Features of an island economy : Malta 1800-1914

Abstract

The economic history of Malta in the 19th century, particularly in the first half of the century, is a case-study in economic backwardness. Industrial activity was low; the main form or employment was agricultural, and external commerce fared badly except in times of war. In addition, the monetary system lacked uniformity. and fiscal measures were regressive in that they proved to be inimical to economic welfare. But the first decades of the century also represented an era of transition in Maltese affairs, and like every other transitional period in a nation's history it was perforce difficult and uncertain. The very first years were politically unsettling: towards the end of the 18th century there bad been la short-lived French occupation of the island. an event that had begun by raising Maltese expectations, but which had ended disastrously for the invaders. Then there was a time when the return of the old rule of the Knights was not merely possible but also very probable. However, the years following the failure of the Peace of Amiens in 1802 heralded the dawn of a new era for the Maltese. Then came the fruition of a new political permanence: a defensive arrangement between Malta and the British Crown. In return for protection of Maltese territory, Britain had control of Malta's harbours and sea Ianes in the cause of imperial defence. British protection, however, soon took the form of direct rule, and this caused Malta to lose her former status: once the 'Capital of Christian Piracy' now a mere colony. But MaIta of the Knights was an anachronism in the 19th century, and new conditions prescribed a new form of government which was unlike that of the old regime. Infact, what the British brought to the island was a totally new political and economic relationship between the rulers and the ruled. And this the Maltese had to learn anew.