The Green Book (Gaddafi) in the context of "History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi"

Muammar Gaddafi became the de facto leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. When Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment, the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) headed by Gaddafi abolished the monarchy and the constitution and established the Libyan Arab Republic, with the motto "Unity, Freedom, Socialism". The name of Libya was changed several times during Gaddafi's tenure as leader. From 1969 to 1977, the name was the Libyan Arab Republic. In 1977, the name was changed to Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Jamahiriya was a term coined by Gaddafi, usually translated as "state of the masses". The country was renamed again in 1986 as the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, after the United States bombing that year.

After coming to power, with the oil price rise of the 1970s and consequential rise of the Libyan economy, the RCC government initiated a process of directing funds toward providing education, health care and housing for all. Public education in the country became free and primary education compulsory for both sexes. However, the quality of the education system was far below many other Arab states, even those with much less oil wealth, with 2 hours a week being dedicated to his Green Book. It was also illegal to learn a second language for more than a decade. There were instances of revolt, like the 1976 Libyan protests. There was some students who even faced public execution in the university, witnessed by many other students and broadcast on Libyan state television, such as the Execution of Al-Sadek Hamed Al-Shuwehdy. Medical care became available to the public at no cost, but the quality was far below those of some of its neighbours (Tunisia, Egypt & Malta) which prompted many Libyans to get medical treatments in those countries. Providing housing for all was a task the RCC government was unable to complete. Under Gaddafi, per capita income in the country rose to more than US$11,000 in nominal terms, and to over US$30,000 in PPP terms, the 5th highest in Africa. The increase in prosperity was accompanied by a foreign policy hostile to the other Arab states of the region, an anti-West foreign policy, and increased domestic political repression.

The Revolutionary Command Council (Arabic: مجلس قيادة الثورة) was a twelve-member governing body that ruled the Libyan Arab Republic after the 1969 Libyan coup d'état by the Free Officers Movement, which overthrew the Senussi monarchy of King Idris I. The council's chairman was Muammar Gaddafi, who had the most influence and served as Libya's de facto head of state as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. It was ideologically Arab nationalist, republican, anti-imperialist and pan-Arabist.

In 1977, the Libyan Arab Republic was abolished and Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya was established. As a part of this, the RCC was officially abolished and replaced by the general secretariat of the General People's Congress, primarily guided through the beliefs and teachings later published in Muammar Gaddafi’s Green Book.