https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/28555 2026-04-13T05:04:35Z 2026-04-13T05:04:35Z Frendo, Henry https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/28619 2018-04-03T01:22:35Z 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The transformation of a national culture : towards a two party system Authors: Frendo, Henry Abstract: In the early 1920's Malta was more urbanized, less agricultural, rather more secular-minded than half-a-century earlier. There was a greater national and social consciousness, especially among industrial workers and lower grade employees. Economic policy began seriously to command the attention of politicians. Malta had better communications, more schools, was cleaner, and above all, felt reasonably free. Although certain topics of conversation and dispute were as familiar as the names of the party leaders, the grant of self-government marked a sense of achievement and naturally was accompanied by a determination to tackle the country's problems from a position of authority and responsibility. The theme of 'taxation without representation' could no longer apply: to that extent the often blind opposition to taxes receded into the background. Similarly, the constant claims for constitutional reform had now been very largely met: to that extent the constitutional problem was solved. 'Religious' problems were almost non-existent: anticlericalism in nationalist politics had originated from criticism of the church hierarchy rather than from different religious views or beliefs - securalisation had affected attitudes to government rather than to religion - and the danger of proselytism was no longer present, now the government had control over activities by Protestant groups and churches. In 1921 (as in 1887) all parties were agreed that Roman Catholicism should be Malta's established religion. But the earlier patriotic consensus with regard to the Italian language did not exist: the language question, with its multifold connotations and repercussions, was still at the fore of public debate, just as a religious disposition continued to be central to the way of life. Description: Includes Index of Names, Bibliography and Appendixes

1991-01-01T00:00:00Z Frendo, Henry https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/28618 2018-04-03T01:23:01Z 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Old wine in new bottles : political parties and the grant of responsible government Authors: Frendo, Henry Abstract: 'An old order of things is tumbling down and another order is being set up, not, as of old, on its ruins, but on a completely new foundation'; so wrote the Voce del Popolo in 1919, commenting on a moving performance of Girolamo Royetta's Romanticismo at the Manoel Theatre: that 'magnificent demonstration of patriotism which reached its climax at the scene of Mazzini's oath and at the cry of Vitaliano Lamberti "Now is the time!" '. Just like the red and white ribbons being worn in button-holes, the crowded meetings of the Assemblea Nazionale were representative and symbolic. The Giovine Malta hall was 'packed with people, of all classes and social standing, of no political party, but of one creed, and that creed Nationalism'. Elated by a demonstration outside his residence in celebration of the achievement of self-government, Sceberras told the crowd that the time had come for all parties to sink all political differences and work the new constitution in a loyal spirit. Purging the past of all its ills and, for a moment, anticipating a changed world after years of waiting and suffering, this euphoria was a catharsis, a short-lived dream because conflict is endemic in society and the solution lay precisely in cultivating political parties as a rational mechanism whereby to channel and regulate differences of opinion in an orderly manner within the radically transformed constitutional order that was about to start functioning.

1991-01-01T00:00:00Z Frendo, Henry https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/28603 2018-04-03T01:22:39Z 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The long road to responsible government : Maltese politics and society under a non-representative constitution 1903-1919 Authors: Frendo, Henry Abstract: Strickland's transfer to the Leeward Islands was neither a concession nor a cure; it was one of the Colonial Office's last moves in a concerted attempt to ensure that when the 1887 constitution was revoked the blame could be seen to have been entirely that of the elected members themselves. Chamberlain agreed with Grenfell that the constitution was 'doomed to failure from the outset' as the elected members could hamper the governor by exercising control over finances while they themselves complained that they had no real power. In accordance with Chamberlain's view 'the more they reject the better, in June 1903 the education estimates which the elected members had refused to pass in April were again brought forward: had the official members lost their senses, asked Azzopardi, or did they think that the Maltese population and their representatives were mad? With Strickland out of the way, a new governor in the person of General Clarke, and the Coronation festivities over, the last signs of resistance in the Council served as the immediate pretext for the Letters Patent and Royal Instructions of 3 June which abolished the elected majority in the legislature and the unofficial element in the executive, making Malta once again a Crown Colony as under the 1849 constitution. Such a forced and arbitrary return to the old order is an act without a parallel in twentieth century British imperial history: the case of British Guiana in 1928 was rather like that of Jamaica in 1866,5 that of Newfoundland in 1933 was hardly comparable since Newfoundland, being utterly bankrupt, surrendered its status voluntarily. Cyprus lost its 1882 constitution in 1931 following an open revolt (partly provoked by fears of an attempt at 'dehellenisation') in which Government House in Nicosia was burned down. Under the administration of Governor Clarke and Strickland's successor Lieutenant Governor E. M. Merewether, the Council very nearly ceased to function as a significant body.

1991-01-01T00:00:00Z Frendo, Henry https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/28601 2018-04-03T01:22:36Z 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The nationalist struggle against Strickland’s administration 1899-1902 Authors: Frendo, Henry Abstract: The fin de siecle imperialism, a sharp, heady reaction against Little England and laissez faire, saw old idols broken in a sudden conversion to the new religion of possession and race: "Darwin's survival of the fittest was being elevated from a biological theory to a political precept. ... In some, the admiration of Prussianism, the policy of efficiency and 'thorough', began to march with a distrust in parliamentary institutions." Joseph Chamberlain, the colonial minister from 1895 to 1903, had not much faith in parliamentary institutions in colonies, as his adamant refusal to concede the elective principle in Trinidad soon after he assumed office indicated. The Anglo-Boer war in Transvaal (1899-1902) was indicative of the times: anti-imperialism reached new heights as nationalist leaders, such as Henri Bourassa in Quebec, used the war to attack Britain. Had it been for Chamberlain, Malta would not have been granted representative government: 'I would never have granted it', he wrote in 1900, 'but it is a strong thing to take it away and we cannot do it without a very clear case. My policy is to give the Maltese agitators all the rope possible'. Strickland was increasingly in his element; and the new governor, General (later Field-Marshal) Grenfell (1899-1903) was, like his predecessors, prepared to grant Strickland his fiat in administrative affairs.

1991-01-01T00:00:00Z