The Maltese peasantry, 1880-1930 : a social and economic analysis

Abstract

While thinking about a topic to choose for my dissertation, I decided upon a theme which throws light on an under researched aspect of Maltese society in the past. As I have relatives living off the land, I was attracted from childhood to the peasant way of life. This motivated me to start researching peasant life -in Malta in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The aim of this thesis is to provide a historical analysis of Maltese Agriculture between 1880 and 1930. In order to do this, the following thesis focuses on the relationship between the peasants and their social and natural environment. It attempts to highlight the problems, both human and natural, faced by the local peasantry. Within this framework, great emphasis will be put on the exploitation suffered by the peasants. A main argument to be found throughout this study is that exploitation hindered the development oflocal agriculture. Little research has yet been conducted on these issues and few works have been published on this subject. Hence, the bulk of the information for this thesis had to be obtained from primary sources mainly agricultural reports, journals and manuscripts. Oral history provided me with important human sources. For documentary evidence, research was carried out at the Societa' Economico Agraria Archives, the Malta National Library and the Malta University Library.