Editing History of Malta (section)

==Malta in the British Empire (1800–1964)==
{{Main|Malta Protectorate|Crown Colony of Malta}}

=== British Malta in the 19th and early 20th centuries ===
[[File:Malta - Valletta - Triq ir-Repubblika - Misrah San Gorg - Attorney General 01 ies.jpg|thumb|The British coat of arms on the [[Main Guard (Valletta)|Main Guard]] building in [[Valletta]].]]
[[File:Malta 1922 One Pound.jpg|thumb|Personification of [[Melita (personification)|Melita]] on a one-pound colonial-era stamp, 1922]]
In 1800, Malta voluntarily became part of the [[British Empire]] as a [[Malta Protectorate|protectorate]]. Under the terms of the 1802 [[Treaty of Amiens]] with France, Britain was supposed to evacuate the island, but failed to keep this obligation – one of several mutual cases of non-adherence to the treaty, which eventually led to its collapse and the [[Napoleonic Wars|resumption of war]] between the two countries.

Although initially the island was not given much importance, its excellent harbours became a prized asset for the British, especially after the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869. The island became a military and naval fortress, the headquarters of the British Mediterranean fleet.

[[Home rule]] was refused to the Maltese until 1921 although a partly elected legislative council was created as early as 1849 (the first Council of Government under British rule had been held in 1835), and the locals sometimes suffered considerable poverty.<ref>{{harvnb|Attard|1988|p=76}}</ref> This was due to the island being overpopulated and largely dependent on British military expenditure which varied with the demands of war. Throughout the 19th&nbsp;century, the British administration instituted several liberal constitutional reforms<ref>{{harvnb|Luke|1949|loc=Ch. VIII}}</ref> which were generally resisted by the Church and the Maltese elite who preferred to cling to their feudal privileges.<ref>{{harvnb|Attard|1988|p=64}}, {{harvnb|Luke|1949|p=107}}</ref> Political organisations, like the [[Nationalist Party (Malta)|Nationalist Party]], were created or had as one of their aims, the protection of the [[Italian language]] in Malta.

In 1813 Malta was granted the Bathurst Constitution; in 1814 it was declared free of the [[plague (disease)|plague]], while the 1815 [[Congress of Vienna]] reaffirmed the British rule under the 1814 [[Treaty of Paris (1814)|Treaty of Paris]]. In 1819, the local Italian-speaking ''Università'' was dissolved.

The year 1828 saw the revocation of the right of sanctuary, following the Vatican Church-State proclamation. Three years later, the See of Malta was made independent of the See of [[Palermo]]. In 1839, press censorship was abolished, and the construction of St.&nbsp;Paul's Anglican Cathedral began.

Following the 1846 Carnival riots, in 1849 a Council of Government with elected members under British rule was set up. In 1870 a [[referendum]] was held on ecclesiastics serving on Council of Government, and in 1881 an Executive Council under British rule was created; in 1887, the Council of Government was entrusted with "dual control" under British rule. A backlash came in 1903, with the return to the 1849 form of Council of Government under British rule.

The last quarter of the century saw technical and financial progress in line with the [[Belle Époque]]: The following years saw the foundation of the [[Anglo-Egyptian Bank]] (1882) and the beginning of operation of the [[Malta Railway]] (1883); the first definitive postage stamps were issued in 1885, and in 1904 tram service began.
In 1886 Surgeon Major [[David Bruce (microbiologist)|David Bruce]] discovered the microbe causing the [[Malta Fever]], and in 1905 [[Themistocles Zammit]] discovered the fever's sources.
Finally, in 1912, [[Dun Karm Psaila]] wrote his first poem in Maltese.

Between 1915 and 1918, during [[World War I]], Malta became known as ''the Nurse of the Mediterranean'' due to the large number of wounded soldiers who were accommodated in Malta.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Galea |first1=Michael |date=16 November 2014 |title=Malta earns the title 'nurse of the Mediterranean' |newspaper=Times of Malta |url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141116/life-features/Malta-earns-the-title-nurse-of-the-Mediterranean-.544455 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206134215/http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141116/life-features/Malta-earns-the-title-nurse-of-the-Mediterranean-.544455 |archive-date=6 February 2016}}</ref>

=== Interwar period ===
[[File:SetteGiugno2009.jpg|thumb|[[Sette Giugno]] monument]]
[[File:1930 elections in Malta.jpg|thumb|Voting document of Ernesto Laiviera for the later cancelled 1930 elections in Malta]]
{{main|Italian irredentism in Malta}}
In 1919, the ''[[Sette Giugno]]'' (7&nbsp;June) riots over the excessive price of bread led to greater autonomy for the locals during the 1920s. After Filippo Sciberras had convened a National Assembly, in 1921 self-government was granted under British rule. Malta obtained a [[bicameral]] [[Parliament of Malta|parliament]] with a Senate (later abolished in 1949) and an elected Legislative Assembly. [[Joseph Howard (Prime Minister)|Joseph Howard]] was named Prime Minister. In 1923 the ''[[Innu Malti]]'' was played for the first time in public, and the same year Francisco Buhagiar became Prime Minister, followed in 1924 by Sir&nbsp;[[Ugo Pasquale Mifsud]] and in 1927 by Sir&nbsp;[[Gerald Strickland]].

The 1930s saw a period of instability in the relations between the Maltese political elite, the Maltese Catholic church, and the British authorities; the 1921 Constitution was suspended twice. First in 1930–1932, when British authorities assumed that a free and fair election would not be possible following a clash between the governing [[Constitutional Party (Malta)|Constitutional Party]] and the Church<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doi.gov.mt/en/islands/prime_ministers/strickland_gerald.asp |title=Strickland, Gerald |website=doi.gov.mt |access-date=15 April 2018 |archive-date=21 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221193721/http://www.doi.gov.mt/EN/islands/prime_ministers/strickland_gerald.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Lord Gerald Strickland (1924–1932) |website=[[Government of Malta]] |url=https://www.gov.mt/en/Government/Government%20of%20Malta/Prime%20Ministers%20of%20Malta/Pages/Sir-Gerald-Strickland.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729004840/https://www.gov.mt/en/Government/Government%20of%20Malta/Prime%20Ministers%20of%20Malta/Pages/Sir-Gerald-Strickland.aspx |archive-date=29 July 2014}}</ref> and the latter's subsequent imposition of mortal sin on voters of the party and its allies, thus making a free and fair election impossible. Again, in 1933 the Constitution was withdrawn over the Government's budgetary vote for the teaching of Italian in elementary schools, after just 13&nbsp;months of a Nationalist administration.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ardizzone |first=Pietro |chapter=Le iniziative culturali italiane negli anni ’30 per Malta e per le comunità maltesi all’estero |language=it |title=Studi maltesi – Lotte per l'egemonia culturale e politica a Malta: aspetti linguistici ed istituzionali |pages=69–101 |url=http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ITA2413/_P6.HTM |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905231020/http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ITA2413/_P6.HTM |archive-date=5 September 2015}}</ref> Malta thus reverted to the Crown Colony status it held in 1813.

Before the arrival of the British, the official language since 1530 (and the one of the handful of educated elite) had been Italian, but this was downgraded by the increased use of English. In 1934 [[Maltese language|Maltese]] was declared an official language, which brought the number up to three. Two years later, the Letters Patent of the 1936 constitution declared that Maltese and English were the only official languages, thereby legally settling the long-standing '[[Language Question (Malta)|Language Question]]' that had dominated Maltese politics for over half a century.
In 1934, only about 15% of the population could speak Italian fluently.<ref name="Luke P.113">{{harvnb|Luke|1949|p=113}}</ref> This meant that out of 58,000&nbsp;males qualified by age to be jurors, only 767 could qualify by language, as only Italian had until then been used in the courts.<ref name="Luke P.113"/>

In 1936 the Constitution was revised to provide for the nomination of members to Executive Council under British rule (similar to the 1835 constitution) and in 1939 to provide again for a partly elected Council of Government under British rule.

=== British Malta during the Second World War ===
{{main|Siege of Malta (World War II)}}
{{further| Operation Herkules}}
[[File:BombDamageMalta.jpg|right|thumb|Service personnel and civilians clear up debris on the heavily bomb-damaged [[Strada Reale]] in [[Valletta]] on 1&nbsp;May 1942]]

Before World War&nbsp;II, Valletta was the location of the [[Royal Navy]]'s [[British Mediterranean Fleet|Mediterranean Fleet]]'s headquarters. However, despite [[Winston Churchill]]'s objections,{{refn|name=BJandCS-p36|Bierman & Smith (2002)<ref name=Bierman-Smith-2002>{{cite book |last1=Bierman |first1=John |first2=Colin |last2=Smith |year=2002 |title=The Battle of Alamein: Turning Point, World War II |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-0-670-03040-8 |via=Internet Archive (archive.org) |url=https://archive.org/details/battleofalameint00bier |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|page=[https://archive.org/details/battleofalameint00bier/page/36 36]}} {{cite book |title=page&nbsp;36 online |year=2002 |publisher=Viking |isbn=9780670030408 |url=https://archive.org/details/battleofalameint00bier/page/36 |url-access=registration}} }} the command was moved to [[Alexandria]], [[Egypt]], in April 1937 fearing it was too susceptible to air attacks from Europe.{{refn|name=BJandCS-p36}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Titterton |first=G.A. |year=2002 |title=The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean |volume=2 |page={{mvar|xiii}} |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-7146-5179-8}}</ref><ref name=ElliottP--pxx>{{cite book |last=Elliott |first=Peter |year=1980 |title=The Cross and the Ensign: A Naval History of Malta, 1798-1979 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=978-0-87021-926-9}}</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2011}} At the time of the Italian declaration of war (10&nbsp;June 1940), Malta had a garrison of less than four thousand soldiers and about five weeks of food supplies for the population of about three hundred thousand. In addition, Malta's air defences consisted of about forty-two [[anti-aircraft]] guns (thirty-four "heavy" and eight "light") and four [[Gloster Gladiator]]s, for which three pilots were available.

Being a British colony, situated close to Sicily and the [[Axis Powers|Axis]] shipping lanes, Malta was bombarded by the Italian and German air forces. Malta was used by the British to launch attacks on the Italian navy and had a submarine base. It was also used as a listening post, reading German radio messages including [[Enigma (machine)|Enigma]] traffic.<ref name=CP-p42-44>{{cite book |last=Calvocoressi |first=Peter |title=Top Secret Ultra |volume=10 |series=Ballantine Espionage Intelligence Library |year=1981|edition=reprint |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0-345-30069-0 |pages=42, 44}}</ref>

The first air raids against Malta occurred on 11&nbsp;June 1940; there were six attacks that day. The island's [[biplane]]s ability to defend the island was limited due to the [[RAF Luqa|Luqa Airfield]] being unfinished;{{how|date=June 2024}} however, the airfield was ready by the seventh attack. Initially, the Italians would fly at about 5,500&nbsp;m, then they dropped down to three thousand metres (in order to improve the accuracy of their bomb-aiming). [[Journalism|Journalist]] [[Mabel Strickland]] spoke of the Italian bombing efforts as such: "The Italians decided they didn't like [the [[Gloster Gladiator|Gladiators]] and [[Anti-aircraft warfare|AA]] guns], so they dropped their bombs twenty miles off Malta and went back."{{refn|name=BJandCS-p38|Bierman & Smith (2002)<ref name=Bierman-Smith-2002/>{{rp|page=38}} }} Despite these words, the accuracy of Italian bombers improved after repeated attempts, causing a great deal of devastation to both military and civilian infrastructure in Malta. However, these raids proved ineffective to the Axis siege efforts, as any damage incurred was eventually repaired before a new wave of bombers could launch bombing runs over the islands.<ref name=Walker-2003>{{cite book |last=Walker |first=Ian W. |year=2003 |title=Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts; Mussolini's elite armoured divisions in North Africa |place=Ramsbury, UK |publisher=The Crowood Press |isbn=1-86126-646-4}}</ref>

By the end of August, the Gladiators were reinforced by twelve [[Hawker Hurricane]]s which had arrived via [[HMS Argus (1917)|HMS ''Argus'']].<ref name=BJandCS-p38/> During the first five months of combat, the island's aircraft destroyed or damaged about thirty-seven Italian aircraft, while suffering even greater losses than the Italians. Italian [[fighter plane|fighter]] pilot [[Francisco Cavalera]] observed, "Malta was really a big problem for us—very well-defended.".<ref name=BJandCS-p38/> Nevertheless, the Italian bombing campaign was causing serious damage to the island's infrastructure and the ability of the [[Royal Navy]] to operate effectively in the Mediterranean.<ref name=Walker-2003/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 60–67}}

On Malta, 330&nbsp;people had been killed and 297 were seriously wounded from the war's inception until December&nbsp;1941. In January&nbsp;1941, the German [[10th Air Corps (Germany)|X. ''Fliegerkorps'']] arrived in Sicily as the [[Afrika Korps]] arrived in [[Libya]]. Over the next four months 820&nbsp;people were killed and 915 seriously wounded.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Shankland, Peter |author2=Hunter, Anthony |year=1961 |title=Malta Convoy |publisher=I. Washburn |page=60}}</ref>

[[File:Malta- the Harbour Barrage from the Upper Barracca Art.IWMARTLD3551.jpg|thumb|Illustration of the bomb-damaged [[Upper Barrakka Gardens]] in 1943]]
On 15&nbsp;April 1942, [[George VI of the United Kingdom|King George&nbsp;VI]] awarded the [[George Cross (Malta)|George Cross]] (the highest civilian award for gallantry) "to the island fortress of Malta — its people and defenders".<ref name=BJandCS-p38/> [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] arrived on 8&nbsp;December 1943, and presented a United States Presidential Citation to the people of Malta on behalf of the people of United States. He presented the scroll on 8&nbsp;December but dated it 7&nbsp;December for symbolic reasons. In part it read: "Under repeated fire from the skies, Malta stood alone and unafraid in the centre of the sea, one tiny bright flame in the darkness – a beacon of hope for the clearer days which have come."<ref>{{cite news |title=Mr.&nbsp;Roosevelt gives scroll to people on isle Of Malta |pages=1, 4 |newspaper=[[The Gettysburg Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=10 December 1943 }}</ref> (The complete citation now stands on a plaque on the wall of the Grand Master's Palace on Republic Street, in the town square of Valletta.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Rudolf, Uwe Jens |author2=Berg, Warren G. |title=Historical Dictionary of Malta |year=2010 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-5317-1 |pages=197–198}}</ref>)

In 1942, a convoy code-named [[Operation Pedestal]] was sent to relieve Malta. Five ships, including the tanker [[SS Ohio|SS ''Ohio'']], managed to arrive in the Grand Harbour, with enough supplies for Malta to survive. In the following year Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill visited Malta. George VI also arrived in Grand Harbour for a visit.

During the Second World War, [[Ugo Mifsud]] and [[George Borg Olivier]] were the only remaining Nationalist members of parliament of Malta. Mifsud fainted after delivering a very passionate defence against the deportation to concentration camps in [[Uganda Protectorate|Uganda]] of [[Enrico Mizzi]] and 49&nbsp;other [[Italian Maltese]] accused of pro-Italian political activities. He died a few days later.

In 1943, the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] coordinated the [[Allied invasion of Sicily|invasion of Sicily]] from the [[Lascaris War Rooms]] in Valletta. Following the [[Armistice of Cassibile]] later in 1943, a large part of the [[Regia Marina|Italian Navy]] surrendered to the British in Malta.

The [[Malta Conference (1945)|Malta Conference]] was held in 1945, in which Churchill and Roosevelt met prior to the [[Yalta Conference]] with [[Joseph Stalin]].

The 1946 National Assembly resulted in a new constitution in 1947. This restored Malta's self-government, with [[Paul Boffa]] as Prime Minister. On 5&nbsp;September 1947, universal suffrage for [[women in Malta]] was granted. That year, [[Agatha Barbara]] was the [[Women in Maltese General Elections|first woman elected]] as a Maltese Member of Parliament.

=== From home rule to independence ===<!-- This section is linked from [[Malta]] -->
[[File:MLT 1948 MiNr0201 pmB002.jpg|thumb|1947 stamp with [[George VI]] commemorating self-government]]
After the Second World War, the islands achieved self-rule, with the [[Labour Party (Malta)|Malta Labour Party]] (MLP) of [[Dom Mintoff]] seeking either full integration with the UK or else "self-determination" (independence) and the [[Nationalist Party (Malta)|Partit Nazzjonalista]] (PN) of [[George Borg Olivier]] favouring independence, with the same "dominion status" that Canada, Australia and New Zealand enjoyed.

The 1953 Coronation incident (where, initially, no invitation was sent for a Maltese delegation to attend the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;II), temporarily united Maltese politicians. After the MLP's electoral victory in 1955, in December Round Table Talks were held in London, on the future of Malta, namely the Integration proposal put forward by Mintoff. It was attended by the new Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, Borg Olivier, and other Maltese politicians, along with the British [[Secretary of State for the Colonies|Colonial Secretary]], [[Alan Lennox-Boyd]]. The British government agreed to offer the islands their own representation in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]], with three seats in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], with the [[Home Office]] taking over responsibility for Maltese affairs from the Colonial Office.<ref name="hansard"/>
Under the proposals, the Maltese Parliament would retain authority over all affairs except defence, foreign policy, and taxation. The Maltese were also to have social and economic parity with the UK, to be guaranteed by the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) the islands' main source of employment.

A [[1956 Maltese United Kingdom integration referendum|UK integration referendum]] was held on 11 and 12&nbsp;February 1956, in which 77.02% of voters were in favour of the proposal,<ref>{{cite web |title=Referenda in Malta: The questions and the voters' responses |website=maltadata.com |url=http://www.maltadata.com/ref-votes.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111073623/http://www.maltadata.com/ref-votes.htm |archive-date=11 November 2013}}</ref> but owing to a boycott by the Nationalist Party and the Church, only 59.1% of the electorate voted, thereby rendering the result inconclusive.<ref>{{cite web |title=Referenda in Malta |website=vassallomalta.com |url=http://www.vassallomalta.com/Referenda.htm#1956%20Integration%20Referendum |access-date=2019-01-29 |archive-date=26 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726183917/http://www.vassallomalta.com/Referenda.htm#1956%20Integration%20Referendum |url-status=dead }}</ref>

There were also concerns expressed by British MPs that the representation of Malta at Westminster would set a precedent for other colonies, and influence the outcome of general elections.<ref name="hansard">{{cite web |title=Malta Round Table Conference |date=26 March 1956 |website=UK Parliament |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1956/mar/26/malta-round-table-conference}}</ref>

[[File:A view of shops with anti-British and pro-Independence signs, possibly on Kings Street, Valetta, Malta (5074435957).jpg|thumb|Malta Labour Party club in [[Valletta]] with anti-British and pro-Independence signs in the late 1950s]]
In addition, the decreasing strategic importance of Malta to the Royal Navy meant that the British government was increasingly reluctant to maintain the naval dockyards. Following a decision by the Admiralty to dismiss 40&nbsp;workers at the dockyard, Mintoff declared that "representatives of the Maltese people in Parliament declare that they are no longer bound by agreements and obligations toward the British government" (the 1958 ''Caravaggio incident''). In response, the Colonial Secretary sent a cable to Mintoff, stating that he had "recklessly hazarded" the whole integration plan.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Penny-wise |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=13 January 1958 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,862830,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302023516/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C862830%2C00.html |archive-date=2 March 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Under protest, Dom Mintoff resigned as Prime Minister along with all the MLP deputies on 21 April 1958. Georgio Borg Olivier was offered to form an alternative government by Governor Laycock but refused. This led to the Governor declaring a state of emergency thus suspending the constitution and Malta was placed under direct colonial administration from London. The MLP had now fully abandoned support for integration (when Mintoff's demands for financial guarantees were not accepted) and now advocated full independence from Britain. In 1959, an Interim Constitution provided for an Executive Council under British rule.

While France had implemented a similar policy in its colonies, some of which became [[overseas departments]], the status offered to Malta from Britain constituted a unique exception. Malta was the only [[British overseas territory|British colony]] where integration with the UK was seriously considered, and subsequent British governments have ruled out integration for remaining overseas territories, such as [[Gibraltar]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Gibraltar |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1976/aug/03/gibraltar |publisher=H.C. Deb |date=3 August 1976 |volume=916 |id=cc726-7W |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109000842/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1976/aug/03/gibraltar |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |archive-date=9 January 2016}}</ref>

From 1959 Malta's British governor started to pursue a plan of economic development based on promoting [[tourism]] and [[tax competition]], offering very low tax rates on pensions, royalties and dividends to attract British (referred to as ‘sixpenny settlers’) and former colonial pensioners. Malta saw a large influx of Britons from [[Rhodesia]] after 1967.<ref>{{cite periodical |first=Vanessa |last=Ogle |date=August 2020 |title='Funk Money': The end of empires, the expansion of tax havens, and decolonization as an economic and financial event |periodical=Past & Present |volume=249 |pages=213–249 |doi=10.1093/pastj/gtaa001 |url=https://academic.oup.com/past/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pastj/gtaa001/5896119}}</ref>

In 1961, the [[Blood Commission]] provided for a new constitution allowing for a measure of self-government and recognising the "State" of Malta. [[Giorgio Borg Olivier]] became Prime Minister the following year, when the [[Stolper report]] was delivered.