Malta

   An island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily and east of Tunisia, Malta was ruled by the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, a chivalric and monastic order that went back to the Crusades, until conquered by the French under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. It was then occupied by the British, who in 1800 ejected the French. By the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, Britain agreed to withdraw but then refused to do so in the face of other French violations of the temporary peace.

   In 1815, Britain remained in Malta, using its excellent fortified harbor at Valetta as a major base for the Royal Navy. Malta’s strategic value to the British Empire was enhanced by the fleet build during the Crimean War, 1854–1856, and by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Malta’s Grand Harbor was vital to the British war effort after 1914, and the island remained a British possession until the mid-twentieth Century.

   See also <>; <>; <>.

   FURTHER READING:

    Blouet, Brian W. The Story of Malta . New York: F. A. Praeger, 1967;

    Lee, Hilda I. Malta 1813–1914: A Study in Constitutional and Strategic Development . Valletta: Progress Press, 1973;

    Rodger, N.A.M. The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815 . New York: W. W. Norton, 2004.

   MARK F. PROUDMAN