Discovering Europe
As if Malta was master of its own history
Malta has known seven thousand years of integration rather than occupation, of adaptation rather than revolt or revolution. Malta has always been an inherent part of the empires that annexed it. Then in the early 19th century it joined the British Empire – this time at Malta’s own request ¬- before peacefully negotiating its independence in 1964. This was an exception to the turmoil of decolonisation. As if Malta was master of its own history.
Valletta Grandmasters Palace, 2008.
© Hegel Goutier
The very first inhabitants most probably arrived during the 7th Millennium BC and immigrants arrived from Sicily during the 5th Millennium. The megalithic temples and hypogeums bear testimony to the most ancient of cultures ¬ including the remarkable underground temple at Hal Saflieni, recognised as a world heritage site – were built between the 4th and 3rd Millennia BC. It was the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians who next left their indelible mark on the island’s culture - from 700 to 218 AD, the year Malta became part of the Roman Empire. By this time, the Carthaginians had already developed shipbuilding there.
Early conversion to Christianity
At the dawn of the Christian era, in the year 60, a ship carrying the future St. Paul (who was on his way to Rome where he was to be put on trial) ran aground on the island, the event becoming a key moment in the country’s history - its conversion to Christianity and its Latinisation.
After Rome, the Byzantine administration took office in 395 AD until the invasion by the Aghlabids in 870 AD. The latter remained for two centuries, at a time when the Arabs also ruled in Sicily, Gibraltar and Spain.
From the Arab world to the Sicilian Vespers
Malta was steeped in the history of two centuries of Arab occupation. North African Arabic was to form the basis of the Maltese language. The Arabs were followed by a succession of conquerors for most of the next five centuries. First were the Normans from Sicily who exploited the divisions between Muslim countries, many of which were also bogged down in war with the Byzantine Empire. In 1090 they absorbed Malta, but without driving out the Arabs. The island, by now home to Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities, became a stopping off point for pilgrims and crusaders.
For four centuries Malta was to remain within Sicily’s fold and subject to its vagaries. In 1130 Sicily became an autonomous kingdom, when it fell firstly under the authority of German King and Roman Emperor Frederic II (1194) and then under the French Emperor Charles of Anjou (1266). The French were driven out in 1282 by the Sicilian Vespers and Sicily pledged obedience to the Kingdom of Aragon, fully becoming part of the Crown of Aragon in 1409. From the beginning of the Sicilian period, Christianity was returned to Malta with the adoption of the Italian language by the nobility. Finally, in 1479, with its destiny still linked to Sicily, Malta came under the control of the Catholic Kings of Spain who allowed feudal fiefdoms to develop there that took part in piracy and smuggling.
The Order takes hold
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Ottoman troops of Soliman the Magnificent conquered the Greek island of Rhodes, threatening Sicily that was part of the kingdom of Charles V at the time. The latter firstly appealed to the Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem to block the Muslim offensive in Malta and finally ceded the island to them in 1530. At first the Knights of the Order had little interest in settling on this arid land, its declining population consisting now of little more than the old nobility of Mdina who were decendants of the Normans of Sicily.
After losing Tripoli, the Order won the battle of Malta against the Turks in 1565. With this victory the Christians had completed their recapture of the European Mediterranean. At this time a new capital city was built – Valletta, a fortification town whose construction began in 1566. During this time, naval battles flared between the Turks and the galleys of the Order. The knights eventually transformed Malta into a huge European naval school that supplied sailors to France. This was to transform Malta into a massive European naval school providing sailors to France who in 1765 made the island its protectorate.
The Order found itself stripped of all its assets by 1792 having backed the French King Louis XIV against the revolution of 1789. In response, the Order elected a German knight as its head. Then in 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte and his fleet of 300 ships conquered Malta without a shot being fired. Bonaparte seized the Order’s treasury and continued on to Egypt, but the garrison he left behind incurred the wrath of the population due to its harassment of the island’s churchmen. Finally the French garrison capitulated, assieged by the British in 1800. No longer wanting the government of the Grand Master, in 1882 the Maltese asked to come under British rule, requesting nothing other than the guarantee that they could retain their constitution and Roman Catholic religion. The agreement between Malta and Great Britain was ratified by the Treaty of Paris in 1814.
After a difficult period – mainly due to successive outbreaks of plague and cholera – Malta entered a period of relative prosperity during the second half of the century due to its coal ports and geographic location close to the newly constructed Suez Canal. In particular it would be shaken by a language dispute between the partisans of Italian and English, fuelled by the first stirrings of a desire for national independence. Initially calmed by a number of concessions, demands for autonomy resurfaced in the climate of economic recession at the end of the First World War. The British Administration reacted to this with a series of policy changes - one of these concessions was to give recognition of Maltese as the official language of the island from 1934. The Second World War strengthened the bonds between the British and Maltese and to resist invasion attempts by the Germans, the fortress island was transformed into a defensive bunker. Everything was converted into a shelter against attack, including the Neolithic caves and the catacombs. At the outbreak of war, Malta (less than 250 km2 for the main island, and just over 300 km2 when Gozo and Comino are included) was subjected to around 2,500 air raids in just two years resulting in the destruction of 40,000 homes and 2,000 deaths. The summer of 1942 saw 154 days (and nights) of continual bombardment on Malta (compared to 56 on London). 6,500 tonnes of bombs fell on Valetta harbour alone (compared to 260 tonnes dropped on Coventry). The country was decorated with the George Cross for its heroism. At independence, the Maltese included this symbol of courage as part of their flag.
Malta, the heroic, was granted self-government in 1947. However, the Nationalist Party, unlike its Liberal rival, was not satisfied and when it came to power in 1962, its leader – Gorg Borg Olivier – immediately demanded full independence. This finally became a reality on September 21, 1964.
After being elected to power in 1974, the Labour Party pushed through a republican constitution in the same year and the closure of the British military base on the island. This government, headed by Dom Mintoff, was also notable for adopting a Third World stance and a position of neutrality in the face of the two major world power blocs.
The Nationalist Party was returned to power in 1984, this time led by Eddie Fenech Adami, who served as prime minister until 1996. During this period, the long-banned Order of Malta was once again recognised. Moreover, Adami’s economic policy marked a break with the socialist tendencies of his predecessor, while remaining loyal to the pledge of neutrality on international issues. In 1992, Adami opened negotiations with Brussels with a view to Malta joining the European Union. However, the introduction of VAT cost him the 1996 elections. Labour was then returned to power, led by Alfred Santz. This government lasted just two years following the outcry surrounding its decision to freeze negotiations on EU membership.
When the Nationalists won the 1998 elections, Eddie Fenech Adami reopened the EU accession process in 2000, culminating in membership for Malta on 1 January 2004. The Nationalist Party went on to win the subsequent elections the most recent on 8 March 2008.
