A tumultuous year in America : how the Maltese viewed pivotal American events between 1962 and 1963

Abstract

The aim for this dissertation is to look at pivotal American events between 1962/3 through a Maltese perspective. In the early 1960s, the US was going through a momentous transitional period that was defined by Cold War era politics and a changing society that saw a wide-scale organized effort to bring social justice to marginalised groups. Malta too was going through an important transitional period, although of a different type. As Malta between the years of 1962/3 was on the verge of achieving independence in a Cold War era, it is important to see how international events were viewed by the Maltese and to what extent, they were influenced and effected by them. What this dissertation aims to do is to study and analysis how the Maltese public and press reacted to these American events and the general Cold War trends and how or if these events affected Malta in any way. This analysis was conducted through four different Maltese newspapers popular in the early 1960s, each representing different agendas and the different aspects of Maltese society.