How Malta became part of a Russian Imperial Dream
Tsar Paul I, the son of Catherine the Great, had a childhood obsession with Malta which shaped Russia’s diplomatic interests in the Mediterranean until his death in 1801.
The Russians had long sought influence over Malta as a strategic naval base in the Mediterranean. They even went so far as proposing joint operations with the Knights of St John, including action against the Turks and establishing a Russian naval presence for greater access to the Mediterranean.
The closest relationship Malta had with the Russian monarchy had started with Peter the Great and was consolidated through Paul’s mother, Catherine the Great, but effectively ended with Tsar Paul’s death.
The assassination of Paul I, Emperor of all of Russia, in 1801, brought an end to Russia’s attempts to directly influence the governance of Malta. The attack on Paul I by a group of Russian nobility has long been linked, circumstantially, to the British diplomat Charles Whitworth.
A Childhood Dream of Paul I of Russia
Building upon the formal relationships with the Knights started by Catherine the Great, Tsar Paul I, would become the protector of the Knights, which lead to the Order of the Knights of St John being reflected in Russian political conventions.
Paul was a longtime great admirer of the Knights and his first contact with the order was in 1796. The relationship was formalised when the Knights, facing financial difficulties approached Paul about bringing the Polish Priory under Russian control. The Polish Priory, one of many priories established across Europe, had fallen into disrepair and had failed to give the Order any of its revenue for many years. With Paul’s assistance the Order successfully moved the Polish Priory to St Petersburg and it became the Russian Priory. In 1797 the Order gave him the title of Protector of the Order as an expression of gratitude. The Russo-Maltese Convention of 1797 was signed by Paul and the Order to establish a formal alliance.
In 1798 with the arrival of Napoleon in Malta, the Knights were expelled and Paul offered them refuge in St Petersburg. The Maltese Knight, Count Giulio de Litta, led the Sovereign Order of Malta’s negotiations with Russia during the reign of Emperor Paul I. De Litta effectively became a Russian official and rose to become Vice-Admiral in Russian service, making him simultaneously the Order’s envoy to Russia and a Russian officer. The negotiations he conducted were therefore blurred between Russian state interests and the Order’s interests.
In November 1798 Tsar Paul was elected Grand Master by many of the displaced knights, although the election was never recognised by the Pope because Paul was Russian Orthodox rather than Catholic. Once elected Grand Master, Paul commissioned formal portraits showing him in the Order’s regalia of black mantle with the eight-pointed Maltese cross prominently displayed on his chest. It was sometimes shown alongside his Russian imperial uniform and decorations. Paul created a Russian version, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, as an actual award given to Russian officers and nobles for service.
Russia flexes its influence after the British and French battles in the Mediterranean
Paul had harboured ambitions of using Malta as a Mediterranean base for Russia, but Britain assumed control of the island in 1800 and soon showed little intention of returning it. While Paul had directed his naval commander to battle the French in the Mediterranean, he long harboured an animosity towards Britain. This animosity would escalate into hostility, when Britain later refused to return Malta to the Knights.
The wars between Britain and France in the Mediterranean which extended into Egypt, came to an end with a preliminary Treaty of London (1801). Under the preliminary treaty, Britain agreed to restore Malta to the Knights of St. John within three months, under the guarantee of a third power and given Paul I’s influence this was likely to be Russia. But the clause on Malta was the longest and most complicated in the entire treaty, involving the Knights, the Maltese people themselves, Naples, the Pope and the Tsar. Russia’s position was important enough to be named as a guarantor of Malta’s future.
Tsar Paul was furious that Britain, despite the treaty negotiations, wouldn’t hand the island back to the Order and took action in protest over Britain’s retention of Malta. Paul’s retaliation was both economic and diplomatic. He withdrew from the Second Coalition, which had included Britain, and formed the League of Armed Neutrality with Sweden, Prussia and Denmark. The Leagues’ goals included limiting British trade, specifically by blocking Britain’s supply of timber. Paul closed Russian ports to British merchants and barred British vessels from Russian ports entirely.
Negotiations eventually culminated in the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, which called for Malta to be restored to the Knights under international guarantees.
The Assassination That Ended Russia’s Malta Dream
Paul I genuinely saw himself as Malta’s legal protector through his position as Grand Master of the Order.
There is circumstantial evidence of Britain’s involvement in Paul’s assassination. Rumours claimed that the British ambassador Lord Whitworth had links, through his network, with the disgruntled Russian plotters led by Count Pahlen and General Bennigse.
Paul’s successor Tsar Alexander I declared he would protect the Knights but this was only half-hearted and interest in Malta dwindled. Eventually, Britain and Russia came to terms and agreed that Malta would remain a British naval base.
For more than a century, Russia had sought a foothold in the Mediterranean, through establishing bases in Malta, for its naval and strategic interests via a relationship with the Knights.
Russia’s dream of establishing itself in Malta died with Tsar Paul I when Malta formally came under British rule by the Treaty of Paris in 1814. Malta’s future as a British possession was effectively secured. Had events unfolded differently, Malta might have become a key outpost of the Russian Empire rather than the British Empire, a remarkable historical crossroads that is largely forgotten today. Still the island continues to attract interest from major powers, including Russia, because of its strategic position at the centre of the Mediterranean.
References
The Napoleon Series.
The Museum of the Order of St John.
Gateway to Russia.
Unofficial Royalty.
The Napoleonic Wars.
