The French in Malta

Abstract

In spite of the preoccupation of some historians with historical origins, the French Revolution happened by accident. Following its intervention in the American War of Independence France was bankrupt, and to put its finances in order Louis XVI summoned the long-forgotten Estates General. Once at Versailles the Third Estate swore not to return home without having given France a new constitution. The result was momentous. The gates of history were flung open and an unstoppable deluge carried all before it, both throne and altar. The adherents of the 'the most beautiful revolution that has ever been enacted on the world's theatre' championed the rights of the middle classes and harboured Rousseau's ideas of a contract between the ruler and the ruled. These maxims fitted with the aspirations of the Maltese bourgeoisie, rich but devoid of political rights firmly held by the Hospitallers. The Maltese middle class owes its origin to the demilitarisation of the Mediterranean after the battle of Lepanto in 1571. The age of formal war was over and the 'tired giants', as Braudel refers to Turkey and Spain, were replaced by such upstarts like Algiers and Malta, practising another form of war - corsairing. Lying in the bottleneck between Sicily and North Africa, Malta was perfectly placed to act the part of 'the capital of Christian piracy'. The lure of profit attracted not only Maltese but also foreigners, who established themselves in the four towns round the grand harbour. Between 1590 and 1716 the population of this conurbation increased to about one-half of all the Maltese population. [excerpt]