain and Italy. He cut a deal: the Modus vivendi of Acroma ended Ottoman ties, and by 1920 Italy recognized Senussi control over most of Cyrenaica in exchange for acknowledging Italian sovereignty. He served as Emir through the 1920s and into midcentury. After the Second World War, the UN called for Libyan independence, and in 1951 Idris became king of the newly unified state — Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Fezzan under one crown. He banned political parties, dissolved…