Malta

Malta An island state of a historical importance disproportionate to its small size, due to its strategic position at the heart of the Mediterranean. It was annexed to the British Crown in 1814. A legislative assembly was established in 1921 but there were spasmodic riots against colonialism throughout the 1920s; in 1933 the constitution was suspended. The island was severely bombed during World War II, especially during the Great Siege of 1941–2. In all, around 14,000 tons of bombs destroyed some 35,000 buildings. George VI awarded the island the UK's highest civilian honour, the George Cross, in 1942. After the war Britain was reluctant to allow independence owing to the island's usefulness as a ‘stationary aircraft carrier’. However, increasing resistance to British rule, which sometimes erupted into violent outbursts, eventually led to independence in 1964, with Giorgio Borg Olivier (b. 1911, d. 1980) as Prime Minister (1962–71). Olivier was succeeded by Dominic Mintoff (b. 1916), leader of the Labour Party, who dominated Maltese politics until his retirement in 1984. He negotiated an agreement with NATO, which could continue to use naval bases, even after the withdrawal of all British land forces in 1979. In 1987, the Labour Party lost the parliamentary elections to the Nationalist Party. Led by Edward ( ‘Eddie’) Fenech-Adami, who became Prime Minister, it sought to reduce the country's diplomatic and economic isolation. Malta applied for membership of the European Community in 1990. The application was withdrawn in 1996, however, when the Labour Party returned to power. Malta re-applied in 1998, after Fenech-Adami returned to power. Negotiations with the European Union started in the same year, and it was expected that Malta would be accepted into the EU in 2004/2005.