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Historyof Malta Text: wikipedia/Anders Dernback
Historyof Malta Malta has a long history and was first inhabited in around 5900 BC. The first inhabitants were farmers, and their agricultural methods degraded the soil until the islands became uninhabitable. The islands were repopulated in around 3850 BC by a civilization which 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, but the islands were repopulated by Bronze Age warriors soon afterwards.
Phoenicia Phoenicia from the Ancient Greek: Φοινίκη, Phoiníkē meaning "purple country") was a thalassocratic ancient Semitic speaking Mediterranean civilization that originated in the Levant in the west of the Fertile Crescent. Scholars generally agree that it included the coastal areas of today's Lebanon, northern Israel and southern Syria reaching as far north as Arwad, but there is some dispute as to how far south it went, the furthest suggested area being Ashkelon. Its colonies later reached the Western Mediterranean (most notably Carthage) and even the Atlantic Ocean. The civilization spread across the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicia#/media/File:PhoenicianTrade.png
Roman Republic The Roman Republic was the era of classical Roman civilization beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom, traditionally dated to 509 BC, and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire. It was during this period that Rome's control expanded from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic#/media/File:Roman_Republic-44BC.png
History of Malta 2 Malta's prehistory ends in around 700 BC, when the islands were colonized by the Phoenicians. They ruled the islands until they fell to the Roman Republic in 218 BC. The Romans were followed by the Byzantines in the 6th century AD, who were expelled by Aghlabids following a siege in 870 AD. Malta may have been sparsely populated for a few centuries until being repopulated by Arabs in the 11th century. The islands were conquered by the Norman Kingdom of Sicily in 1091, and a gradual Christianization of the islands followed. At this point, the islands were dominated by successive feudal rulers including the Swabians, the Aragoneseand eventually the Spanish. Portrait ofGerard Tum
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, which had been founded as Byzantium). It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. Both "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" are historiographical terms created after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire
Kingdom ofSicily for a time Africa from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of the southern peninsula. The island was divided into three regions: Val di Mazara, Val Demone and Val di Noto; 'val' being the Arabic word meaning 'district'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Sicily#/media/File:Kingdom_of_Sicily.jpg
Aghlabids In 800, the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid appointed Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab, son of a KhurasanianArab commander from the Banu Tamim tribe, as hereditary Emir of Ifriqiyaas a response to the anarchy that had reigned in that province following the fall of the Muhallabids. At that time there were perhaps 100,000 Arabs living in Ifriqiya, although the Berbers still constituted the great majority. The Aghlabid kingdom reached its high point under Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Aghlabi(856-863). Ifriqiyawas a significant economic power thanks to its fertile agriculture, aided by the expansion of the Roman irrigation system. It became the focal point of trade between the Islamic world and Byzantium and Italy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aghlabids#/media/File:Aghlabid_in_900_ad.png
Swabians Swabian culture, as distinct from its Alemannic neighbours, evolved in the later medieval and early modern period. After the disintegration of the Duchy of Swabia, a Swabian cultural identity and sense of cultural unity survived, expressed in the formation of the Swabian League of Cities in the 14th century, the Swabian League of 1488, and the establishment of the Swabian Circle in 1512. During this time, a division of culture and identity developed between Swabia and both the Margraviate of Baden to the west and the Swiss Confederacy to the south.
Crown ofAragon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_Aragon#/media/File:Corona_aragonum_1441.svg Formally, the political center of the Crown of Aragon was Zaragoza, where kings were crowned at La Seo Cathedral. The 'de facto' capital and leading cultural, administrative and economic centre of the Crown of Aragon was Barcelona, followed by Valencia. Finally, Palma (Majorca) was an additional important city and seaport. The Crown of Aragon eventually included the Kingdom of Aragon, the Principality of Catalonia (until the 12th century as County of Barcelona), the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Majorca, the Kingdom of Sicily, Malta, the Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sardinia. For brief periods the Crown of Aragon also controlled Montpellier, Provence, Corsica, and the twin Duchy of Athens and Neopatrasin Latin Greece. Territories subject to the Crown of Aragon in 1446, after Alfonso V's conquest of Sardinia.
Spanish Empire Was one of the largest empires in history. From the late 15th century to the early 19th, Spain controlled a huge overseas territory in the New World and the Asian archipelago of the Philippines, what they called "The Indies" (Spanish: Las Indias). It also included territories in Europe, Africa and Oceania. The Spanish Empire was the first global empire in history, the world's most powerful empire during the 16th and early 17th centuries, reaching its maximum extension in the 18th century.[4] The Spanish Empire was the first empire to be called "the empire on which the sun never sets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Empire#/media/File:Spanish_Empire_Anachronous_en.svg
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire at its greatest extent in Europe, under Sultan Mehmed IV in late 17th century The Exalted Ottoman State; Modern Turkish: , also historically known in Western Europe as the Turkish Empire or simply Turkey, was a state that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia and North Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries. It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt (modern-day Bilecik Province) by the Oghuz Turkish tribal leader Osman I. After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans, the Ottoman beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OttomanEmpireMain.png
History of Malta 3 The islands were given to the Order of St. John in 1530, who ruled them as a vassal state of Sicily. In 1565, the Ottoman Empire attempted to take the islands in the Great Siege of Malta, but the invasion was repelled. The Order continued to rule Malta for over two centuries, and this period was characterized by a flourishing of the arts and architecture and an overall improvement in society. The Order was expelled after the French First Republic invaded the islands in 1798, marking the beginning of the French occupation of Malta. Grand Master and senior Knights Hospitallerin the 14th century
GreatSiegeof Malta Took place in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire tried to invade the island of Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The Knights, with approximately 2,000 footsoldiers and 400 Maltese men, women and children, withstood the siege and repelled the invaders. This victory became one of the most celebrated events in sixteenth-century Europe. Voltaire said, "Nothing is better known than the siege of Malta", and it undoubtedly contributed to the eventual erosion of the European perception of Ottoman invincibility and marked a new phase in Spanish domination of the Mediterranean The siege of Malta (1565) –Arrival of the Turkish Fleet
FrenchFirst Republic Was founded on 22 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under Napoleon, although the form of the government changed several times. This period was characterized by the fall of the monarchy, the establishment of the National Convention and the Reign of Terror, the Thermidorian Reaction and the founding of the Directory, and, finally, the creation of the Consulate and Napoleon's rise to power.
Frenchoccupation ofMalta The French occupation of Malta lasted from 1798 to 1800. It was established when the Order of Saint John surrendered to Napoleon Bonaparte following the French landing in June 1798. In Malta, the French have established a constitutional tradition in Maltese history (as part of the French Republic), granted free education for all, and established the freedom of press, such as with the publication of the Journal de Malte. The French abolished nobility, slavery, the feudal system, and the inquisition. The only remaining architectural feature of the French occupation is probably the defacement of most coat-of-arms on the façades of buildings of the knights.[4] The Maltese soon rebelled against the French and drove the French garrison into Valletta and the Grand Harbourfortifications where they were besieged for more than two years. The French surrendered Malta when their food supplies were about to run out.
TreatyofParis (1814) The Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, following an armistice signed on 23 April between Charles, Count of Artois, and the allies. The treaty set the borders for France under the House of Bourbon and restored territories to other nations. It is sometimes called the First Peace of Paris, as another one followed in 1815.
Malta Protectorate During the Maltese uprising against the French, the Maltese people formed a National Assembly as a provisional government. Messengers were sent to the British fleet in Sicily for help, and a British convoy consisting of 13 battered ships under Captain Sir James Saumarezappeared off the island in late September 1798. In October Sir Alexander Ball arrived in Malta, and a year later he was appointed as Civil Commissioner. Sir Alexander Ball, Civil Commissioner of Malta 1799-1801 and 1802-1809 The French garrison under General Vaubois had been driven to Valletta, and finally surrendered on 4 September 1800. Malta therefore became a British Protectorate. In August 1801, the Civil Commissioner, Charles Cameron, appointed Emmanuel Vitale as Governor of Gozoinstead of SaverioCassar. This effectively brought an end to Gozo'sindependence as la NazioneGozitana.
Siege of Malta (World War II) The Siege of Malta in the Second World War was a military campaign in the Mediterranean Theatre. From 1940–42, the fight for the control of the strategically important island of Malta, then a British colony, pitted the air forces and navies of Italy and Germany against the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. The opening of a new front in North Africa in June 1940 increased Malta's already considerable value. British air and sea forces based on the island could attack Axis ships transporting vital supplies and reinforcements from Europe; Churchill called the island an "unsinkable aircraft carrier". General Erwin Rommel, in de facto field command of Axis forces in North Africa, recognisedits importance quickly. In May 1941, he warned that "Without Malta the Axis will end by losing control of North Africa". A heavily bomb-damaged street in Valletta, Malta. This street is Kingsway, the principle street in Valetta. Service personnel and civilians are present clearing up the debris.
After a few months of French rule, the Maltese rebelled and the French were expelled in 1800 with British, Neapolitan and Portuguese assistance. Malta subsequently became a British protectorate, becoming a de facto colony in 1813. This was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris a year later. The islands became an important naval base for the British, serving as the headquarters of the Mediterranean Fleet. Due to this, Malta was attacked by the Axis powers during World War II, and in 1942 the island was awarded the George Cross, which today appears on Malta's flag and coat of arms. The Crown Colony of Malta was self-governing from 1921–33, 1947–58 and 1962–64. Malta became independent as a Commonwealth realm known as the State of Malta in 1964, and it became a republic in 1974. Since 2004, the country has been a member state of the European Union.
