Italian propagandist activities in Malta 1930-39

Abstract

One of the major problems in writing this thesis, was that of source material. At the very beginning I realised that material available in Malta was not enough to give a detailed picture of the Italian and pro-Italian activity carried in Malta and the accompanying British policies. So two long visits were made to the Public Record Office in London where I had access to the Colonial Office and Foreign Office records and Cabinet papers. Colonial Office records are informative. They do not only provide details about Italian activities in the Island which are fully reported in Governor's despatches, but also shed light on important decisions taken by Colonial administrators in order to combat Italian propaganda. Appended to the Governor's despatches are extremely valuable reports compiled by the Defence Security Officer. These reports are based on information collected through a very intricate Intelligence network which helped the Defence Security officer to compile data, in a very elaborate way, on the various Italian and fascist organizations and persons connected with them. The reliability of this source, rests on the fact that the Defence Security officer had at his disposition informants all over the island and also persons employed with the Italian Consulate