Enrico Mizzi : between Nationalism and Irredentism

Abstract

In my dissertation there will be two main themes which will be discussed in relation to the figure of Enrico Mizzi, comparing it with other case-studies of Irredentism in the Mediterranean and the British Empire. These themes are those of ‘nationalism’ and ‘irredentism’. In my arguments the former will be associated with the drive towards further autonomy if not for independence from British rule as expressed by the 1932 Maltese parliamentary delegation to London which demanded Dominion Status for Malta, while the latter will be more associated with the drive towards a unification or the creation of a federation with Italy as expressed by Mizzi’s 1912 article ‘Il Convegno di Malta’. In this chapter I shall discuss the multifarious nature of nationalism, its various faces and the specific nature of irredentism as a manifestation of nationalism. This shall be done by assessing the arguments made by various historians and political thinkers during the last 200 years such as Rousseau, Rénan, Mazzini, Corradini, Benedict Anderson, A. D. Smith whose system I shall use extensively his system for conceptual clarity and coherence, and Kornprobst. Whilst writing my dissertation I shall quote from various sources such as; newspaper like the Malta, l’Eco di Malta e Gozo, Patria!; where and I shall consider as also part of Mizzi’s opinions the various articles which appear on these newspapers whose editor would be Mizzi and therefore he would personally approve each article before being published on the same newspaper. I shall also examine parliamentary debates particularly those of the Legislative Assembly In the following chapters I will also be comparing Malta’s case to other similar ones in the Mediterranean as the Venezia Giulia, Corsica and the Trentino and within the British Empire with particular attention the case of Cyprus.