Napoleon could not have retained possession of Malta in 1798 and the reason was Admiral Horatio Nelson. Without the Maltese revolt, the French garrison would still have starved, leading to their capitulation to the English.

Charles Xuereb (The Sunday Times of Malta, August 9) maintains that due to the peasants’ revolt in September 1798, the Maltese lost a golden opportunity as the French administration would have built hospitals and schools. He blames the Church, the clergy and the privileged classes for the insurrection which cut short that glorious future.

Thanks to J. Scicluna, we can now read the diary of two French protagonists of the period. Bosredon Ransijat writes: “The Maltese could not possibly ever experience worse hardship than what they had to go through since the beginning of the French occupation. They rightly despise us and we only have ourselves to blame.”

Doublet, on the other hand, confronts Bonaparte himself on board the Orient as he tells him: “The convention brings dishonour to the Order, to the Grand Master and to the Maltese, a convention that does not bring glory to the General nor does it benefit France. Your worthless army is about to place Malta at the mercy of the English.”

So what made Napoleon take possession Malta? In short, fundraising. He came, he took, he fled with his army and never looked back. He knew he could not sustain Malta.

I do not believe that Napoleon was a fool but neither were our forefathers. Wisely, they sensed the situation and arrived at their conclusion. Those peasants from Rabat and the surrounding villages needed support which came from the Church and the clergy. Which Church would not support and help its starving people?

The revolt of the Maltese did not compel the French to leave Malta. Starvation did.

The Directory (government of France) had its doubts about Bonaparte’s taking possession of Malta. He was warned about the consequences and was informed that “the order of this day, April 12, 1798, to General Bonaparte, instructing him to take possession of Malta, is not to be executed unless it can be accomplished without prejudice to the success of other operations.” It is evident that France was not contemplating a long stay on the island.

This was a very costly and needless exercise. The Maltese suffered the most: 20,000 deaths. Four thousand French soldiers in Malta also had to endure suffering and indignity.

As for the English, just consider this: they got a strategically placed island with some superb harbours without firing a shot. They got the treasure of the Order of St John, which was on board Le Sensible on its way to Paris, and lastly, according to Charles Xuereb, 100 million French francs as compensation from post-Napoleonic France.