Italian irredentism in Malta

Italian irredentism in Malta is related to the Maltese people who supported Italian irredentism in Malta and believe the Maltese islands are part of Italy. Italian irredentism in Malta refers to past support in Malta for Italian territorial claims on the islands. It is therefore not be confused with Italophilia. Although Malta had formally ceased to be part of the Kingdom of Sicily only since 1814 following the Treaty of Paris, Italian irredentism in Malta was of some significance mainly during the Italian Fascist era.

Until the end of the 18th century Malta's fortunes—political, economic, religious, cultural—were closely tied with Sicily's. Successive waves of immigration from Sicily and Italy strengthened these ties and increased the demographic similarity. Italian was Malta's language of administration, law, contracts and public records, Malta's culture was similar to Italy's, Malta's nobility was originally composed of Italian families who had moved to Malta mainly in the 13th century and the Maltese Catholic Church was suffragan of the Archdiocese of Palermo.

There were minor and subtle differences, however. In the early 15th century Malta was incorporated directly into the Sicilian crown following an uprising which led to the abolishment of the County of Malta. Domestic governance was thus left to the Università and the Popular Council, early forms of representative local government. The Maltese language, the creation of the Diocese of Malta as well as the granting of Malta to the Knights Hospitaller in 1530 were developments which started to give a distinct character to Maltese culture and history.

...
Wikipedia