Solid As a Rock? Britain and Gibraltar
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Solid as a Rock? Britain and Gibraltar SERIES OF invaders – 4,000, was forced to flee and later settled in the likely to be considered of far greater importance Berbers, Moors and Spanish neighbouring mainland area of San Roque. than the civilian population. In the 18th and – readily appreciated the British occupation of Gibraltar was further 19th centuries, however, a settler population strategic and trading value cemented by the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and did become established as the British developed of Gibraltar, located at the under Article X, Spain was invested with “first a trading post alongside the garrison. By 1753, very entrance to the refusal” should Britain ever decide to abandon the civilian community was composed of 597 A Mediterranean. In 1704, an Anglo-Dutch force it. The treaty also avoided the partition of Genoese, 575 Jews and 351 British inhabitants. seized this prominent rocky outcrop and Spain, preserved the Spanish Empire in the The latter were mainly merchants who accompanying low-lying isthmus as part of Americas, granted Britain slave trading rights recognised the trading opportunities in Iberia, the War of the Spanish Succession. in the West Indies and allowed the British to North Africa and also further eastwards into While the war had as its origins a dispute retain ownership of Minorca. the Mediterranean. over who would succeed the childless Charles Migrants from the countries and regions II to the Spanish Empire, the conflict quickly Fortress or colony? bordering the Mediterranean helped to spread to include political and economic Gibraltar became a British naval fortress and increase numbers, and by the end of the 18th interests across continental Europe and as far was important symbolically as a representation century the civilian population numbered as the Americas. Victory in the straits of of an unwillingness to bend to threats by rival some 10,000 in addition to 7,000 British Gibraltar led to a 300-year association with imperial powers such as Spain and France. As soldiers. European and North African Jewry, Britain. The local Spanish community, some such the needs of the fortress-colony were alongside emigres from the predominantly 18 BBC History December 2004 The Relief of Gibraltar 30 April 1704, in an explicitly citing wider constitutional change. A 18th-century painting: the seizure of ‘the decade later, the then Governor of the Colony, Rock’ by an Anglo-Dutch force during the Sir Robert Gardiner, argued that the civilian War of the Spanish Succession led to a community’s welfare should be subsumed 300-year association with Britain once more under the needs of the British military. The Governor tried to ban the Rock’s merchants and landowners publicly, petitioning to the Secretary of State for the Colonies for an enquiry into administration in 1852. While this petition was stifled, Gardiner was recalled to Britain in 1855, such was the state of local unease. Struggle for civil rights The difficulties for Gibraltarians becomes readily apparent when one considers how long it took for the colony to develop a civil infrastructure let alone democratic representation. In the case of the former, the outbreak of disease provoked urgent innovation. As with metropolitan Britain, an outbreak of cholera in the mid-19th century In 2004, Gibraltar has led to the creation of a new Sanitary Commission, which was charged with been marking its improving public health. Civilian administration was finally tercentenary with special events charting its augmented above and beyond the realm of law and order. An 1889 ordinance helped to history and struggle for self-determination. sharpen rights to residency, by highlighting the importance of native-born individuals. It KLAUS DODDS reflects on how, as well as a was not until 1921 that the first elections were held for a City Council in Gibraltar and the celebration, it has also been a time to reflect election of such a body effectively replaced the Sanitary Commission. on the former fortress-colony’s changing According to the Gibraltarian historian and political figure Joseph Garcia, the civilian relationship with Britain population of 18,000 had been “rewarded” for its loyalty during the First World War. But Gibraltar’s civil administration still lagged far behind the military priorities of the imperial Catholic communities of Malta, Portugal and first and a colony second in the post-1704 era. centre. It had taken over 200 years for the needs the Italian port city of Genoa, enriched the Nineteenth century conflicts, such as the Battle of the civilian population even to be recognised civilian community. As these demographic of Trafalgar (1805), cemented the view that in any meaningful manner. flows increased, the multi-cultural population Gibraltar’s primary function was to service the The outbreak of the Second World War put of Gibraltar was further cross-fertilised by the paid to those advances in civilian neighbouring Spanish community. The governance. In the face of feared proximity of churches, synagogues and The needs of the fortress- German bombing raids, 16,000 mosques is just one illustration of this civilians were evacuated: many were enduring cultural-religious hybridity. A census colony were … considered sent to Britain, while others went to of 1777 revealed there were 3,201 inhabitants of far greater importance the British colony of Jamaica and including Genoese, British, Irish, Portuguese, the island of Madeira. For those French and Minorcans. Although the number than the civilian population sent to London, experience of the of inhabitants on “the Rock” continued to Blitz helped to strengthen their expand, their political and legal standing needs of the Royal Navy as it became embroiled emotional connections to the mother country depended on individual governors and their in the Napoleonic Wars. (although many evacuees complained of poor commitment to civilian development. It was in the aftermath of Anglo-Franco housing and racism by host communities). As The long-term settlement of Gibraltar was, conflict and the despatch of Napoleon to the such it helped to cement a view of a separate however, never inevitable as successive Spanish distant British island colony of Saint Helena, Gibraltarian identity, which was not sieges placed the British forces under that Gibraltar was, as many historians believe, considerable pressure especially between officially declared a colony in 1830. However, Klaus Dodds is reader in political geography at 1779–83. Gibraltar was, in the words of the while the 1830 Charter of Justice may have Royal Holloway, University of London. The local historian and former Gibraltar archivist given Gibraltar a Supreme Court of Justice British Academy has recently funded his NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM NATIONAL Tommy Finlayson, unquestionably a fortress and independent civil judiciary, it fell short of research on Gibraltar ➣ December 2004 BBC History 19 intrinsically English. By 1942, a largely civilian- free Gibraltar was used as a base from which Operation Torch was launched by the British as part of their North African campaign against German forces. Spanish neutrality throughout the Second World War ensured that Gibraltar was never attacked from the north. This was a welcome relief to British military Dual identity: The Gibraltarian flag and Union Jack planners given that Nazi Germany had assisted General Franco during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. But it also carried with it a political price, as speculation was rife in Gibraltar that the British had even considered giving over the colony to Spain in the aftermath of conflict. The plight of the remaining residents and evacuees alike caused Loyal Gibraltar: Queen Elizabeth inspects North Fort in 1954 “British” bobbies guard the border with Spain much concern and consternation. In December 1942, the visit provided an opportunity for Gibraltar’s the colony. Britain and Gibraltar were forced Association for the Advancement of Civil residents to demonstrate their loyalty to onto the defensive and in September 1963, two Rights (AACR) in Gibraltar was created under Britain. Spanish newspapers, with the tacit of Gibraltar’s leading political figures, Joshua the leadership of Albert Risso. With the help support of the Spanish Foreign Ministry, Hassan and Peter Isola, went to New York to of a young lawyer called Joshua Hassan, it condemned the visit and even speculated that defend the colony’s existence – Gibraltar was was designed to protect the interests of the Spanish radicals might plan disruptive action not an oppressed society and local residents Gibraltarians regardless of their wartime during the royal tour. For many in the colony, wanted to retain a connection with Britain: location. This civil rights-based organisation it was perhaps the first time that they had been “Nothing could be further from the truth than was inspired by an anti-colonial ideology. In to suggest that the people of elections for a City Council in July 1945, the ‘Nothing could be further Gibraltar are subjugated or AACR won all seven contested seats and for exploited by a foreign power”. the first time in the history of Gibraltar, elected from the truth than to suggest In 1967 a public referendum in members outnumbered those nominated. Gibraltar concluded that over 99 The ending of the Second World War, that the people of Gibraltar per cent wanted no formal therefore, ushered in a new democratic and association with Spain. Some even constitutional era for the people of Gibraltar. are subjugated or exploited b y demanded formal constitutional Developing a civil society in Gibraltar a foreign power’ integration with Britain in order to carried political risks, however. If Gibraltar ensure that Spain never had a developed a constitution and stronger local so conscious of the border with Spain, as British chance to make a claim in the future. This political element then it would help to authorities strictly controlled movement in never materialised but it did highlight a sense strengthen British attachments.