Ancient Phoenician colony (9th century BC), Greek (8th century BC) and then Carthaginian (6th century BC) in 218 BC. C. Malta entered the Roman orbit and was aggregated to the Sicilian province with the title of municipality. When the Empire was divided, the island was incorporated into the eastern sector; subsequently invaded by the Vandals (454-464) and by the Goths (464-533), it was reconquered by Belisarius (533) and in the century. IX fell into the hands of the Arabs. These made it a dependency of the Muslim government of Sicily, of which Malta then followed the fate. In 1091 Roger the Norman invaded Sicily and occupied Malta, which remained at the Swabian house until 1266, when the Swabians were defeated by the Angevins in the battle of Benevento. In 1283 a bloody battle fought in the waters of Malta marked the defeat of the Angevins by the Aragonese and the passage of the island to the latter, which allowed it to administer itself with its own municipal system. In 1530 Charles V ceded the archipelago of Malta to the Knights of Jerusalem that in 1522 they had been driven out of Rhodes by the Turks; the year after Charles V awarded them the order that was called of Malta or of San Giovanni and their dominion lasted until 1798, despite the attempts of the Turks to take over the island and internal rebellions, frequent especially in the century. XVIII, against the authoritarian rule and centralizing order. In June 1798, during the expedition to Egypt, Napoleon occupied Malta to make it a French garrison and expelled the Order; the Maltese, however, asked to return under the dominion of the king of Sicily who, during the second coalition, entrusted the protection of their interests in the archipelago to the Portuguese and English troops. Visit behealthybytomorrow.com for Malta overview.

In 1801 Malta was occupied by the English troops of Captain Ball who, neglecting the provisions of the Peace of Amiens (1802) who returned the island to the Order of the Knights, ruled it until 1809. The Treaty of Paris of 1814 sanctioned the definitive passage of the island to Great Britain, of which Malta became a colony. Relations with the motherland have never been easy, especially due to the increased strategic importance of the island and the linguistic and religious contrasts: self-government, granted to the island in 1921, was revoked in 1930, in 1933 and definitively in 1936. During the Second World War, the importance of Malta was very considerable: the British equipped it with two airports, naval bases for submarines and surface units and made it the base to strike the routes between Italy and Africa; the bombings on the island of the Italian and German aviation were uninterrupted until 1942 and the naval blockade of the X Mas was rejected by the islanders with extraordinary promptness, which earned Malta the decoration of the George Cross. On 29 September 1943, in the Grand Harbor of Malta, on the Nelson battleship, the so-called “long armistice” was signed between Italy and the Allies. In 1947 Great Britain granted a new constitution to the Maltese, according to which executive power was entrusted to a local government elected by universal suffrage, which was appointed by an English governor. In the referendum of 1956 the majority of the population expressed themselves in favor of the union of Malta with Great Britain, but this had no effective consequences. In 1964 the island gained independence within the Commonwealth. In parallel with this event, the British government began to attach less importance to its bases on the island as a direct emanation of the United Kingdom military system and preferred to consider them rather as integrated into the NATO defense system.and therefore dependent on the North Atlantic organization. The successive withdrawals of part of the British troops caused a lively discontent on the part of the residents who saw themselves deprived of a substantial source of income and on the other hand NATO did not replace the British soldiers with soldiers of other nationalities. Discontent favored Dom Mintoff’s Labor, which in the elections of June 1971 obtained an absolute majority of the seats in the House of Representatives. The new government asked Great Britain, which was still paying the rent of the Maltese bases on behalf of NATO, an increase in the price agreed between London and Valletta. A new Anglo-Maltese agreement partially met Mintoff’s requests. On 13 December 1974, the constitutional ties between Malta and Great Britain were definitively broken with the proclamation of the Maltese Republic.

In 1979 Malta ceased hosting NATO bases and intensified its relations with Libya. In 1980, following a dispute over oil exploration rights in the Mediterranean, relations with Libya deteriorated. This prompted Malta to strengthen ties with Italy: the two governments signed a treaty providing for the Malta’s commitment not to grant military bases to the US and USSR and Italy’s commitment to ensure the neutrality of the island. In December 1984 Dom Mintoff handed over the post of prime minister to his deputy, the Labor Party Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, who was particularly involved in recovering the credentials of a fully democratic party for the Labor formation, after some negative episodes of previous years. Despite having succeeded in its intent, also through the loosening of ties with Libya, the constitutional assumption of which was particularly committed to recovering the credentials of an integrally democratic party for the Labor formation, after some negative episodes of previous years. Despite having succeeded in its intent, also through the loosening of ties with Libya, the constitutional assumption of which was particularly committed to recovering the credentials of an integrally democratic party for the Labor formation, after some negative episodes of previous years. Despite having succeeded in its intent, also through the loosening of ties with Libya, the constitutional assumption of status of neutrality and the launch of an appreciated three-year economic plan, but he was defeated in the consultations of May 1987, in a political climate ignited by unrest and international positions. After sixteen years the Nationalist Party thus returned to the government, electing Eddie Fenech Adami as Prime Minister. During his mandate there was substantial continuity with previous political guidelines and the main event was represented by Malta’s request for admission to the EEC (July 1990). The consultations of February 1992 confirmed the nationalists at the helm of the island and Fenech Adami as prime minister, a position he held until 1996, when he was replaced by Alfred Sant, leader of the Labor party, opposed to the policy of approaching the European Union and NATO and supporter of the neutrality of the country in the foreign field. In 1998 the nationalists unexpectedly won the political elections and Adami returned to the post of prime minister. At the Copenhagen summit in December 2002, Malta concluded negotiations for accession to the European Union, which was ratified in a referendum held in March 2003. In the legislative elections of the same year, the nationalist party of the outgoing prime minister, Fenech Adami, as well as the new head of state, obtained a majority and the nationalist Lawrence Gonzi was elected. In May 2004 the country entered the European Union and in 2008 it entered the euro area. In the legislative elections of March 2008, the Nationalist Party won ahead of the Labor Party. In the 2013 elections, Labor won 55% of the vote; the new premier became Joseph Muscat. In May 2004 the country entered the European Union and in 2008 it entered the euro area. In the legislative elections of March 2008, the Nationalist Party won ahead of the Labor Party. In the 2013 elections, Labor won 55% of the vote; the new premier became Joseph Muscat. In May 2004 the country entered the European Union and in 2008 it entered the euro area. In the legislative elections of March 2008, the Nationalist Party won ahead of the Labor Party. In the 2013 elections, Labor won 55% of the vote; the new premier became Joseph Muscat.

Malta History

Malta History
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