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 the federal structure in 1963, and leaned West: military bases for Britain and the U.S. in exchange for aid. Oil came in 1959, and with it fast money and faster corruption. Arab nationalist sentiment rose as the palace grew distant. On 1 September 1969, while Idris was in Turkey for medical care, Muammar Gaddafi and a group of army officers overthrew him. He never returned, dying in exile in 1983.