| CODE | HST1062 | ||||||
| TITLE | Malta and War: Military History in Context | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||
| EQF/MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | History | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit is a self-contained one, but at the same time it will serve as a 'road-map' for students of the Diploma ‘Maltese History in Context’ as it will provide the bearings necessary to meander through a rich, complex and evocative past. The lectures are organized in a chronological sequence, but there is a strong thematic element running throughout. The main focus of this study-unit will be the role of Malta during the Second World War, however a lengthy introduction will be given on other military confrontations that the island faced, from 1565 onwards. This is the proposed structure of the study-unit: • Introduction: War and Society: A new perspective on conflict in the Maltese context • Understanding the hierarchy of war-making: The three major levels of War • "The Other": Emotion, morale and the battlefield experience • War and Religion • Malta and European power projection 1789-1815: From the French Revolution to the Concert of Europe • Malta and British power projection 1814-1956: An overview of transitional strategic significance • Fortress Malta 1940–1942: The Air Battle and Defence of Malta During WWII • The Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier: Malta’s Use as an Offensive Base, 1940–May 1943 • The War at Sea and the Malta Convoys • Springboard: Malta’s Use from the Fall of Tunis (1943) to the Suez Crisis (1956) • Public Historical Representations of Maltese History (2 sessions) • Material culture and battlefield tourism (site-visit) Study-Unit Aims: - To show how military history is not an isolated branch of history, but should rather be studied through an array of multi-disciplinary lenses; - To illustrate how war and society are invariably linked, affecting each other in turn; - To demonstrate the evolutionary and reactionary nature of war in its technical specificities; - To help students appreciate the causes and effects of war, going beyond the official commencement and resolution of the conflict. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Appreciate the role that geography played in Malta's military history, particularly the insular nature and the central position in the Middle of the Mediterranean; - Illustrate how Malta's military history was frequently conditioned by a wider struggle for control over the Mediterranean by two opposing polarities; - Link population, geography and geopolitics to the logistical necessities involved in both the defence of Malta, and the use of the islands as a launchpad for offensive operations; - Discuss the role that military history had in shaping the Maltese perceptions of nation and self-determination. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - To define War and Society in the context of traditional military narratives; - To identify a bilateral relationship between conflict-making in Maltese history and the development of Maltese society and identity; - To recognise how Maltese postcolonial identity is shaped by an equal divergence from, and appropriation of, its colonial military legacy; - To notice overlaps in the application and outcome of a military asset in a case study of a conflict. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: View reading list |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Fieldwork | ||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2026/7. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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