Editing History of Malta (section)

=== 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 Again, in 1933 the Constitution was withdrawn over the Government's budgetary vote for the teaching of Italian in elementary schools, after just 13&nbsp;months of a Nationalist administration.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.