Malta as a Mediterranean crossroads

Malta's sieges follow a recurring pattern: outside powers value the island for its position yet underestimate the people who must defend it. Garrisons were frequently small, leaving civilians to bear much of the fighting, loss, and enslavement when an invasion came. Even Britain's comparatively substantial World War II garrison grew only after the war had begun. The island's strategic geography cannot be separated from the people who lived there and resisted attack.