History of Gibraltar
The history of Gibraltar, a small peninsula on the southern Iberian coast near the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea, spans over 2,900 years. The peninsula has evolved from a place of reverence in ancient times into "one of the most densely fortified and fought-over places in Europe",[1] as one historian has put it. Gibraltar's location has given it an outsized significance in the history of Europe and its fortified town, established in the Middle Ages, has hosted garrisons that sustained numerous sieges and battles over the centuries.
Gibraltar was first inhabited over 50,000 years ago by
Gibraltar became part of the
Spain has tried to regain control of Gibraltar, which Britain had declared a Crown colony, through military, diplomatic and economic pressure. Gibraltar was besieged and heavily bombarded during three wars between Britain and Spain but the attacks were repulsed on each occasion. By the end of the last siege, in the late 18th century, Gibraltar had faced fourteen sieges in 500 years. In the years after the Battle of Trafalgar, Gibraltar became a major base in the Peninsular War. The colony grew rapidly during the 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming a key British possession in the Mediterranean. It was a key stopping point for vessels en route to India via the Suez Canal. A large British naval base was constructed there at great expense at the end of the 19th century and became the backbone of Gibraltar's economy.
British control of Gibraltar enabled the Allies to control the entrance to the Mediterranean during the
Since 1985, Gibraltar has undergone major changes as a result of reductions in Britain's overseas defence commitments. Most British forces have left the territory, which is no longer seen as a place of major military importance. Its economy is now based on
Geographical background
The history of Gibraltar has been driven by its strategic position near the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a narrow peninsula at the eastern side of the Bay of Gibraltar, 6 kilometres (4 mi) from the city of Algeciras. Gibraltar is on the far south coast of Spain at one of the narrowest points in the Mediterranean, only 24 kilometres (15 mi) from the coast of Morocco in North Africa. Its position on the bay makes it an advantageous natural anchorage for ships.[3] As one writer has put it, "whoever controls Gibraltar also controls the movement of ships into and out of the Mediterranean. In terms of military and naval power, few places have a more strategic location than Gibraltar."[4]
The territory's area measures only 6.7 square kilometres (2.6 sq mi). Most of the land area is occupied by the steeply sloping Rock of Gibraltar, which reaches a height of 426 metres (1,398 ft). The town of Gibraltar lies at the base of the Rock on the west side of the peninsula. A narrow, low-lying isthmus connects the peninsula to the Spanish mainland. The North Face of the Rock is a nearly vertical cliff 396 metres (1,299 ft) high overlooking the isthmus; the only land access to the town is via a coastal strip about 350 metres (1,150 ft) wide, which was considerably narrower before the reclamation of land from the sea during the 20th century.[3]
Gibraltar's geography has thus given it considerable natural defensive advantages. It is virtually impossible to scale the eastern or northern sides of the Rock, which are either vertical or nearly so. To the south, the relatively flat area around Europa Point is surrounded by cliffs that are up to 30 metres (98 ft) high. The western side is the only practicable area for a landing, but even here the steep slopes on which the town is built work to the advantage of a defender. These factors have given it an enormous military significance over the centuries.[3]
Prehistory and ancient history
History of Gibraltar |
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Gibraltar's appearance in prehistory was very different. Whereas today it is surrounded by sea, the water level was much lower in prehistoric times, when the polar ice caps were larger. The current peninsula was surrounded by a fertile coastal plain, with marshes and sand dunes supporting an abundant variety of animals and plants.[5]
More Neanderthal remains have been found elsewhere on the Rock at
During ancient times, Gibraltar was regarded by the peoples of the Mediterranean as a place of religious and symbolic importance. The
The Rock was revered by the Greeks and Romans as one of the two
To the Ancient Romans, Gibraltar was known as Mons Calpe, a name perhaps derived from the Phoenician word kalph, "hollowed out", presumably in reference to the many limestone caves in the Rock.[16] It was well known to ancient geographers,[17] but there is no known archaeological evidence of permanent settlements from the ancient period.[18] According to the Roman writer Avienius, the ancient Greek traveller Euctemon recorded that
thirty
stadia separate [the Pillars of Hercules]; [Euctemon] says that they bristle with woods all over and are always unwelcoming to seamen. Indeed he says that on those are both temples and altars to Hercules. He says that strangers sail there by boat to make offerings to the gods and depart hot foot thinking it wrong to linger ...[19]
There were more mundane reasons not to settle, as Gibraltar had many disadvantages that were to hinder later settlers. It lacked easily accessible fresh water, fertile soil or a safe natural anchorage on the shoreline. Avienus cited the "shallow draft and dense mud of the shore" as reasons not to land there. Its geographical location, which later became its key strategic asset, was not a significant factor during the Classical period as the entrance to the Mediterranean was not contested by the states of the day.[19][20]
For these reasons the ancients instead settled at the head of the bay in what is today known as the
Umayyad rule (711–1309, 1333–1462)
By 681 the armies of the
Following a raid in 710, a predominately Berber army under the command of
Gibraltar was fortified for the first time in 1160 by the
In the late thirteen and early fourteenth centuries the
It was not until 1309 when Gibraltar's defences were put to the test for the first time in the
In 1315 the Nasrid Moors of Granada
Abu al-Hasan refortified Gibraltar with what the Arab chroniclers called "strong walls as a halo surrounds a crescent moon" in anticipation of renewed war, which duly broke out in 1339.
Gibraltar remained in Moorish hands until 1462 but was disputed between the Nasrids of Granada and Marinids of Fez. In 1374 the latter handed the peninsula to the former, apparently in payment for Granadan military support in suppressing rebellions in
Moorish rule over Gibraltar came to an end in August 1462 when a small Castilian force under the command of Alonso de Arcos, the governor of Tarifa, launched
Castilian and Spanish rule (1462–1704)
Shortly after Gibraltar's recapture, King
On 2 January 1492, after five years of war, the Moorish emirate in Spain came to an end with the
Gibraltar became Crown property again in 1501 at the order of Isabella and the following year it received a new set of royal arms, which is still used by modern Gibraltar, replacing those of Medina Sidonia. In the Royal Warrant accompanying the arms, Isabella highlighted Gibraltar's importance as "the key between these our kingdoms in the Eastern and Western Seas [the Mediterranean and Atlantic]". The metaphor was represented on the royal arms by a golden key hanging from the front gate of a battlemented fortress. The warrant charged all future Spanish monarchs to "hold and retain the said City for themselves and in their own possession; and that no alienation of it, nor any part of it, nor its jurisdiction ... shall ever be made from the Crown of Castile."[53]
At this point in history, "Gibraltar" meant not just the peninsula but the entire surrounding area including the land on which the towns of
Under Spanish Crown rule, the town of Gibraltar fell into severe decline. The end of Muslim rule in Spain and the Christian capture of the southern ports considerably decreased the peninsula's strategic value. It derived some minor economic value from tuna-fishing and wine-producing industries but its usefulness as a fortress was now limited. It was effectively reduced to the status of an unremarkable stronghold on a rocky promontory and Marbella replaced it as the principal Spanish port in the region.[55]
Gibraltar's inhospitable terrain made it an unpopular place to live. To boost the population, convicts from the kingdom of Granada were offered the possibility of serving their sentence in the Gibraltar garrison as an alternative to prison.
Barbary pirate raids and wars with other European powers
Despite continuing external threats Gibraltar was neglected by the Spanish crown and its fortifications fell into disrepair. Barbary pirates from North Africa took advantage of the weak defences in September 1540 by mounting a major raid in which hundreds of Gibraltar's residents were taken as hostages or slaves. The Shrine of Our Lady of Europe was sacked and all its valuables were stolen. Many of the captives were subsequently released when a Spanish fleet commanded by Bernardino de Mendoza intercepted the pirate ships near Alborán as they were bringing ransomed hostages back to Gibraltar. The Spanish crown belatedly responded to Gibraltar's vulnerability by building the Charles V Wall to control the southern flank of the Rock and commissioning the Italian engineer Giovanni Battista Calvi to strengthen other parts of the fortifications.[58]
The seas around Gibraltar continued to be dangerous for decades to come as Barbary pirate raids continued; although a small squadron of Spanish galleys was based at the port to counter pirate raids, it proved to be of limited effectiveness and many inhabitants were abducted and sold into slavery by the pirates. The problem worsened significantly after 1606, when Spain expelled the Moriscos;– Muslims who had converted to Christianity. Many of the expellees were evacuated to North Africa via Gibraltar but ended up joining the pirate fleets, either as Christian slaves or reconverted Muslims, and raided as far afield as Cornwall.[59]
The threat of the Barbary pirates was soon joined by that of Spain's enemies in northern Europe. On 5 May 1607, during the
An English military presence was briefly established at Gibraltar for the first time in 1620. The Spanish granted permission for the English fleet to use Gibraltar's port as a base for operations against the Barbary pirates, who were raiding the British and Irish coasts. Some in England had ambitions to turn the fleet against Spain rather than the Barbary coast. However,
The presence of Spain's enemies in the Straits prompted the Spanish king Philip IV to order Gibraltar's defences to be strengthened. A new mole and gun platforms were built, though the latter's usefulness was limited due to a lack of gunners. The town was an unsanitary, crowded place, which probably contributed to the outbreak in 1649 of an epidemic – reportedly plague but possibly typhoid – which killed a quarter of the population.[63] English fleets returned to Gibraltar in 1651–52 and again in 1654–55 as temporary allies of the Spanish against French and Dutch shipping in the Straits.[64]
In 1654,
War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14)
In November 1700,
Spain thus became a target for the Anglo-Dutch-Austrian alliance.[68] The confederates' campaign was pursued by land and by sea. The main land offensive was pursued in the Low Countries by the Duke of Marlborough, while naval forces under the command of Admiral Sir George Rooke harassed French and Spanish shipping in the Atlantic. In 1703, Marlborough devised a plan under which his forces would launch a surprise attack against the French and their Bavarian allies in the Danube basin while Rooke carried out a diversionary naval offensive in the Mediterranean.[69] Rooke was instructed to attack French or Spanish coastal towns, though the choice of target was left to his discretion.[70]
When Rooke arrived in the region several targets were considered. An attempt to incite the inhabitants of Barcelona to revolt against Philip V failed, and a plan to assault the French naval base at Toulon was abandoned, and an earlier attempt to take Cádiz had failed. Casting around for an easier target, Rooke decided to attack Gibraltar for three principal reasons: it was poorly garrisoned and fortified, it would be of major strategic value to the war effort, and its capture might encourage the inhabitants of southern Spain to reject Philip.[71]
The terms of surrender made it clear that Gibraltar had been taken in the name of Charles III of Spain, described in the terms as "legitimate Lord and King". The inhabitants and garrison of Gibraltar were promised freedom of religion and the maintenance of existing rights if they wished to stay, on condition that they swore an oath of loyalty to Charles as King of Spain. As had happened two years previously in the raid on Cádiz, the discipline of the landing forces soon broke down. There were numerous incidents of rape, all Catholic churches but one (the Parish Church of St. Mary the Crowned, now the Cathedral) were desecrated or converted into military storehouses, and religious symbols such as the statue of Our Lady of Europe were damaged and destroyed. Angry Spanish inhabitants took violent reprisals against the occupiers. English and Dutch soldiers and sailors were attacked and killed, and their bodies were thrown into wells and cesspits.[75]
When the Spanish garrison marched out on 7 August almost all of the inhabitants, some 4,000 people in total, evacuated the town. They refused to swear allegiance to Charles III, instead professing their loyalty to Philip V.[76] They had reason to believe that their exile would not last long, as fortresses and towns changed hands frequently at the time. Many settled nearby in the ruins of Algeciras or around an old hermitage at the head of the bay in the expectation of a prompt return. They took with them the records of the city council including Gibraltar's banner and royal warrant. In time the refugee settlement at the hermitage developed into the town of San Roque. It was regarded by the Spanish, as Philip V put it in 1706, as being the "City of Gibraltar resident in its Campo". A small population of around seventy (mainly neutral Genoese people) stayed behind in Gibraltar.[77]
The Grand Alliance's control of Gibraltar was challenged on 24 August when a French fleet entered the Straits. In the subsequent
The defenders were aided from late October by a naval squadron under Admiral Sir
During the War of Spanish Succession, Gibraltar was governed by the British commandant as a possession of Duke Charles of Austria as Charles III of Spain. The British commandant, Major General
The War of the Spanish Succession was finally settled in 1713 by a series of treaties and agreements. Under the
British rule (1713–present)
Consolidation and sieges
Despite its later importance to Britain, Gibraltar was initially seen by the British Government as more of a bargaining counter than a strategic asset. Its defences continued to be neglected,[87] its garrisoning was an unwelcome expense,[88] and Spanish pressure threatened Britain's vital overseas trade.[89] On seven separate occasions between 1713 and 1728 the British Government proposed to exchange Gibraltar for concessions from Spain, but on each occasion the proposals were vetoed by the British Parliament following public protests.[90]
Spain's loss of Gibraltar and other Spanish territories in the Mediterranean was resented by the Spanish public and monarchy alike.
In January 1727, Spain declared the nullification of the Treaty of Utrecht's provisions relating to Gibraltar on the grounds that Britain had violated its terms by extending Gibraltar's fortifications beyond the permitted limits, allowing Jews and Moors to live there, failing to protect Catholics and harming Spain's revenues by allowing
Britain's hold on Gibraltar was reconfirmed in 1729 by the
Gibraltar's civilian population increased steadily through the century to form a disparate mixture of Britons, Genoese, Jews, Spaniards and Portuguese. By 1754 there were 1,733 civilians in addition to 3,000 garrison soldiers and their 1,426 family members, bringing the total population to 6,159.[97] The civilian population increased to 3,201 by 1777, including 519 Britons, 1,819 Roman Catholics (meaning Spanish, Portuguese, Genoese etc.) and 863 Jews.[98] Each group had its own distinctive niche in the fortress. The Spanish historian López de Alaya, writing in 1782, characterised their roles thus:
The richest mercantile houses are English ... The Jews, for the most part, are shop keepers and brokers ... They have a synagogue and openly practice the ceremonies of their religion, notwithstanding the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht ... The Genoese are traders, but the greater part of them are fishermen, traders and gardeners.[99]
Life for the ordinary soldiers of the garrison was tedious and harsh, with corporal punishment administered for even the most trivial offences. A drummer in the Lancashire Fusiliers became famous for being the most-flogged man in the British Army, receiving 30,000 lashes during his 14 years stationed at Gibraltar.[100] Suicide and desertions were common due to boredom, shortages of food and the poor living conditions. At Middle Hill Battery, guards had to be posted to prevent soldiers from deserting by lowering themselves on ropes down the cliff face.[101] One soldier wrote despairingly in his diary:
Here is nothing to do nor any news, all things being dormant and in suspense, with the harmless diversions of drinking, dancing, revelling, whoring, gaming, and other innocent debaucheries to pass the time – and really, to speak my own opinion I think and believe that Sodom and Gomorrah were not half so wicked and profane as this worthy city and garrison of Gibraltar.[102]
The fortifications of Gibraltar were modernised and upgraded in the 1770s with the construction of new batteries, bastions and curtain walls. The driving force behind this programme was the highly experienced Colonel (later Major General)
Britain's successes in the
The
The British defenders continued to resist every attempt to capture Gibraltar by assault but supplies again began to run low. On 12 April 1781 Vice Admiral George Darby's squadron of 29 ships of the line escorting 100 store ships from England laden for Gibraltar entered the bay. The Spanish fleet was unable to intercept Darby's relief. The Spanish, frustrated by this failure, began a barrage of the town, causing great panic and terror among the civilian population.[105] Deliberate targeting of civilians was unprecedented at the time and was to continue for 2 years, obliterating any architectural heritage from the Spanish period. Unable to starve the garrison out, the French and Spanish attempted further attacks by land and sea. The night before the Grand Attack on 27 November 1781, the British garrison filed silently out of their defence works and made a surprise sortie, routing the besieging infantry in their trenches and postponed the grand assault on The Rock for some time.
On 13 September 1782 the Bourbon allies launched their great attack; 5190 fighting men, both French and Spanish, aboard ten of the newly engineered 'floating batteries' with 138[106] heavy guns, as well as 18 ships of the line, 40 Spanish gunboats and 20 bomb-vessels[107] with a total of 30,000 sailors and marines. They were supported by 86 land guns[107] and 35,000 Spanish and French troops (7,000[108]–8,000[109] French) on land intending to assault the fortifications once they had been demolished.[110] The 138 guns opened fire from floating batteries in the Bay and the 86 guns on the land side, directed on the fortifications after weeks of preparatory artillery fire. But the garrison replied with red-hot shot to set fire to and sink the attacker's floating batteries and warships in the Bay. The British destroyed three of the floating batteries,[111] which blew up as the 'red-hot shot' did its job. The other seven batteries were scuttled by the Spanish. In addition 719 men on board the ships (many of whom drowned) were casualties.[112]
In Britain the
The siege was continued for some months longer, but in the spring of 1783 a preliminary peace agreement brought the cessation of hostilities. Finally, in February 1783 the siege was lifted. The outcome of the Great Siege made it politically impossible for the British government to again consider trading away Gibraltar, even though King
Gibraltar as a colony
Following the Great Siege, the civilian population of Gibraltar – which had fallen to under a thousand – expanded rapidly as the territory became both a place of economic opportunity and a refuge from the Napoleonic Wars. Britain's loss of North American colonies in 1776 led to much of her trade being redirected to new markets in India and the East Indies. The favoured route to the east was via Egypt, even before the Suez Canal had been built, and Gibraltar was the first British port reached by ships heading there. The new maritime traffic gave Gibraltar a greatly increased role as a trading port. At the same time, it was a haven in the western Mediterranean from the disruption of the Napoleonic Wars. Many of the new immigrants were Genoese people who had fled Napoleon's annexation of the old Republic of Genoa.[119] By 1813 nearly a third of the population consisted of Genoese and Italians. Portuguese made up another 20 per cent, Spaniards 16.5 per cent, Jews 15.5 per cent, British 13 per cent and Menorcans 4 per cent. The young Benjamin Disraeli described the inhabitants of Gibraltar as a mixture of "Moors with costumes as radiant as a rainbow or Eastern melodrama, Jews with gaberdines and skull-caps, Genoese, Highlanders and Spanish."[120] The inhabitants had a clear pecking order, with British officers at the top and Jews at the bottom. The American naval officer Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, writing in 1829, described the market traders and shoppers in what is now John Mackintosh Square:
The high handed hauteur of his majesty's officer, as he lounges at a corner in utter scorn of the busy crew of bargainers; the supple cit[izen] who bows breast low to him in hope of a nod of condescension ... ; a rough skipper, accustomed to bang and bully and be a little king upon his own quarter-deck; the sullen demeanour of the turbaned Moor, who sits crosslegged at a shady corner ... ; the filthy, slipshod, abject Jew, who sells slippers or oranges, or serves officers, merchants, sailors, or Moors, as a beast of burden ...[121]
Gibraltar was an unhealthy place to live due to its poor sanitation and living conditions. It was repeatedly ravaged by epidemics of yellow fever and cholera, which killed thousands of the inhabitants and members of the garrison.[119] An epidemic in the second half of 1804 killed more than a third of the entire population, civilian and military.[122] Lord Nelson wrote the following March that he hoped that Gibraltar "will escape the dreadful scourge of last autumn, and I hope that General Fox has burnt down all the small houses at the back of the Town; and perhaps if half the Town went with them, it would be better for the Rock."[123]
During the wars against
In the years after Trafalgar, Gibraltar became a major supply base for supporting the Spanish uprising against Napoleon.[130] The French invasion of Spain in 1808 prompted Gibraltar's British garrison to cross the border and destroy the ring of Spanish fortresses around the bay, as well as the old Spanish fortified lines on the isthmus, to deny the French the ability to besiege Gibraltar or control the bay from shore batteries. French forces reached as far as San Roque, just north of Gibraltar, but did not attempt to target Gibraltar itself as they believed that it was impregnable.[131] The French besieged Tarifa, further down the coast, in 1811–12 but gave up after a month. Gibraltar faced no further military threat for a century.[132]
After peace returned, Gibraltar underwent major changes during the reformist governorship of General Sir
The economic importance of Gibraltar changed following the invention of steamships; the first one to reach Gibraltar's harbour arrived there in 1823.[137] The advent of steamships caused a major shift in trade patterns in the Mediterranean. Transshipment, which had previously been Gibraltar's principal economic mainstay, was largely replaced by the much less lucrative work of servicing visiting steamships through coaling, victualling and ferrying of goods. Although Gibraltar became a key coaling station where British steamships refuelled on the way to Alexandria or Cape Horn, the economic changes resulted in a prolonged depression that lasted until near the end of the century.[138] The demand for labour for coaling was such that Gibraltar instituted the practice of relying on large numbers of imported Spanish workers. A shanty town sprang up on the site of the old Spanish fortifications just across the border, which became the workers' town of La Línea de la Concepción. The poor economy meant that Gibraltar's population barely changed between 1830 and 1880, but it was still relatively more prosperous than the severely impoverished south of Spain. As a consequence, La Línea's population doubled over the same period and then doubled again in the following 20 years.[139]
Visiting Gibraltar in the mid-19th century, the English writer
Relations with Spain during the 19th century were generally amicable.[141] Regular British soldiers were forbidden to cross the border but officers could cross freely into Spain, as could the inhabitants of Gibraltar, some of whom had second houses in the town of San Roque about 10 kilometres (6 mi) away.[142] The garrison introduced the very British activity of fox hunting in the form of the Royal Calpe Hunt, started in 1812, which saw British officers and local Spanish gentry pursuing foxes across the Campo de Gibraltar.[143] A major bone of contention during this period was the issue of smuggling across the border. The problem arose after Spain imposed tariffs on foreign manufactured goods in a bid to protect Spain's own fledgling industrial enterprises. Tobacco was also heavily taxed, providing one of the government's principal sources of revenue. The inevitable result was that Gibraltar, where cheap tobacco and goods were readily available, became a centre of intensive smuggling activity.[144] The depressed state of the economy caused smuggling to become a mainstay of Gibraltar's trade;[138] the mid-19th-century Irish traveller Martin Haverty described Gibraltar as "the grand smuggling depot for Spain".[142] General Sir Robert Gardiner, who served as Governor between 1848 and 1855, described the daily scene in a letter to British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston:
From the first early opening of the gates there is to be seen a stream of Spanish men, women and children, horses and a few caleches, passing into the town where they remain moving about from shop to shop until about noon. The human beings enter the Garrison in their natural sizes, but quit it swathed and swelled out with our cotton manufactures, and padded with tobacco, while the carriages and beasts, which come light and springy into the place, quit it scarcely able to drag or bear their burdens. The Spanish authorities bear part in this traffic, by receiving a bribe from every individual passing the Lines, their persons and their purposes being thoroughly known to them. Some of these people take hardware goods, as well as cotton and tobacco, into Spain.[145]
The problem was eventually reduced by imposing duties on imported goods, which made them much less attractive to smugglers and raised funds to make much-needed improvements to sanitation.[146] Despite the improvements made earlier in the century, living conditions in Gibraltar were still dire. A Colonel Sayer, who was garrisoned at Gibraltar in the 1860s, described the town as "composed of small and crowded dwellings, ill ventilated, badly drained and crammed with human beings. Upwards of 15,000 persons are confined within a space covering a square mile [2.5 km2]."[147] Although there were sewers, a lack of water made them virtually useless in summer and the poorer inhabitants were sometimes unable to afford enough water even to wash themselves. One doctor commented that "the open street is much more desirable than many of the lodgings of the lower orders of Gibraltar."[148] The establishment of a Board of Sanitary Commissioners in 1865 and work on new drainage, sewerage and water supply systems prevented further major epidemics.[149] A system of underground reservoirs capable of containing 5 million gallons (22.7 million litres) of water was constructed within the Rock of Gibraltar.[150] Other municipal services arrived as well – a gas works in 1857, a telegraph link by 1870 and electricity by 1897.[149] Gibraltar also developed a high-quality school system, with as many as 42 schools by 1860.[151]
By the end of the 19th century, the "Gibraltarians" were given an official identity for the first time.[152] It was only in the 1830s that Gibraltar-born residents began to outnumber foreign-born, but by 1891 nearly 75% of the population of 19,011 people were Gibraltar-born. The emergence of the Gibraltarians as a distinct group owed much to the pressure on housing in the territory and the need to control the numbers of the civilian population, as Gibraltar was still first and foremost a military fortress. Two Orders in Council of 1873 and 1885 stipulated that no child of alien parent could be born in Gibraltar, no foreigners could claim a right of residence and that only Gibraltar-born inhabitants were entitled to reside there; everyone else needed permits, unless they were employees of the British Crown. In addition to the 14,244 Gibraltarians, there were also 711 British people, 695 Maltese and 960 from other British dominions.[152] There were 1,869 Spaniards (of whom 1,341 were female) with smaller numbers of Portuguese, Italians, French and Moroccans.[153]
Gibraltar at war and peace
By the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, Gibraltar's future as a British colony was in serious doubt. Its economic value was diminishing, as a new generation of steamships with a much longer range no longer needed to stop there to refuel en route to more distant ports. Its military value was also increasingly in question due to advances in military technology. New long-range guns firing high-explosive shells could easily reach Gibraltar from across the bay or in the Spanish hinterland, while the development of torpedoes meant that ships at anchor in the bay were also vulnerable.[154] The garrison could hold out for a long time, but if the Spanish coast was held by an enemy, Gibraltar could not be resupplied in the fashion that had saved it in the Great Siege 120 years earlier.[155]
A Spanish proposal to swap Gibraltar for
The value of the naval base was soon apparent when the
The restoration of peace inevitably meant a reduction in military expenditure, but this was more than offset by a large increase in liner and cruise ship traffic to Gibraltar. British liners travelling to and from India and South Africa customarily stopped there, as did French, Italian and Greek liners travelling to and from America. Oil bunkering became a major industry alongside coaling. An airfield was established in 1933 on the isthmus linking Gibraltar to Spain. Civil society was reformed as well; in 1921 an Executive Council and an elected City Council were established to advise the governor, in the first step towards self-government of the territory.[163]
The outbreak of the
Second World War
The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 did not initially cause much disruption in Gibraltar, as Spain and
During the Battle of the Atlantic, Gibraltar played a key role. The Ocean Convoy System adopted by Britain after the fall of France in June 1940 ran on two routes – an east–west route between the UK and North America, and a north–south route between the UK, Gibraltar and Freetown in British-ruled Sierra Leone.[171] Even before the war, Gibraltar had been designated as one of the main assembly points for convoys heading inbound to Europe.[172] From late 1942, Gibraltar was the destination of the Central Atlantic convoy route between the United States and the Mediterranean in support of Allied operations in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and elsewhere in the region.[173] A huge number of Allied troops and ships travelled this route; between November 1942 and August 1945, 11,119 ships travelled in 189 convoys between Gibraltar and the United States and vice versa, and between December 1942 and March 1945, 536,134 troops were transported from the United States to Gibraltar.[174]
Gibraltar was directly attacked, both overtly and covertly, on several occasions during the war.
German and Italian spies kept a constant watch on Gibraltar and sought to carry out sabotage operations, sometimes successfully. The Italians repeatedly carried out raids on Gibraltar's harbour using
Post-war Gibraltar
Although Gibraltar's civilian inhabitants had started to return as early as April 1944, the last evacuees did not arrive back home until as late as February 1951. The immediate problem after
In the war's aftermath, Gibraltar took decisive steps towards implementing civilian self-governance over most issues of public policy. The Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR), led by Gibraltarian lawyer Joshua Hassan, won all of the seats in the first post-war City Council elections in 1945. Women were given the right to vote in 1947, and in 1950 a Legislative Council was established.[181] A two-party system had emerged by 1955 with the creation of the Commonwealth Party as a rival to the AACR. That same year Hassan became the first Mayor of Gibraltar.[182] The Governor still retained overall authority and could overrule the Legislative Council. This inevitably caused tension and controversy if the Governor and Legislative Council disagreed, but in 1964 the British Government agreed to confine the powers of the Governor to matters of defence, security and foreign relations.[183] A new constitution was decided on in 1968 and promulgated in 1969, merging the City Council and Legislative Council into a single House of Assembly (known as the Gibraltar Parliament since 2006) with 15 elected members, two non-elected officials and a speaker. The old title of "Colony of Gibraltar" was dropped and the territory was renamed as the City of Gibraltar.[184]
Gibraltar's post-war relationship with Spain was marred by an intensification of the long-running dispute over the territory's sovereignty. Although Spain had not attempted to use military force to regain Gibraltar since 1783, the question of sovereignty was still present. Disputes over smuggling and the sea frontier between Gibraltar and Spain had repeatedly caused diplomatic tensions during the 19th century.[185] The neutral zone between Spain and Gibraltar had also been a cause of disputes during the 19th and 20th centuries. This originally had been an undemarcated strip of sand on the isthmus between the British and Spanish lines of fortifications, about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) wide – the distance of a cannon shot in 1704. Over the years, however, Britain took control of most of the neutral zone, much of which is now occupied by Gibraltar's airport. This expansion provoked repeated protests from Spain.[186]
Spain's push to regain sovereignty over Gibraltar was fuelled by the decolonisation agenda of the United Nations, which had been initiated in 1946. In that year, Britain had listed Gibraltar among other "Overseas Dependent Territories" in conjunction with the drive towards decolonisation, but it was not appreciated at the time that Gibraltar was in a unique position; due to the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, it could only be British or Spanish and could not gain independence.[187] Franco's government calculated that Britain would be willing to give up an expensive possession that no longer had a great deal of military value,[188] but this turned out to be a fundamental misjudgement. The British government followed a policy of allowing its colonies to become self-governing entities before giving them the option of independence. Almost all took it, choosing to become independent republics. That option was not available to Gibraltar under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, which required that if Britain ever relinquished control it was to be handed back to Spain.[189] The Gibraltarians strongly opposed this and organised a referendum in September 1967 in which 12,138 voters opted to remain with Britain with just 44 supporting union with Spain, though a further 55 voting slips were blank or invalid.[184] Spain dismissed the outcome of the referendum, calling the city's inhabitants "pseudo-Gibraltarians"[190] and stating that the "real" Gibraltarians were the descendants of the Spanish inhabitants who had resettled elsewhere in the region over 250 years earlier.[183]
The dispute initially took the form of symbolic protests and a campaign by Spanish diplomats and the state-controlled media. From 1954, Spain imposed increasingly stringent restrictions on trade and the movements of vehicles and people across the border with Gibraltar.[191] Further restrictions were imposed in 1964,[192] and in 1966 the frontier was closed to vehicles. The following year, Spain closed its airspace to aircraft taking off or landing at Gibraltar International Airport. In 1969, after the passing of the Gibraltar Constitution Order, to which Spain strongly objected, the frontier was closed completely and Gibraltar's telecommunications links through Spain were cut.[193]
The Spanish decision had major consequences not only for the political relationship between Spain and the United Kingdom, but for the people of Gibraltar, many of whom had relatives or homes in Spain. As one of the Gibraltarians who suffered the closure of the frontier explains:
The saddest sight was seeing people behind the wire fences on both sides of the land frontier yelling at the top of their voices across the wide dividing space to enquire about the state of relatives, as telephone communications had been cut by the Spaniards. Local housewives with Spanish relatives in the Campo area kept their radios tuned to the nearby Spanish stations for news of family members who were gravely ill. In critical cases the parties concerned would rush to Spain via Tangiers but unfortunately sometimes the patient was dead and buried by the time they arrived. The Spanish authorities would not allow access across the land frontier even on compassionate grounds.[194]
Franco's death in 1975 led to the beginnings of diplomatic movement between Britain and Spain on the Gibraltar issue, though not immediately. Spain applied to join the
Modern Gibraltar
After the border reopened, the British government reduced the military presence in Gibraltar by closing the naval dockyard.
The military cutbacks inevitably had major implications for Gibraltar's economy, which had up to that point depended largely on defence expenditure.[200] It prompted the territory's government to shift its economic orientation and place a much greater emphasis on encouraging tourism and establishing self-sufficiency.[202] Tourism in Gibraltar was encouraged through refurbishing and pedestrianising key areas of the city, building a new passenger terminal to welcome cruise ship visitors and opening new marinas and leisure facilities.[203] By 2011, Gibraltar was attracting over 10 million visitors a year[204] compared to a population of 29,752,[205] giving it one of the highest tourist-to-resident ratios in the world.[206]
The government also encouraged the development of new industries such as financial services,
-
Grand Casemates Square, renovated and pedestrianised in the late 1990s
-
Ocean Village Marina, a luxury marina resort with premier berths for yachts
-
The new terminal of Gibraltar International Airport, opened in 2012, with the Rock of Gibraltar behind
Gibraltar's relationship with Spain continued to be a sensitive subject. By 2002, Britain and Spain had proposed an agreement to share sovereignty over Gibraltar. However, it was opposed by the government of Gibraltar, which put it to a referendum in November 2002. The agreement was rejected by 17,000 votes to 187 – a majority of 98.97%. Although both governments dismissed the outcome as having no legal weight,[209] the outcome of the referendum caused the talks to stall and the British government accepted that it would be unrealistic to try to reach an agreement without the support of the people of Gibraltar.[210]
The tercentenary of the capture of Gibraltar was celebrated in the territory in August 2004 but attracted criticism from some in Spain.[211] In September 2006, tripartite talks between Spain, Gibraltar and the UK resulted in a deal (known as the Cordoba Agreement) to make it easier to cross the border and to improve transport and communications links between Spain and Gibraltar. Among the changes was an agreement to lift restrictions on Gibraltar's airport to enable airlines operating from Spain to land there and to facilitate use of the airport by Spanish residents.[212] It did not address the vexed issue of sovereignty, but this time the government of Gibraltar supported it. A new Constitution Order was promulgated in the same year, which was approved by a majority of 60.24% in a referendum held in November 2006.[213]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Rose, p. 95.
- S2CID 162333642.
- ^ a b c Dennis, pp. 7–8.
- ^ Krieger, p. 8.
- ^ a b Rincon, Paul (13 September 2006). "Neanderthals' 'last rock refuge'". BBC News. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^ Dunsworth, p. 8.
- ^ Walter.
- ^ Bruner & Manzi, p. 31.
- ISBN 978-972-8662-00-4.
- ^ a b Stringer, p. 48.
- ^ Devenish, p. 49.
- ^ Devenish, p. 55.
- ^ Padró i Parcerisa, p. 128.
- ^ Jackson, p. 20.
- ^ Hills, p. 14.
- ^ a b c Hills, p. 13.
- ^ Hills, p. 15.
- ^ Hills, p. 19.
- ^ a b Devenish, p. 72.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 22.
- ^ Shields, p. ix.
- ^ Collins, p. 106.
- ^ Truver, p. 161.
- ^ Hills, p. 18.
- ^ Alexander, p. 14.
- ^ a b Hills, p. 30.
- ^ a b Jackson, pp. 21–25.
- ^ Jackson, p. 28.
- ^ Jackson, pp. 34–35.
- ^ Harvey, p. 35.
- ^ Jackson, p. 38.
- ^ Jackson, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Hills, pp. 49–50.
- ^ Jackson, pp. 40–41.
- ^ Jackson, p. 42.
- ^ Jackson, p. 44.
- ^ Jackson, p. 46.
- ^ Jackson, p. 47.
- ^ Jackson, p. 49.
- ^ Jackson, p. 51.
- ^ Jackson, p. 52.
- ^ Jackson, pp. 52–53.
- ^ Jackson, p. 55.
- ^ Jackson, p. 56.
- ^ Jackson, pp. 57–58.
- ^ Jackson, p. 63.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 65.
- ^ Lamelas Oladán, p. 25.
- ^ Harvey, p. 51.
- ^ Jackson, p. 67.
- ^ Jackson, p. 70.
- ^ Jackson, p. 71.
- ^ Jackson, p. 72.
- ^ a b Devenish, p. 120.
- ^ Fa, Finlayson, p. 17.
- ^ Hills, p. 104.
- ^ Jackson, p. 73.
- ^ Jackson, p. 75.
- ^ Jackson, p. 78.
- ^ Jackson, p. 80.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 81.
- ^ Jackson, p. 82.
- ^ Jackson, p. 84.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 86.
- ^ Jackson, pp. 85–86.
- ^ "The Treasury's ship comes in". The Daily Telegraph. 13 October 2002. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
- ^ Jackson, pp. 89–91.
- ^ Jackson, p. 91.
- ^ Jackson, p. 92.
- ^ Jackson, p. 93.
- ^ Jackson, p. 94.
- ^ Jackson, p. 96.
- ^ Jackson, p. 97.
- ^ Jackson, p. 98.
- ^ Jackson, p. 99.
- ^ Frederick Sayer (1862). The history of Gibraltar and of its political relation to events in Europe. Saunders. p. 115. Retrieved 4 February 2011..
- ^ Jackson, p. 101.
- ^ Jackson, p. 102.
- ^ Jackson, p. 106.
- ^ Jackson, p. 109.
- ^ Jackson, p. 110.
- ^ Jackson, p. 111.
- ^ Jackson, p. 113.
- ^ Jackson, p. 114.
- ^ Jackson, pp. 113, 333–334.
- ^ Abulafia, p. 47.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 118.
- ^ a b c Jackson, p. 119.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 120.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 115.
- ^ Jackson, p. 123.
- ^ Jackson, p. 124.
- ^ Jackson, p. 128.
- ^ Jackson, p. 132.
- ^ Jackson, p. 139.
- ^ Jackson, p. 140.
- ^ Jackson, p. 143.
- ^ Jackson, p. 153.
- ^ Ayala, pp. 171–175.
- ^ Andrews, p. 60.
- ^ Cornwell, p. 4.
- ^ "S.H.", quoted in Hastings, p. 152.
- ^ Jackson, pp. 147–149.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 150.
- ISBN 978-0151355501. Retrieved 16 April 2011. To the citizen of the 20th Century, accustomed or the civilian casualties in war, and dulled to the annihilation of whole cities (or even nations), the horrified reaction of Gibraltar's garrison to the shelling of the town and its inhabitants may seem a trifle naïve. But it must be remembered that in those days there was still a code of conduct in warfare, and some elementary humanity in those who waged it..
- ^ Monti, p. 140.
- ^ a b Monti, p. 138.
- ^ Monti, p. 132.
- ^ Montero, p. 356.
- ^ 35,000 allied troops camped outside, Chartrand, p. 76.
- ^ Montero, pp. 365–366.
- ^ Bajas españolas de las baterías flotantes del ataque a Gibraltar el 13 de septiembre de 1782. Gaceta de Madrid. Encontrado por Todo a Babor. Retrieved on 11 March 2010.
- ^ Syrett, p. 103.
- ^ Syrett, p. 104–105.
- ^ Chartrand, p. 23.
- ^ Gold, p. 8.
- ^ Gold, p. 10.
- ^ Fa, Finlayson, p. 6.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 181.
- ^ Alexander, pp. 159–160.
- ^ Mackenzie, p. 258, Vol. II.
- ^ Jackson, p. 196.
- ^ Nelson, 30 March 1805.
- ^ Jackson, p. 192.
- ^ Jackson, p. 199.
- ^ Jackson, p. 195.
- ^ Jackson, p. 200.
- ^ Davies, Catriona; Lindsay, John (21 October 2005). "How the news was brought to Britain". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
- ^ Alexander, p. 147.
- ^ Jackson, p. 209.
- ^ Jackson, p. 213.
- ^ Jackson, p. 370.
- ^ Alexander, pp. 161–162.
- ^ Alexander, p. 162.
- ^ Alexander, p. 163.
- ^ Jackson, p. 229.
- ^ Alexander, p. 166.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 242.
- ^ Hills, p. 381.
- ^ Ford, pp. 273–274.
- ^ Alexander, p. 164.
- ^ a b Haverty, p. 219.
- ^ Jackson, p. 222.
- ^ Alexander, p. 172.
- ^ Hills, p. 374.
- ^ Hills, p. 380.
- ^ Jackson, p. 243.
- ^ Jackson, p. 244.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 245.
- ^ Alexander, p. 187.
- ^ Jackson, p. 247.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 248.
- ^ Jackson, p. 249.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 255.
- ^ Bradford, p. 169.
- ^ Quiroga, page 39
- ^ Jackson, p. 257.
- ^ Alexander, p. 189.
- ^ "Gibraltar – Vital Point in War". The Vancouver Sun. 1 August 1940. p. 4.
- ^ Hills, p. 398.
- ^ Jackson, p. 264.
- ^ Jackson, p. 265.
- ^ Jackson, p. 268.
- ^ Stockey, p. 93.
- ^ a b Alexander, p. 206.
- ^ Stockey, pp. 92, 99–103.
- ^ a b Jackson, p. 271.
- ^ Jackson, p. 276.
- ^ Jackson, p. 286.
- ^ a b c Jackson, p. 293.
- ^ Grove, p. 30.
- ^ Baptiste, p. 7.
- ^ Offley, p. 371.
- ^ Morison, p. 250.
- ^ Jackson, p. 281.
- ^ Gold, p. 11.
- ^ a b Jackson, pp. 282–283.
- ^ Alexander, pp. 221–222.
- ^ Jackson, pp. 286–287.
- ^ Jackson, p. 296.
- ^ Alexander, p. 235.
- ^ Alexander, p. 236.
- ^ a b Alexander, p. 237.
- ^ a b Alexander, p. 241.
- ^ Hills, p. 375.
- ^ Jackson, p. 250.
- ^ Jackson, p. 303.
- ^ Jackson, p. 294.
- ^ Jackson, p. 295.
- ^ Jackson, p. 306.
- ^ Jackson, p. 300.
- ^ Jackson, p. 308.
- ^ Jackson, p. 316.
- ^ Levey, p. 35.
- ^ Jordine, p. 115.
- ^ Jordine, p. 119.
- ^ Jordine, pp. 118–121.
- ^ a b Jordine, p. 122.
- ^ Tremlett, Giles (24 July 2004). "Falklands war almost spread to Gibraltar". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- ^ a b c Alexander, p. 246.
- ^ a b Alexander, p. 247.
- ^ Archer, p. 2.
- ^ Gold, pp. 177, 192.
- ^ "Tourist Survey Report 2011" (PDF). Government of Gibraltar. Retrieved 29 November 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Abstract of Statistics Report 2011" (PDF). Statistics Office, Government of Gibraltar. Retrieved 18 February 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Aldrich & Connell, p. 83.
- ^ "CIA World Factbook 2012: Country Comparison: GDP – per capita (PPP)". Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ Moran Harari, Markus Meinzer and Richard Murphy (October 2012) "Financial Secrecy, Banks and the Big 4 Firms of Accountants" Archived 7 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine Tax Justice Network pages 21–24.
- ^ "Q&A: Gibraltar's referendum". BBC News. 8 November 2002. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^ Horsley, William (9 June 2003). "UK upsets Spain's Gibraltar plans". BBC News. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^ "Spain 'obsessed' with Gibraltar". BBC News. 2 August 2004.
- ^ Alexander, p. 248.
- ^ Alexander, p. 249.
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{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Truver, Scott C. (1980). The Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, Volume 4. Alphen aan der Rijn, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 978-90-286-0709-5.
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