The Bomb Determined Malta’s Independence

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30562, 3 October 1964, Page 5

The Bomb Determined Malta’s Independence

IBv It. H. C. STEED tn th« "Daily Telegraph," London!

pOR 2000 years Malta, mid-way between Eastern and Western Mediterranean, has been the military bastion of • successive civilisations. The dominant empire of each epoch has been bound either to hold the fortress for itself or at least to deny it to any possible rival.

Always at the centre of things, too small to stand alone, yet too important to be left alone, Malta has been alternately colony, fief or protectorate. She has developed a culture of her own, has accumulated great archaeological treasures, has repeatedly asserted a will of her own and has run her own internal affairs, but always as an appendage in some form or other of some great Power.

In recent times both Napoleon and Nelson called Malta “the greatest fortress in Europe.” After the opening of the Suez Canal a century ago Britain built up Malta into a powerful base, almost as much a part of the British Navy as Portsmouth itself. The Second World War and Malta’s heroic resistance against all attacks seemed to confirm the role of fortress as Malta’s destiny and livelihood for centuries more to come.

Yet, in the 1950'5, it suddenly seemed that nuclear weapons had changed all previous strategic concepts in such a way as to undermine Malta’s age-old function as a fortress. Britain announced a plan for the drastic reduction of her naval, air and military establishments on the island. Not Indispensable In the face of these developments it could no longer be argued that Malta was indispensable for the defence of Britain and the Mediterranean. This disposed of the last British objection to the increasingly urgent demands of the Maltese for the independence that had already been granted to many other far less mature and no more viable territories. In the summer of 1963 the date for independence was fixed for May 31, 1964. But there was a slip between cup and lip, or rather a delay of a few months, caused by political differences in Malta. The Malta Government’s independence constitution was supported by a majority of those voting in a referendum, but a final effort was made in discussions with the British Government to meet the objections of the Opposition. Eventually agreement on amendments was reached between the two Governments, end September 21 set for independence. Vulnerable Flank Yet, while all this was going on, there were reminders that Malta was not going to escape altogether from her role as a fortress. This crisis in Cyprus, which exploded last Christmas, opened up NATO’s eastern flank. The revolution in Zanzibar and the East African mutinies were a shock to confidence. The Cuba missile crisis of 1962 was fresh in people’s minds. The approaching loss of Britain’s base in Libya was another factor showing that Malta’s military significance would continue for some time to come. This is the background to the 10-year defence agreement between Britain and independent Malta.

Malta was first brought in to the stream of Mediterranean culture in the eighth century B.C. when the Phoenicians began making use of the island’s now famous harbours and established settlements around them. After the eclipse of the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians took over, systematically colonising Malta and giving it their language. The first of Malta’s “big days” in world history was in 216 B.C. when Hamilcar surrendered to the Romans there. The outstanding events during the long Roman occupation was the shipwreck of St Paul in the Maltese bay that has since borne his name and his conversion of the island to Christianity. After the fall of the West Roman empire Malta remained under the jurisdiction of the East Roman empire based on Constantinople until 870 A.D., when it was engulfed in the Arab conquests along the Southern Mediterranean. Two centuries of Arab occupation added a layer of the Arabic language to the existing Punic. The two became fused into the Semitic basis of modern Maltese, to which Italian and English words have been added. Succession Of Rulers In 1090, Roger the Norman expelled the Arabs and gave Malta its national colours and a degree of self-government that the Maltese, through all their vicissitudes, have jealously defended and sedulously expanded. There followed a succession of German, Angevin and Aragonese rulers. Tn 1427, the Maltese rebelled against their local feudal lord and were granted direct recognition and a charter by Alphonsus, King of Spain. Then, in 1530, began the golden age of Malta as the headquarters of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. In 1565 Malta defended the whole of Christendom when it withstood the onslaught of the Turks in the Great Siege. The present capital, Valletta, was built to commemorate the victory. For more than 200 years the knights, under their Grand Masters, brought splendour, wealth, trade and security to Malta and endowed it with the architectural glories that attract visitors from all over the world. Then the Order decayed and misrule led to uprisings by the populace. The change to what may be ; called modern times came in 1798, when Napoleon’s forces seized the island, only to be driven out two years later,, with British help, by the Maltese, enraged by the des- . poliation of the churches by the French troops.

In 1802, the Maltese, seeking protection against the French, invited Britain to take over. This was confirmed in 1814 by the Treaty of Paris. The Maltese maintain that their islands were never a British colony in the ordinary sense but a protectorate resulting from a voluntary request. All the same, Britain governed Malta as a Crown colony, with a governor assisted by an advisory council. Maltese participation increased under a succession of constitutions which led up to internal self-government in 1921. Britain, however, retained reserve powers in the rather widely-drawn fields of foreign affairs and defence. Political Struggle Since then there has been a constitutional struggle between the Maltese political leaders and the British Government, with occasional crises and suspensions of the constitution.

The problem has been the hitherto insoluble one of how Malta, while providing Britain with the necessary defence facilities, was to have complete freedom of action in running her own affairs. Or, alternatively, if Malta was to be treated as a British Portsmouth in the Mediterranean, as under the ingenious “integration” scheme, how was the Maltese standard of living, well above the Mediterranean average, but well below the British, to be suddenly hoisted, up to British parity?

Economic Problems

As we have seen, in the end it remained for the H-bomb, the “wind of change,” Maltese persistence, and a great measure of good will on both sides to point to the solution. There were, however, in addition, extraordinary economic problems to be settled. It was necessary to provide an entirely new economic basis for an island which for more than a century had been geared to find its livelihood in the provision of services for the British base and personnel. Britain accepted that she had a responsibility to make a major contribution to the necessary economic redeployment and development. In the five-year plan that is just ending she contributed £29,250,000 in grants and loans. Under the defence and financial aid agreements signed on independence Britain will during the first 10 years after independence, contribute up to another £5O million towards further economic development. As a result of what has already been achieved and what

is planned Malta will, it is hoped, be able to establish a balanced and viable economy.

One pillar of this is the converted dockyard, now doing a brisk and expanding commercial business. Another is a growing light industry, based on the skills practised in the dockyard and arsenal and on a plentiful supply of labour from an educated, and adaptable population. The third is the longestablished tourist trade, which is capable of tremendous further expansion with the present boom in tourism and for which the island’s situation, climate and historic treasures make it well suited. Malta has many problems in establishing a peace-time economy in a highly competitive world. She is facing them with the courage she has always shown in the military trials of the past. No country has ever entered independence with a higher reputation, greater potential or more genuine and proven friends.