Editing Malta (section)

===French period and British conquest===
{{Main|French occupation of Malta|Siege of Malta (1798–1800)}}

[[File:Napoleonbonapartemalta.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Bust of Bonaparte at [[Palazzo Parisio (Valletta)|Palazzo Parisio]] in Valletta]]
The Knights' reign ended when [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] captured Malta on his way to [[Egypt]] during the [[French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1798|French Revolutionary Wars]] in 1798. During 12–18 June 1798, Napoleon resided at the [[Palazzo Parisio (Valletta)|Palazzo Parisio]] in Valletta.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Palazzo Parisio |url=https://foreignaffairs.gov.mt/en/Pages/Palazzo-Parisio.aspx  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106024002/https://foreignaffairs.gov.mt/en/Pages/Palazzo-Parisio.aspx |archive-date=6 January 2018 |access-date=21 August 2015 |website=gov.mt}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Napoleon's bedroom at Palazzo Parisio in Valletta! |url=http://blog.maltaweathersite.com/2014/01/napoleons-bedroom-at-palazzo-parisio-in-valletta/  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195826/http://blog.maltaweathersite.com/2014/01/napoleons-bedroom-at-palazzo-parisio-in-valletta/ |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=21 August 2015 |website=maltaweathersite.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stagno-Navarra, Karl |date=24 January 2010 |title=Leaving it in neutral |url=http://archive.maltatoday.com.mt/2010/01/24/interview.html  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016010540/http://archive.maltatoday.com.mt/2010/01/24/interview.html |archive-date=16 October 2015 |access-date=21 August 2015 |website=MaltaToday}}</ref> He reformed national administration with the creation of a Government Commission, twelve municipalities, a public finance administration, the abolition of all feudal rights and privileges, the [[Abolitionism in France|abolition of slavery]] and the granting of freedom to all [[Turkish people|Turkish]] and [[Jews|Jewish]] slaves.<ref>{{Cite news |title=This day, May 15, in Jewish history |work=Cleveland Jewish News |url=http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/cjnconnect/blogs/article_057a78b4-3f44-5375-a20d-a850a62b2194.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519165352/http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/cjnconnect/blogs/article_057a78b4-3f44-5375-a20d-a850a62b2194.html |archive-date=19 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="stbenedict">{{Cite web |last=Sciberras |first=Sandro |title=Maltese History – F. The French Occupation |url=http://www.stbenedictcollege.org/stlucija/files/Sandro%20Sciberras/Form%203%20Option%20Maltese%20History/Unit%20F_%20Malta%20under%20the%20French%20+%20WS%2012p.pdf  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503090732/http://www.stbenedictcollege.org/stlucija/files/Sandro%20Sciberras/Form%203%20Option%20Maltese%20History/Unit%20F_%20Malta%20under%20the%20French%20+%20WS%2012p.pdf |archive-date=3 May 2015 |access-date=23 November 2014 |publisher=St Benedict College}}</ref> On the judicial level, a family code was framed and twelve judges were nominated. [[Public education]] was organised along principles laid down by Bonaparte himself, providing for primary and secondary education.<ref name=stbenedict/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Weider |first=Ben |author-link=Ben Weider |title=Chapter 12 – The Egyptian Campaign of 1798 |url=http://www.napoleonicsociety.com/english/Life_Nap_Chap12.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312073211/http://www.napoleonicsociety.com/english/Life_Nap_Chap12.htm |archive-date=12 March 2016 |website=International Napoleonic Society}}</ref> He then sailed for Egypt, leaving a substantial garrison in Malta.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shosenberg |first=J.W. |date=April 2017 |title=NAPOLÉON'S EGYPTIAN RIDDLE |journal=Military History |volume=34 |issue=1 |page=25 |via=Ebsco}}</ref>

The French forces left behind became unpopular with the Maltese, due particularly to the French forces' hostility towards Catholicism and pillaging of local churches to fund war efforts. French financial and religious policies so angered the Maltese that they rebelled, forcing the French to depart. Great Britain, along with the [[Kingdom of Naples]] and the [[Kingdom of Sicily]], sent ammunition and aid to the Maltese, and Britain also sent [[Royal Navy|its navy]], which blockaded the islands.<ref name=stbenedict/>

On 28 October 1798, Captain Sir [[Alexander Ball]] successfully completed negotiations with the French garrison on Gozo for a surrender and transfer of the island to the British. The British transferred the island to the locals that day, and it was administered by Archpriest [[Saverio Cassar]] on behalf of [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies|Ferdinand III of Sicily]]. [[Gozo (independent state)|Gozo remained independent]] until Cassar was removed by the British in 1801.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schiavone |first=Michael J. |title=Dictionary of Maltese Biographies A-F |date=2009 |publisher=Publikazzjonijiet Indipendenza |isbn=978-99932-91-32-9  |pages=533–534}}</ref>

General [[Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois]] surrendered his French forces in 1800.<ref name= stbenedict/> Maltese leaders presented the main island to Sir Alexander Ball, asking that the island become a British [[Dominion]]. The Maltese people created a [[Malta Protectorate#Declaration of Rights|Declaration of Rights]] in which they agreed to come "under the protection and sovereignty of the King of the free people, His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". The Declaration also stated that "his Majesty has no right to cede these Islands to any power...if he chooses to withdraw his protection, and abandon his sovereignty, the right of electing another sovereign, or of the governing of these Islands, belongs to us, the inhabitants and aborigines alone, and without control."<ref name="stbenedict" /><ref name="1940-43">{{Cite book |last=Holland |first=James |url=https://archive.org/details/fortressmaltaisl00holl |title=Fortress Malta An Island Under Siege 1940–43 |publisher=Miramax |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-4013-5186-1}}</ref>