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Title: | Victorian and Edwardian Malta (1837‑1910) : change and continuity |
Other Titles: | Victorian and Edwardian Malta - proceedings of history week 2019 |
Authors: | Buttigieg, Noel Cassar, George |
Keywords: | Malta -- History -- 19th century Malta -- History -- 20th century Malta -- History -- British occupation, 1800-1964 Malta -- Social life and customs -- History -- 19th century Malta -- Social life and customs -- History -- 20th century Malta -- Politics and government -- History -- 19th century Malta -- Politics and government -- History -- 20th century |
Issue Date: | 2022 |
Publisher: | Malta Historical Society |
Citation: | Buttigieg, N., & Cassar, G. (2022). Victorian and Edwardian Malta (1837‑1910) : change and continuity. In N. Buttigieg & G. Cassar (Eds.), Victorian and Edwardian Malta - proceedings of history week 2019 (pp. 7-23). Malta: Malta Historical Society |
Abstract: | In 1530, Emperor Charles V donated Malta to the Order of St John as a
fiefdom of the Kingdom of Sicily. By the end of the seventeenth century,
the Hospitaller’s rule became more autonomous with the fading away
of feudal concepts. In 1798, the Knights were abruptly ousted from the
Maltese archipelago by Napoleon Bonaparte and his forces. The short
French interlude was rife with unrest as the locals rose in protest and
blockaded the improvised military-cum-civil administration within the
conglomerate of walled towns around Malta’s Grand Harbour. Months
into the rebellion, the Maltese insurgents resorted to foreign professional
support so that along the two-year ordeal the Maltese could count on the
backing of the Portuguese, Neapolitan and British forces. In September
1800, the hostilities ceased as the French forces surrendered. Though the
British had come to Malta’s aid as allies of the King of the Two Sicilies,
having sent their officers to manage the blockade, they now simply took
over the surrender process and made sure of being the ones to receive
the French capitulation.1
Malta became a British Protectorate until 1814,
and then a Crown Colony, as ratified by the Treaty of Paris.2
Foreign
powers, again, defined the fate of Malta as the Treaty of Paris officially
recognised Britain’s “geographical” presence in the Mediterranean. The
Maltese archipelago thus became the sentinel of British interests in the
region and beyond, the same interests that continued to influence the
developments that unfolded during the years 1837–1910. The period under study straddles two significant events in Maltese history – the first was a highly tragic and depressing calamity while the latter may be described as quite euphoric and sportive. In 1837, the cholera epidemic spread like wildfire, causing the death of more than 4,000 inhabitants.3 More than eight decades later, in 1910, the inhabitants were experiencing their first football league championship – the Maltese First Division – won by Floriana in April of that year. The Crown Colony of Queen Victoria (1837–1901) and her immediate successor King Edward VII (1901–10) reflected the ebb and flow of events as dictated by Malta’s key role as a fortress colony of the British Empire in the Mediterranean with all that this brought with it along the years. The long-term political, economic and social effects of the developments unfolding during this period may well have launched the small island colony of Malta into “modernity”. |
URI: | https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/91971 |
Appears in Collections: | Scholarly Works - FacEMATou |
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File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Victorian and Edwardian Malta George Cassar MHS Proceeding 2019.pdf Restricted Access | 132.47 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open Request a copy |
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