Step back into the Copper Age
to marvel at Malta's unique prehistoric temples. Dating from
as early as 3800 BC, Hagar Qim and the other Neolithic temples
on Malta are the oldest known human structures in the world,
much older than Stonehenge in Britain and even older than
the Egyptian pyramids. This megalithic temple complex is adorned
with carved animals and idols, sacrificial altars and oracular
chambers, all executed with nothing more than flint and obsidian
tools. Giant limestone slabs form a series of ovals laid out
in a pattern that some archaeologists have compared to Mother
Goddess figurines found on the site. The view of the Mediterranean
and the nearby island of Filfla is one of the best in Malta.
Hagar Qim and its neighbour, the Mnajdra temple, are near
the villages of Qrendi and Zurrieq, about 15km (9mi) southwest
of Valletta. Besides serving as holy places, these structures
are also timepieces - they mark the equinoxes by means of
elaborate optical phenomena, with rays of light passing through
holes and doorways and landing on exact spots on the altar
on the specific days, a sight very popular with archeologists
and tourists alike.
How far back in time the history of Malta goes has been a
constant and lively issue of debate for a long time now. No
one knows for definite how, or indeed when, the country got
its name. One version is that the name comes from the Greek
word meli (honey) or melta (bee). Other experts
say that the name Malta stems from the Phoenician word mala,
meaning bridge or harbour. We can say with some confidence
though that the islands of Malta and Gozo have been inhabited
for 7000 years.
The Phoenicians arrived and put down roots in around 800
BC and stayed for about 600 years. They were followed by the
Carthaginians, who took possesion of the islands and used
them as a training ground for their galley crews. During the
Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, the Maltese islands
were attacked numerous times and finally ended up under Roman
control in 208 BC. Roman baths and villas and remains still
dot the island, with some excavations still taking place today.
The local inhabitants were introduced to Christianity in
AD60 when a ship carrying St Paul as a prisoner on his way
to being sentenced in Rome was shipwrecked on Malta. The rock
St Paul was shipwrecked on still bears the name of this patron
saint, while numerous sites in Malta still bear their connection
to this event, while the famous village festa season opens
with the remembrance of this day in Valletta on February 10.
On the partition of the Roman Empire, Malta passed under
the control of Constantinople. The islands experienced a quiet
and prosperous period until North African Arab attacks in
AD870 culminated in the surrender of the islands to the governor
of Muslim Sicily in 870. The Arabs exerted a powerful influence
on the Maltese at the time, introducing citrus fruits and
cotton and warping the language.Subsequently the Normans reconquered
Sicily, and Malta passed back to Christian control in 1090.
The Normans are thought to have granted the red and white
Maltese national flag colours to Malta.The Norman rule of
the 12th century witnessed a great expansion of trade and
a flowering of the arts and sciences, reflecting the splendours
of Sicily itself, but the death of the last Hautville king
in 1194 ushered in a period of confusion. Prosperity alternated
with internal chaos for the rest of the Middle Ages, as the
island repeatedly became caught up in the great dynastic struggles
of the Mediterranean. The Hohenstaufer (mainly Frederick II),
the Angevins, the Aragonnese, the Venetians, the Genoese,
the Papacy, the kings of France and the Arabs - all, at various
times, attempted to gain control of Malta. Political stability
did not return until the 16th century, when Malta, together
with Sicily, became part of the vast empire of Charles V.
In 1530, Emperor Charles V of Spain, recognised the strategic
value of the islands for Christendom and granted the islands
as a fiefdom to the International Order of the Knights of
St John of Jerusalem after the Ottoman Turks ousted the military
order of hospitalers out of Rhodes. He entrusted the defence
of Malta, Gozo and Comino to the Knights, along with the outpost
of Tripoli. The document which ordered this, and was confirmed
by the Pope, can still be seen in Valletta today. The annual
rent the Knights had to pay was purely ceremonial - one live
falcon annually.
In 1564 Süleyman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman
Empire, decided to despatch the largest force of fighting
ships and troops ever assembled in the Mediterranean to destroy
the Knights of Malta. At this time the Ottoman Empire was
at its strongest and greatly feared. In 1565 they laid siege
to the islands. The Knights and the other inhabitants put
up an incredibly defiant defence and, finally, Süleyman
decided to deploy his janisaries (shock troops) to attack
the Maltese defences. These elite troops had never failed
before but, after intense combat, they were repulsed and elsewhere,
Ottoman forces were subsequently routed. They returned home
to face the wrath of the Sultan and never attacked Malta again.
The knights, under La Valette, strengthened the island's fortifications
and succesfully controlled Malta until 1798 when Napoleon
drove them out and claimed Malta for the French Republic.
The handsome limestone buildings and fortifications that the
wealthy Knights left behind are all around the islands.
With fame and power came corruption, and the Knights turned
to piracy. By the time Napoleon arrived in 1798, they were
too enfeebled to put up a fight. This was complicated by the
fact that internal quabbles and the spirit of revolutionary
France had already claimed the hearts of the Maltese and many
Knights long before the physical French attack. The French
were eventually ousted from Malta thanks to a blockade that
was set up by British and Maltese forces around the islands.
On 5 September 1800 the British officially took possession
of the islands. In 1814, the Maltese islands were formally
recognised as a British Crown Colony by the Treaty of Paris.
Malta was to become one of the favorite holiday spots for
famous British personages such as Samuel Coleridge, Lord Byron
and Sir Walter Scott.
During World War I, English navy seamen were garrisoned on
Malta and the islands had the largest military hospital in
the Mediterranean. Britain turned Malta into a major naval
base, making it an inviting target for the Axis powers during
World War II. After a long blockade and five months of non-stop
bombing raids, Malta was devastated but held fast. Because
of the country's important strategic position in WW2 Malta
was bombed incessantly by the Germans and Italians. After
the war, the entire island was awarded the George Cross by
Britain in recognition of the people's fortitude and resistance.
The George Cross still features on the Maltese national flag.
In 1956 a referendum came down heavily in favour of full
integration with Britain, a policy then backed by the governing
Maltese Labour Party (MLP) under Dom Mintoff. Successive rounds
of talks failed, and by 1961 independence was sought by both
the major political parties, the other being the conservative
Nationalist Party then led by Dr Borg Olivier. Independence
was achieved on 21st September 1964, and Dr George Borg Olivier
was elected Prime Minister. The greatest problem that the
Maltese islands had to face after independence was the dismal
state of their economy. Without the British funded docks and
naval base they had to find an alternative income. This was
achieved with the development of small industries as well
as tourism, both of which have been growing steadily in the
last two decades. The two main political parties in Malta
are the Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour party. Malta
has been a member of the United Nations since 1964, and has
become one of the few absolutely neutral countries in the
world after the acceptance of a special declaration made by
the Maltese government in the United Nations in 1987.
Dom Mintoff's Malta Labour Party won the 1971 elections and
began to pursue a policy of neutrality which principle became
entrenched in the constitution. In 1979 the British military
base was closed, and Malta became a republic. In May 1987,
16 years of MLP rule came to an end and Dr Edward Fenech Adami
of the Nationalist Party became Prime Minister. The centre-right
government had followed the general European pattern of liberalising
the economy. The nationalists improved on their previous performance
at the election held in February 1992 and were returned with
an increased majority.
The major political issue of late has been Malta's application
to join the European Union. Domestic opposition to the latter
has been led by the MLP, which claims that EU agricultural
policies will increase the cost of living, and also corrupt
the Republic's traditional neutrality in its foreign policies.
In September 1996, the Fenech-Adami Government, pursuing its
mandate of full EU membership, called a general election.
Despite the PN's record of economic achievement, the EU-indexed
introduction of value added tax would seem to have been far
more unpopular with the electorate than anyone realised. This
led to the narrow victory of the MLP at the polls and the
appointment of a new Government was formed by the MLP's Dr
Alfred Sant, who immediately announced that EU membership
was no longer a future goal. Malta's association agreement
with the EU (signed in 1970) was to be replaced by the establishment
of a 'free trade zone' between Malta and the EU. In September
1998, however, a split within the ranks of the MLP finally
came to a head, after two years in which Dr Sant consistently
found himself at loggerheads with Mintoff, the respected and
still-active powerbroker of the MLP. After a blow-up over
the 1998 budget and plans over a Yacht Marina developement
in the Cottonera area, Mintoff broke with his party and crossed
the floor - thus depriving Sant of his one seat majority.
At a snap general election in September 1998, the Nationalist
Party was returned to power and Fenech-Adami announced that
EU membership was once again on the cards. Within months,
Malta's suspended application was once again submitted to
the EU and the country made Godspeed to resume its road to
membership, now expected in 2003.
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