Concept
French invasion of Malta
Overview
The French First Republic, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, successfully invaded the islands of Malta and Gozo, then ruled by the Knights Hospitaller, in June 1798 as part of the Mediterranean campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars.
The initial landings were met with some resistance from both the Order and the Maltese militia, but in less than a day the French had taken control of the entire Maltese archipelago except for the well-fortified harbour area that included the capital Valletta. The Order had the means to withstand a siege, but a series of circumstances, including discontent among its own French members and the native Maltese population, led to a truce which ended with the capitulation of the Order.
The invasion therefore ended the 268-year-long Hospitaller rule in Malta, and resulted in the French occupation of Malta. A few months after the invasion, discontent due to reforms that were taking place led to an uprising, which evolved into a blockade of the French garrison by Maltese insurgents aided by the British, Neapolitans and Portuguese. The blockade lasted for two years, and ended with the French surrendering to the British in 1800, making Malta a protectorate and initiating 164 years of British rule.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
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The French colony of Canada was, during the greater part of the last century, and some part of the present, under the government of an exclusive company. Under so unfavourable administration, its progress was necessarily very slow, in comparison with that of other new colonies; but it became much more rapid when this company was dissolved, after the fall of what is called the Mississippi scheme. When the English got…
Adam Smith, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
States what French invasion of Malta is.
Bonaparte suddenly saw himself again face to face with the revolution. As on January 29, 1849, as on June 13, 1849, on May 10, 1850, he vanished again behind the party of Order. He bent low; he timidly apologized; he offered to appoint any Ministry whatever at the behest of the parliamentary majority; he even implored the Orleanist and Legitimist party leaders—the Thiers, Berryers, Broglies,…
Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
Close in meaning to French invasion of Malta; the term itself is not named.
The French, having no means of defence against a leader who united all the valour of his countrymen with the policy of more civilized nations, were obliged to submit to the expedient practised by Alfred, and to offer the invaders a settlement in some of those provinces which they had depopulated by their arms [i]. [FN [h] Gul. Gemet. lib. 2. cap. 6. [i] Dudo, p. 82.]
David Hume, The History of England, Volume I
Close in meaning to French invasion of Malta; the term itself is not named.
Philosophers who discussed French invasion of Malta
Related ideas
Place in the tradition
Part of Philosophy in Malta.