The French period in Malta : an appraisal of historiographical trends

Abstract

Attitudes, backgrounds and preferences of historians contribute to wide ranging interpretations of past events and variations in assumptions, approaches and styles. As Gardiner points out, all this takes place because 'what exists are historians writing upon different levels and at different distances and with different interests, historians writing with different contexts and from different points of view'. This constitutes what is normally understood by the broad term of historiography. Change in historical methodology and theoretical formulations during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is the overall theme of this dissertation. The French period has been selected as a case-study in historiography to enable an analysis of the different ways and attitudes of historians in their endeavour to bring to life what constitutes the French period in Malta. This includes the take-over of the Maltese islands by the French authorities, the vicissitudes of the Maltese during the epoch, the Maltese upheaval against the Republican forces as well as the eventual abdication of the French occupying troops.