Reading time - 2 min 12 sec
Independence Day – 21st September (Malta)
Independence Day (Jum l-Indipendenza) is one of Malta’s five national holidays commemorating the country’s declaration of independence on September 21, 1964. Throughout its long and complicated history, Malta has been ruled by various foreign rulers. Such monarchs included the Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Sicilians, Swabians, Aragonese, Hospitallers, French, and British.
Malta’s final ruler, Britain, granted Malta self-government following Malta’s courageous resistance to the Axis powers and loyalty to Britain throughout World War II, allowing the independence movement to gain traction. With the independence of Malta from the British Empire in 1964, Malta joined the Commonwealth of Nations 1964 and a decade later declared itself a republic on Republic Day.
History
Since classical times, Malta has piqued the imagination of travellers due to its strategic location in the Mediterranean Sea. The island facilitated enormous international trade and served as an important military site; it was ideal for navies to halt and relax and an excellent base for military assaults from the air and sea. The Knights of St. John were the island’s longest ruler, ruling for 250 years.
After an assault by French forces commanded by Napoleon, Napoleon’s fleet was on its way to assault Egypt and beyond, but it needed to rest first. Napoleon declined Malta’s request to harbour on its islands, but he would not allow his invasion to fail due to the minor island fault, the state’s, so he invaded and took control of the island. France did not mistreat Malta despite capturing it by force. France instituted several reforms that mirrored those of the French Revolution, such as the abolition of slavery and the dissolution of surviving feudalism. Despite this, the Maltese people considered those regulations excessive because the locals were “primarily governed by two institutions: the nobility and the Church.”
In response to France’s policies during the occupation of 1799, the Maltese people rose against the French. The French had also been stealing art and national treasures from Malta and bringing them back to France, such as Grandmaster Jean Parisot de la Vallette’s sword. Napoleon was at war with the British then, so Napoleon headed for British-controlled Egypt. When the Maltese resistance failed to reclaim their capital of Valletta, they looked to Britain for assistance. Because France was Britain’s adversary, Britain approved Malta’s request for help.
British soldiers blockaded the island and captured it in 1800, led by the famed Admiral Lord Nelson. Britain annexed Malta into their empire, and in 1869, Malta became well-known for serving as a midway point between British Gibraltar and the newly opened Suez Canal. Once fortified, the island would be home to the British Mediterranean fleet.
The Second World War would occur a century later. The Axis countries would constantly try to destroy or capture the island because it was the home of the British fleet in the Mediterranean. Despite the destruction caused by this, Malta was resolute in refusing to surrender. The British rewarded their staunch resistance to the Nazis and Fascist Italians, who awarded the Maltese people the George Cross and pledged independence. It wasn’t until September 21, 1964, that complete freedom was granted, despite local control being given in 1947. A decade later, Malta became a republic, and British forces ultimately left the nation after the defence pact expired on March 31, 1979, marked as “Freedom Day.”
){kind=link}