Malta

The many ancient monuments and remains on Malta attest to the great age of its civilization. Remains from Stone Age and Bronze Age peoples have been found in subterranean burial chambers near Ra‰al "did. The islands became a Phoenician colony about 1000 BC. In 736 BC they were occupied by the Greeks, who called the colony Melita, and later the islands passed successively into the possession of Carthage and Rome. At the division of the Roman Empire in AD 395, Malta was awarded to the Eastern Roman Empire. The islands were occupied by Arabs in 870. A Norman army conquered the Maltese Arabs in 1090, and Malta was later made a feudal fief of the kingdom of Sicily. In 1530 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V granted Malta to the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who ruled the islands until the 19th century. After a famous and unsuccessful siege by the Ottoman Turks in 1565, the Knights fortified Valletta so strongly that it became one of the greatest Mediterranean strongholds. British Rule Established In 1798 Napoleon invaded and occupied the islands during his Egyptian campaign. Unwilling to be ruled by France, the Maltese appealed to Great Britain, and in 1799 the British naval officer Horatio Nelson besieged Valletta and compelled the withdrawal of the French. By the terms of the Treaty of Paris, in 1814, Malta became part of the British Empire as a crown colony. The Maltese increasingly demanded self-government during the 19th century. In 1921, as a reward for its help during World War I, the colony was given a constitution that provided for a legislature elected by the inhabitants. The strategic position of the islands made Malta the object of many Italian intrigues. In 1936, because of increasing Italian influence, the constitution was revoked. During World War II (1939-1945) Allied fighter planes and submarines were based on Malta. Consequently, Malta withstood heavy bombing by the German and Italian air forces; in 1942 George VI, king of Great Britain, awarded the colony as a whole the George Cross for heroism. Independence Gained A constitution effective on November 1, 1961, gave Malta internal self-government. In the campaign preceding the first election under the new constitution, the Labour Party called for independence outside the Commonwealth; the Nationalists, the other major party, which advocated independence within the Commonwealth, won the election, and their leader, George Borg Olivier, became prime minister. Malta became independent on September 21, 1964, and a United Nations member on December 1. Mintoff's Government In elections in June 1971, Olivier's Nationalist Party was defeated by the Labour Party, and Dominic Mintoff became prime minister of a Labour cabinet. He changed the form of the island's government to that of a republic in 1974. In the subsequent years the country's politics became violently polarized, and Mintoff was accused of strong-arm tactics. Claiming nonalignment in international affairs, the country declined in 1979 to renew the agreement under which British troops of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had rented facilities on the island. Malta and Libya cooperated closely in the late 1970s, but relations were strained in 1980 by a dispute over oil-drilling rights in Mediterranean waters. In December 1981, Mintoff's government won a mandate for a third five-year term in office; in December 1984, however, Mintoff resigned and was succeeded in office by his education minister, Carmelo Mifsud-Bonnici. After 16 years out of power, the Nationalist Party won the national election of May 1987, and its leader, Eddie Fenech Adami, became prime minister. The Nationalists retained their majority in the February 1992 election. In 1990 Malta and Libya renewed their bilateral cooperation treaty until 1995. Ties between the two countries have been strengthened by the abolition of visa requirements and the establishment of Voice of the Mediterranean, a jointly administered radio station. Malta submitted an application for full membership in the European Union (EU) in 1990, and negotiations on this subject were underway in the mid-1990s.