Prior to the Second World War, Malta appeared vulnerable to fascist influence due to the connections between the Italian Fascist regime and Malta’s irredentist political movement, then led by Nerik Mizzi. In part this Fascist influence was present in cultural propaganda promoting irredentist ideas such as the ‘Mare Nostrum’, which Mizzi and his conservative political party, the Partito Nazionalista, helped propagate. However, previously unseen British documents also reveal significant financial support by the Italian government to Mizzi and his political activities. Mizzi never disclosed this, including the financial support he was granted by Mussolini after having met him personally in Rome on 30 November 1936. Mizzi never openly expounded fascist views, although he consistently supported an irredentist vision of Malta and openly campaigned for Malta to fall under Italy’s jurisdiction. Meanwhile, support for domestic fascist organisations was negligible. At the onset of the War, the Imperial Government started to clamp down on the irredentists, eventually exiling Mizzi and most of his collaborators. The author argues that Mizzi’s dalliance with fascism was not just a convenient relationship for a greater cause, but also a direct acceptance of fascist politics given that making Malta part of Italy’s jurisdiction would also have meant accepting fascist rule.

在第二次世界大战之前，由于意大利法西斯政权与当时由内里克·米兹 (Nerik Mizzi) 领导的马耳他收复主义政治运动之间的联系，马耳他似乎容易受到法西斯主义的影响。在某种程度上，这种法西斯主义的影响体现在宣传民族主义思想的文化宣传中，例如 Mizzi 和他的保守政党 Partito Nazionalista提出的“Mare Nostrum”, 帮助传播。然而，此前未公开的英国文件也揭示了意大利政府对米兹及其政治活动的重大财政支持。Mizzi 从未透露过这一点，包括 1936 年 11 月 30 日墨索里尼在罗马亲自会见墨索里尼后给予他的经济支持。Mizzi 从未公开阐述过法西斯主义观点，尽管他一直支持马耳他的收复主义愿景，并公开争取马耳他归入意大利管辖。与此同时，对国内法西斯组织的支持微乎其微。战争开始时，帝国政府开始镇压收复国主义者，最终流放了 Mizzi 和他的大部分合作者。作者认为，米齐与法西斯主义的调情不仅仅是为了更伟大的事业而建立的便利关系，