France never controlled Libya.
Libya as a land is known for thousands of years, But in 1951 when italy lost control of libya. Libyam country was formed known as Kingdom of libya.
During the 1920's and 30's, the Italian government gained control of Libya, Somaliland and Eritrea.
Gaddafi was born in the city of Sirt, when Libya was still under Italian control.
Chinese...
Libya
From Libya to Central Asia.
Italy, from 1912 to 1947 (formally, but Italy had lost control of Libya already in 1943)
September 1969
Government reform
From 106 BC to 642 AD Libya was under Roman rule. From 642 AD to 1551 AD it was under Arab Islamic rule. Spain invaded Libya in 1551, but lost control of Libya to the Ottomans fairly quickly. they then ruled Libya until 1911, when it became an Italian colony. The Italians then ruled Libya until 1951 when the United Nations ruled that Libya should be independent. So from 1951 Libya became a monarchary under King Idris, who was Libya's first and only monarch. This lasted until 1969 when a coup led by the army officer Muammar Gaddafi took control of the country.
He expanded it by gaining control of Egypt and Libya.