Maltese identity and the development of Maltese foreign policy

Abstract

My choice for this particular area of study and research for my thesis goes back to my first degree, which is in Archaeology. During the course of four years of study for an Honours degree in the aforementioned discipline, my eyes were opened to various questions regarding Maltese History. It became clear that in various eras in the history of the Maltese Islands, very little was known with certainty. In some periods, there is not only a lack of written evidence, but also of archaeological evidence, leaving periods where little is known with certainty about what took place. My attention was drawn to the fact that most people in Malta are not only unaware of the 'gaps' in Maltese history, but have actually accepted various 'myths' to cover over these gaps. As in the history of all nations, the writer will write, inevitably, whether wittingly or unwittingly, according to his own personal bias. Facts do not speak for themselves - and interpretation is always subjective. Thus the earliest historiographers tended to embellish their work with various myths, whether of their own invention or handed down to them through tradition remains uncertain. Yet these were nevertheless passed down and at some stage accepted as fact. Later on, many of these 'myths' which had found their places in Maltese History came to be used by those with political power and influence for political ends. Most of these concern the question of the identity of the Maltese people and their place in the world. This directly affects the Maltese relations with the outside world, and following Independence, affected Maltese Foreign Policy.