Italian irredentism in Malta is the movement that uses an irredentist argument to propose the incorporation of the Maltese islands into Italy, with reference to past support in Malta for Italian territorial claims on the islands. Although Malta had formally ceased to be part of the Kingdom of Sicily only since 1814 following the Treaty of Paris, Italian irredentism in Malta was mainly significant during the Italian Fascist era. [1]
Until the end of the 18th century Malta's fortunes—political, economic, religious, cultural—were closely tied with Sicily's. Successive waves of immigration from Sicily and Italy strengthened these ties and increased the demographic similarity. Italian was Malta's language of administration, law, contracts and public records, Malta's culture was similar to Italy's, Malta's nobility was originally composed of Italian families who had moved to Malta mainly in the 13th century and the Maltese Catholic Church was suffragan of the Archdiocese of Palermo.
There were minor and subtle differences, however. In the early 15th century Malta was incorporated directly into the Sicilian crown following an uprising which led to the abolishment of the County of Malta. Domestic governance was thus left to the Università and the Popular Council, early forms of representative local government. The Maltese language, the creation of the Diocese of Malta as well as the granting of Malta to the Knights Hospitaller in 1530 were developments which started to give a distinct character to Maltese culture and history.
Following a brief French occupation (1798–1800) the British established control over Malta while it was still formally part of the Kingdom of Sicily. During both the French and British periods, Malta officially remained part of the Sicilian Kingdom, although the French refused to recognise the island as such in contrast to the British. Malta became a British Crown Colony in 1813, which was confirmed a year later through the Treaty of Paris (1814). [2]
Cultural changes were few even after 1814. In 1842, all literate Maltese learned Italian while only 4.5% could read, write and/or speak English. [3] However, there was a huge increase in the number of Maltese magazines and newspapers in Italian language during the 1800s and early 1900s. [4]
In 1878, a Royal Commission (the Rowsell-Julyan-Keenan Commission) recommended in its report the Anglicisation of the educational and judicial systems. While the judicial system remained predominantly Italian until the 20th century, teaching of the English language started to be enforced in State schools at the expense of Italian.
The Royal Commission's report also had significant political impact. Supporters and opponents organised themselves into a Reform and Anti-Reform parties which, apart from being the forerunners of the present day two main political parties in Malta, assumed respectively the anglophile and italophile imprint (and also, subsequently, pro-colonial and anti-colonial policies) that were to characterise them for decades to come. [5]
Sette Giugno, a popular revolt in Malta in 1919, was later considered in fascist Italy as the beginning of the "active" Italian irredentism in Malta. This commemoration (official since 1986) is in remembrance of the riots of 1919 when the Maltese population organized marches to obtain some form of representative government. Four people died when troops stationed on the islands fired into the crowd. [6]
The Fascists invested heavily in promoting Italian culture in Malta. They made overtures to a minority who not only loved Italy's language but also saw Malta as a geographical extension of the Italian mainland. Malta was described as "the extreme end of Italian soil" (Senator Caruana Gatto who represented the nobility in Malta in 1923).
The battle, however, was still being fought in largely cultural terms, as the "Language Question" on the role of Italian in education. This led to the revoking (the second) of the Maltese Constitution in 1934 over the Government's budgetary vote for the teaching of Italian in elementary schools. [7] Italian was eventually dropped from official language status in Malta in 1934, its place being taken by Maltese. Italian ceased to be taught at all levels of education and the language of instruction at the University of Malta and the Law Courts. In 1935 there were manifestations against all these decisions, promoted by the Maltese fascists; the Nationalist Party declared that most of the Maltese population was supporting directly or indirectly the Italian Maltese's struggle. But when Italy entered the war on the side of the Axis powers and aerial bombardments of Malta began, what little interest in Italian irredentism that existed in Malta was lost.
The colonial authorities however took precautions; in 1940 they interned and eventually deported 49 Italophile Maltese to Uganda including the leader of the Nationalist Party, Enrico Mizzi. Another 700 Maltese with ideals linked to the Italian irredentism in Malta were sent to camps in central Africa. [8]
A number of Maltese living in Italy participated in fascist organizations and joined the Italian military forces during World War II. Among them were Carmelo Borg Pisani, Antonio Cortis, Paolo Frendo, Ivo Leone Ganado, Roberto Mallia, Manuele Mizzi, Antonio Vassallo, Joe d’Ancona and Carlo Liberto.
Carmelo Borg Pisani attempted to enter Malta during the war (Operation Herkules), but was captured and executed as an alleged spy in November 1942. He received the Gold Medal of Military Valor, the highest Italian military award, by King Victor Emmanuel III a few days after his death. [9] Requests have been made by his family and the Italian government to exhume his body and give it a burial outside prison grounds, which request has never been acceded to. Benito Mussolini called him a "Maltese Martyr" and created in his honor in Liguria the Battaglione Borg Pisani in November 1943, in which other Maltese irredentists fought.
Since World War II, there have been no calls for Italian irredentism in Malta. Enrico Mizzi became Malta's Prime Minister in 1950, but never denied his past when he promoted the union of Malta to Italy: he defined himself as "a man without stain and without fear" (in Italian: "Uomo senza macchia e senza paura"). [10]
Malta has been inhabited since 5900 BC. The first inhabitants were farmers; their agricultural methods degraded the soil until the islands became uninhabitable. The islands were repopulated around 3850 BC by a civilization that at its peak built the Megalithic Temples, which today are among the oldest surviving buildings in the world. Their civilization collapsed in around 2350 BC; the islands were repopulated by Bronze Age warriors soon afterwards.
The Nationalist Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Malta, along with the Labour Party.
Italian irredentism was a political movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Italy with irredentist goals which promoted the unification of geographic areas in which indigenous peoples were considered to be ethnic Italians. At the beginning, the movement promoted the annexation to Italy of territories where Italians formed the absolute majority of the population, but retained by the Austrian Empire after the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866.
Giorgio Borg Olivier was a Maltese statesman and leading politician. He twice served as Prime Minister of Malta as the Leader of the Nationalist Party. He was also Leader of the Opposition between 1955–1958, and again between 1971–1977.
Norman Lowell is a Maltese ultranationalist writer and head and founder of Imperium Europa, a far-right political party. He is also a retired banker and artist.
Fortunato Mizzi was a Maltese lawyer and politician.
Enrico Mizzi was a Maltese politician, leader of the Maltese Nationalist Party from 1926 and briefly Prime Minister of Malta in 1950.
Sette Giugno is a Maltese national holiday celebrated annually on 7 June. It commemorates events which occurred on that day in 1919 when, following a series of riots by the Maltese population, British troops fired into the crowd, killing four people. This led to increased resistance to the colonial government and support for the pro-Italian irredentists that had challenged the British presence on the island.
Capital punishment for murder was abolished in Malta in 1971. However, the death penalty continued to be part of the country's military code until it was fully abolished on 21 March 2000. Malta is a signatory of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that commits it to abolition of the death penalty within its borders. Malta has also ratified protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, that bans the death penalty in all circumstances.
Henry Joseph Frendo is a professor of modern history, teaching at the University of Malta since 1992. Frendo has previously worked with the UNHCR, and was stationed in Switzerland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Papua New Guinea. His main areas of research and interest are related to history since 1798; related to imperialism, nationalism, decolonization, postcolonialism, journalism, migration and ethnicity - in Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and MENA. Other areas of his interest are languages, culture and statehood.He is from Floriana and is brother of Michael Frendo.
Carmelo Borg Pisani was a Maltese artist and Italian Fascist spy, condemned to death for treason in 1942. Pisani was a nationalist who believed that Malta's best chance for independence was to expel the British and unite the island with Italy.
Italian irredentism in Corsica was a cultural and historical movement promoted by Italians and by people from Corsica who identified themselves as part of Italy rather than France, and promoted the Italian annexation of the island.
Maltese Italian is the Italian language spoken in Malta. It has received some influences from the Maltese language.
Herbert Ganado was a Maltese lawyer, president of Catholic Action, editor, politician and author.
The Crown Colony of the Island of Malta and its Dependencies was the British colony in the Maltese islands, today the modern Republic of Malta. It was established when the Malta Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in 1813, and this was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris in 1814.
The Malta, sometimes also known as Gazzetta Maltese, was an Italian-language newspaper founded in 1883 in British Malta.
The Language Question was a linguistic and political controversy in the British colony of Malta which lasted from the early 19th to the mid-20th centuries. It began as a dispute over whether the dominant language on the islands should be English or Italian, and it ended with the native Maltese becoming an official language alongside English.
The Partito Popolare was a political party in the Crown Colony of Malta during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Pisani is an Italian surname which is also common in Malta. Notable people with the surname include:
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