cyprus conflict 1950s


0000018448 00000 n 0000007915 00000 n Bennet, 14November 1947. Kelling G.1990. Colonial police were summoned. The Mechanism of Catastrophe: The Turkish Pogrom of September 67, 1955, and the Destruction of the Greek Community in Istanbul. In 1950, the Cold War significantly heated up, with the outbreak of the Korean War. See Crawshaw 1978, pp. Although the military operation was a success, the political storm it caused led to a humiliating withdrawal. the opportunity to reorganise when under pressure). Special attention was given to the Ethnarchys links to Greeks beyond Cyprus, particularly in Greece and the United Kingdom but also in theUSA. 43 Although a National Assembly was formed in1922, thus operating until the suppression of the1931 Revolt, the National Council was in fact initially formed in1945 by the Acting Archbishop Leontios. In March 1964, United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) replaced the existing peacekeepers. 34 See for example TNA/CO 537/4970, Minute by J.S.Bennett minute 27 May 1949: Personally I believe that the fundamental weakness of our position in Cyprus, greater even than the universal sentiment for Enosis or the appreciable strength of Communism, is the fact that there is no real moral basis for our administration in the sense in which a moral basis for the State is understood in the democratic countries of the West. were further strengthened, and communication with Trade Unions abroad, such as the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions(I.C.F.T.U.) He desecrated holy temples, he put his dogs on the Holy Table, he destroyed graves and crosses of our dead, he dug up monasteries, he ruined funerals of Heroes with tear gas, he closed down religious associations, he arrested theologians, he exiled and incarcerated Gods representatives from the Archbishop to deacons and monks, he assassinated cantors in the church to calumniate us.

2Imperial, strategic and diplomatic considerations led London to acquire the administration of Cyprus from the Ottomans in1878. 0000013728 00000 n The governments attempts to woo the local Greek Cypriot audience provoked harsh criticism, ridicule and boycotting, by order of the ecclesiastical authorities. 148176. 0000001012 00000 n 0000004392 00000 n Markides D. 2019. The Secretary of State may wish to have a meeting with him to discuss it.. Countdown to Rebellion: British policy in Cyprus: 1939-1955. A.Creech Jones, Colonial Secretary, in answer to question in the House, 23October 1946. Gurkhas being briefed before moving out on patrol at the British Sovereign Base of Dhekelia, 1974. 317-318. Soldiers were drawn from a number of nations. This resulted in extensive mistrust and suspicion between the two communities. 0000090166 00000 n 36The conference collapsed as Prime Minister Eden in London had intended it should do following a stark presentation of Turkish objections to any change in the status quo, with the anti-Greek riots in Constantinople on the night of 67September serving as a convenient coda.55 Nevertheless, the Tripartite Conference is important, as it marks the return of Turkey to developments concerning Cyprus for the first time since 1923, when it had forfeited its rights on the island with the Lausanne Treaty. 69 For the 1959 elections see Yiangou 2017, pp. Undoubtedly, such a possibility posed a great challenge for British interests since, in the event of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the road to the Mediterranean, and even the Persian Gulf, would be left open to the Russians. Holland R.2012. 36 Governor Wright reported that while the Bishop initially appeared to be moderate, he was now intransigent and anti-British. People were shouting, demanding enosis (union) with Greece. These aimed at convincing the Cypriots of the significance and benefits of the British connection, and persuading them to refrain from the tiresome-to-British-ears request for enosis. 12The end of the war unveiled new strategic pressures regarding the British position in the Middle East in general and in Cyprus in particular. Following Lennox Boyds statement on Cyprus, Ankara kept pressing for the islands partition. 0000030902 00000 n Cambridge. On the organization of the Ethnarchy see: TNA/FCO 141/3490, Cyprus Intelligence Committee, The Ethnarchy Organization, 26July 1956. The plebiscite was understood by colonial authorities as a direct challenge to its position;38 it also triggered the opposition of the Turkish Cypriots.39, 21On 18 October 1950 the Bishop of Kitium was elected to the archiepiscopal throne as MakariosIII. Soon afterwards, the wooden building was set on fire and burned to the ground. 83-120. ), were established, and financial assistance was received from these organisations in1952, perhaps even earlier.45 Furthermore, the Archbishop bolstered links with the farmers union(P.E.K. This was rebuffed by the British, who preferred to retain full control of the government in an era when they faced increasing challenges in the Middle East; instead, the British offered, inter alia, a Greek-Cypriot majority in the Legislative Council (a longstanding Greek-Cypriot demand since the late 19thcentury), but with no right to discuss Enosis. Radcliffes proposals were by far the most comprehensive, but they were entirely undermined by the double self-determination statement.62 As Robert Holland notes, by acknowledging double self-determination on the island, the British released the genie of partition from its bottle.63 Even if London intended to exert pressure on Greece and on the Greek-Cypriot side (rather than putting it in effect immediately), in reality Lennox Boyds declaration enabled Turkey and Turkish Cypriots to press more forcefully for their own demands on Cyprus. The insurgency against British rule in the south of the Arabian Peninsula marked the end of a 20-year retreat from Empire. Kitromilides P.1977. However, the operations they mounted against EOKA were not particularly effective. Harding was given extensive powers in relation to security. In1954 London agreed to withdraw from its Suez base, a decision which was highly criticized by the Suez group of Conservative members of Parliament, who accused the Churchill administration of selling out the Empire.51 While the agreements demonstrated the pressures London faced in the region, the fact was they further elevated Cyprus strategic importance and increased Londons inflexibility: Cyprus now simply had to be kept in British hands even though the Cypriot Enosis movement was reaching its peak. 1960. A new Secondary Education Law, enacted in1952, exerted further pressure on the Church-State relationship. Hatzivassiliou E.2002. On 26November 1955 a State of Emergency was declared, and in December A.K.E.L. The decolonization of Cyprus, which followed the onset of theE.O.K.A. Under Makarios the Enosis movement acquired more organizational complexity and communication with Cypriot society, thus extending the range and depth of its influence. Even more critically, the plan could be implemented without the agreement of all interested parties. The Cyprus Review22, pp. Conscription was not imposed but Cypriot volunteers formed the Cyprus regiment, fighting in Greece under British command. The Assemblys work began on 1November 1947, and Greek-Cypriot delegates asked for self-government. Britain and Decolonization, The Retreat from Empire in the Post War World. With these deportations, the British aimed to deliver a severe blow to both the Enosis movement as well as to communism. operated at multiple levels. 0000005981 00000 n Simply enter your email address below to start receiving our monthly email newsletter. fighters were hanged Andreas Demetriou, aged22, and Michail Karaolis, aged23, on 10May 1956. Blue Water Empire: The British in the Mediterranean since 1800. Oxford. Makarios was indeed preaching to the converted. Here, he emphasized the necessity of studying the minds of those to whom our projection is addressedwe must master the art of national projection and must set ourselves to throw a fitting presentation of England upon the worlds screen. This, he argued, would promote good international understanding, within the Empire and without it, for the sake of British export trade, tourist traffic, and in the discharge of our great responsibilities to the other countries of the Commonwealth of British peoples. The same strategic considerations applied for Malta, too, since that insular British possession also remained of critical imperial relevance after 1947; as the situation unfolded, Cypriot affairs were traumatized to a much greater degree, however, than in Malta, where a British presence, based around the dockyards, was much more entrenched.27. declared four truces between 1955 and 1959 (declaring truces also gave E.O.K.A. 19The failure of the Consultative Assembly left the Cyprus Question at an impasse. Any sympathy for the fulfilment of Enosis vanished by1947 in London. 21 The National Archives of theUK (henceforth TNA)/ FCO 371/67084/R13462/G, Minute by Sir O.Harvey, 26September 1947. 153169. 8 June 2016 | by Katie Joice | Categories: Research. declared truces when important diplomatic developments took place to facilitate their implementation overall E.O.K.A. 1946-1959, 2vols. 34The appointment of Field-Marshall Sir John Harding as the new Governor of the island in October 1955 emphasized the urgency of the situation. LouisR.W. 1984. 5The dynamic of the Enosis movement fluctuated during the following decades: in the early years of British rule, up around to1900, the movement existed in a comparatively milder form. Indeed, the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878, which reopened the Eastern Question and saw Russia expand as far as Constantinople itself, threatened the very existence of the Sultans empire. It would certainly mean a disastrous deterioration in the standard of administration22 Following British withdrawal from India in1947, British strategic interests shifted to the Middle East where, following the evacuation of Palestine, Cyprus remained the only territory in the region under direct British rule.23 Furthermore, the onset of the Cold War made Cyprus an important bastion against the Soviet Union. During the Second World War, the colonial government in Cyprus recruited the slogan Fight for Freedom and Greece, as part of their propaganda campaign in order to convince the Greek Cypriots to fight willingly with the British and the Allied forces against the Axis powers. `6%YHKF -rQgc*``=P`cE/s:XD60&rX 0mF C7 qXV3p)&Lxe!tq\TX20ZCT@0 endstream endobj 125 0 obj 406 endobj 105 0 obj << /Type /Page /Parent 98 0 R /Resources 109 0 R /Contents 114 0 R /MediaBox [ 0 0 858 685 ] /CropBox [ 0 0 489.49606 685 ] /Rotate 0 /Thumb 60 0 R /Annots 106 0 R >> endobj 106 0 obj [ 107 0 R 108 0 R ] endobj 107 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /Rect [ 194.61806 518.84387 283.08081 533.45946 ] /C [ 1 1 0 ] /A 122 0 R /Border [ 0 0 1 ] /H /I >> endobj 108 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /Rect [ 273.84991 39.60652 377.69749 48.83742 ] /C [ 1 1 0 ] /A 123 0 R /Border [ 0 0 1 ] /H /I >> endobj 109 0 obj << /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text /ImageB ] /Font << /F4 111 0 R /F5 110 0 R /F9 116 0 R >> /XObject << /Im4 121 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 118 0 R >> >> endobj 110 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /FirstChar 32 /LastChar 252 /Widths [ 250 333 500 500 500 889 778 333 333 333 389 606 250 333 250 296 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 250 250 606 606 606 500 747 722 611 667 778 611 556 722 778 333 333 667 556 944 778 778 611 778 667 556 611 778 722 944 722 667 667 333 606 333 606 500 333 444 463 407 500 389 278 500 500 278 278 444 278 778 556 444 500 463 389 389 333 556 500 722 500 500 444 333 606 333 606 250 0 0 0 611 0 0 0 0 444 0 444 0 0 407 389 0 389 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 556 0 0 500 500 0 0 0 0 0 747 0 333 333 250 0 0 250 606 250 250 0 556 250 250 250 250 250 0 0 250 0 0 0 0 0 250 0 250 250 0 0 0 250 0 0 0 0 669 500 0 0 0 278 278 0 250 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 250 0 0 0 0 0 333 0 0 0 0 0 333 ] /Encoding /MacRomanEncoding /BaseFont /ONCOEJ+Palatino-Italic /FontDescriptor 113 0 R >> endobj 111 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /FirstChar 32 /LastChar 252 /Widths [ 250 278 371 500 500 840 778 208 333 333 389 606 250 333 250 606 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 250 250 606 606 606 444 747 778 611 709 774 611 556 763 832 337 333 726 611 946 831 786 604 786 668 525 613 778 722 1000 667 667 667 333 606 333 606 500 333 500 553 444 611 479 333 556 582 291 234 556 291 883 582 546 601 560 395 424 326 603 565 834 516 556 500 333 606 333 606 250 0 0 709 611 0 0 778 500 500 0 500 500 500 444 479 0 479 0 0 0 0 287 0 0 0 0 546 0 0 0 0 603 0 0 500 500 0 606 0 0 0 747 0 333 333 250 0 0 250 606 250 250 0 603 250 250 250 250 250 0 0 250 758 556 0 0 0 250 0 250 250 0 0 0 250 0 0 0 0 827 500 0 500 500 278 278 0 250 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 250 0 0 0 0 287 333 333 0 333 0 333 333 ] /Encoding /MacRomanEncoding /BaseFont /ONCOEI+Palatino-Roman /FontDescriptor 112 0 R >> endobj 112 0 obj << /Type /FontDescriptor /Ascent 733 /CapHeight 692 /Descent -281 /Flags 34 /FontBBox [ -166 -283 1021 927 ] /FontName /ONCOEI+Palatino-Roman /ItalicAngle 0 /StemV 84 /XHeight 469 /CharSet (/eacute/A/m/L/P/hyphen/ecircumflex/breve/o/M/period/p/H/O/slash/q/dieres\ is/Q/zero/r/R/ring/g/K/one/s/S/cedilla/two/t/U/endash/F/idieresis/three/\ u/V/four/v/W/five/w/X/six/y/Y/E/seven/z/Z/eight/bracketleft/bullet/space\ /nine/bar/n/colon/d/exclam/Udieresis/odieresis/bracketright/copyright/se\ micolon/quotedblright/numbersign/l/ae/underscore/equal/dollar/agrave/quo\ teleft/percent/oslash/Ccedilla/aacute/b/dotlessi/ampersand/question/oe/u\ dieresis/c/at/quoteright/Eacute/atilde/e/T/B/parenleft/f/grave/adieresis\ /C/parenright/h/x/acute/D/aring/i/asterisk/circumflex/G/ccedilla/N/j/I/p\ lus/tilde/a/k/quotedblleft/J/comma) /FontFile3 117 0 R >> endobj 113 0 obj << /Type /FontDescriptor /Ascent 733 /CapHeight 692 /Descent -276 /Flags 98 /FontBBox [ -170 -276 1010 918 ] /FontName /ONCOEJ+Palatino-Italic /ItalicAngle -10 /StemV 84 /XHeight 482 /CharSet (/eacute/five/w/A/quoteleft/L/six/y/ecircumflex/b/E/M/ampersand/seven/z/u\ dieresis/O/c/quoteright/Eacute/eight/Q/e/nine/R/f/grave/K/n/colon/S/acut\ e/h/x/semicolon/U/i/endash/circumflex/F/N/V/j/l/W/k/comma/agrave/m/P/hyp\ hen/o/Y/question/oe/period/H/p/q/dieresis/T/B/space/r/zero/adieresis/g/C\ /d/s/one/cedilla/D/two/t/G/ccedilla/u/I/a/four/v/J) /FontFile3 119 0 R >> endobj 114 0 obj << /Length 2068 /Filter /FlateDecode >> stream Markides D. 2006. 546-548. Anastasia Yiangou, Decolonization in the Eastern Mediterranean: Britain andthe Cyprus Question, 19451960,Cahiers du Centre dtudes Chypriotes [Online], 50|2020, Online since 01 May 2022, connection on 22 July 2022. London. 0000006125 00000 n 0000008974 00000 n 0000145162 00000 n That weakness cannot be removed until the people of Cyprus have a share in making the laws and influencing the actions of the Executive. The Treaty of Guarantee called for the sovereignty of the island to be guaranteed by Britain, Greece and Turkey. In 1956, British and French forces invaded Egypt in collusion with Israel. Soon, however, suspicions between the British and Greek Cypriots (both left and right wing) arose and, by the end of the War, the colonial administration became anxious about the long-term stability on the island. The youth were organized under A.N.E. As a result, the British were forced to rely on Turkish-Cypriot policemen, who were ostracised by the Greek-Cypriot communities and could provide little information about them. 0000058665 00000 n British troops remain on the island to this day as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force. 0000001225 00000 n YiangouA. Cypriots enlisted as volunteers to the Cyprus Regiment, which was formed in February 1940, and to the Cyprus Volunteer Force (formed in June 1940), and many women also joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service(ATS) and the Womens Auxiliary Air Force(WAAF). Cyprus in History: A Survey of 5000years. Crawshaw N.1978. See Markides 2006, p.26. This mortar is a simple metal tube, which fired a homemade bomb full of scrap iron. A young Greek Cypriot student climbed the flagpole, took down the British flag, and raised the Greek one. 44 TNA/FCO 141/3490, L.G.Durrell to Director General of Information, 30January 1956. 0000000016 00000 n E.O.K.A. This was the first time the problem was discussed on an international level.54 Archbishop Makarios opposed Greek participation in the conference, though the post-civilwar government in Athens was too weak to resist British pressure to attend. Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation. Holland R.1985. 12 Key works on education politics and the British in Cyprus include Heraclidou 2017 and Persianis 1978. In1942, in the midst of the German occupation of Greece, he served as a curate of church of St.Herene in the Greek capital. Indeed, this feature made the case of Cyprus distinctive because, unlike other people under colonial rule, the Greeks of Cyprus never wanted independence; rather, they wished to attach themselves to another state. Retaining Cyprus meant the island was denied to a potential enemy.24 In the end, a report prepared by the Chiefs of Staff argued in favour of the retention of the island, emphasizing inter alia that Cyprus was the only territory in the Middle East where the British could pursue measures necessary for defence unfettered by treaties.25 This argument proved decisive for the fate of Cyprus. Greek Cypriots were ultimately disappointed, and this feeling would become a core component of the postwar Anglo-Cypriot relationship.17. 17 For these themes see generally Yiangou 2012. We have been too much on the defensive I feel very strongly that we must step up our propaganda on Cyprus, and make it much more vigorous, offensive and robust.

Although London never developed Cyprus into a military base,11 they were not prepared to hand the island over to another power, who might do exactly that on their own behalf. Tensions between the Greeks of Cyprus and the British intensified during the1920s: continuing disappointments regarding demands for Enosis, grievances due to British interference in matters of education,12 and the poor economic condition of the island were causes for intense dissatisfaction.

The situation in Cyprus at that point, was not obviously revolutionary. 0000005090 00000 n Arguably the events of 21 October 1931 were the turning point in Anglo-Greek Cypriot relations. Britain and the International Status of Cyprus, 1955-59. was banned in June1953, it managed to continue its operations underground; many of its members enrolled in the religious orthodox union of O.H.E.N. A key date was October28, 1940, when Greece entered into the hostilities on the Allies side. 0000030963 00000 n See Yiangou 2020. Despite doubts in official British circles, London eventually decided to acknowledge this. His own conclusion merits a slightly extended quotation: Dautre part, il nest pas douteux que le systme de Zrich et de Londres, tout en condamnant en principe le partage de Chypre, tendait, comme le plan Macmillan, raliser un partage non territorial, institutionnaliser la division entre deux communauts separate but equal; il crait pour elles des institutions indpendantes[] qui chapperaient trs largement au contrles du gouvernement central, si bien que lon aurait pratiquement deux gouvernements parallles. Holland 1998, p.184-185 and Beaton 2019, p.317. Once again, they demanded Enosis. 44Scholars today may take issue as to the inevitability involved in this process, but Crouzets description of a polity designed on peculiarly antagonistic principles captures the essential outcome. VarnavaA. fighters. Since he got here, to impose through violence lawlessness and disorder, he hits like a maniac and insults whatever relates to our religion and the Church. Although the Archbishopric did not maintain a propaganda service, these agencies were at the core of Makarios actions. 0000028166 00000 n 9 The Great War had a significant impact on the development of the Enosis movement as it hardened Church attitudes towards the British. In the early 1950s, a Greek-Cypriot revolt in favour of union with mainland Greece began in British-controlled Cyprus. While P.E.O.N. It was the first of many visits and exchanges with Greek authorities, which revolved around another pillar of his agenda: to exert pressure on the Greek Government to take the Cyprus issue to the United Nations. cyprus population 1960 30The British communicated their views in a statement on 28July 1954 by the Undersecretary of State for the Colonies, Henry Hopkinson. 43The constitutional construct that had emerged at Lancaster House was astutely summed up by Franois Crouzet in his magisterial work on the conflict in late colonial Cyprus from 1946 through to its climax in 1959.

Georghallides G.S.1979.

The political responsibility of the organization was vested in P.E.K.A. : 1950. The following summer T.M.T. Expectations were boosted not only by Cypriot contribution to the Great War as volunteers but also by Allied declarations on the right of self-determination of subject peoples. YiangouA. xb```f``j B@Q)0w&x4If=(}aiS yf|HZ:m#"A\#6ix{GV#3@^K8z`k37:nlY@?X % Qbp I2Ft QcccW@ U 5 , 0a#W- ~i+CC7LiLK3e These conflicting aims brought about the collapse of the Anglo-Cypriot relationship while they forced Britain to seek for a regional ally; Turkey was identified for this role. Harding, as the new Governor, sought to reverse this process, or at least find a solution that would be accepted by all interested parties (Britain, Greece, Turkey, Cypriots) in a place where the law had ceasedto function. Oxford, pp. Despite Makarios initial hesitation to sanction an armed struggle, he finally agreed to it, provided it would be undertaken for a short period of time and directed exclusively against British installations. London. The police which E.O.K.A. The British authorities reacted by adopting a string of severe repressive measures such as collective punishments, curfews, house searches and the construction of military camps where Greek-Cypriot suspects were held and often treated brutally. After the humiliating events of October 1931, the colonial government imposed repressive reforms in its attempt to reinstate law and order in the colony and instill public spirit in its subjects. "First time @NAM_London today. cyprus tourist London. 42 The Ethnarchy Bureau was formed in1948 by Makarios (then Bishop of Kitium) to serve as an advisory and policy-making body. 2010. had managed to penetrate by creating a small but highly effective network of police informers was reorganized. The reintroduction of political reforms was to be accompanied with a tenyear plan for the economic development of the island. The Cyprus Revolt: An account of the Struggle for Union with Greece. PEKAs leaflets were well-designed to reach their target and successfully distributed, very often carried secretly in Cypriot childrens skirts or socks, much to the frustration of the governments Security Forces. 0000174359 00000 n

Persianis P. 1978. 1930s Palmerocracy (Governor Palmers autocratic rule in Cyprus between 1933 and 1939), and the broken promises of the Second World War, left many Cypriots with grievances. 32At the beginning of the revolt, the strategic aim ofE.O.K.A. 14 According to John Darwin, British decolonization was profoundly influenced by the course and impact of the Second World War. 0000005263 00000 n HUKn0\R@O By mid-1956, there were 17,000 British servicemen in Cyprus. This decision was inextricably connected to the British desire to preserve the status quo of the Ottoman Empire. Following the signing of the Treaty the last Governor of Cyprus, Sir Hugh Foot and his family departed from Famagusta port on HMS Chichester, marking the end of colonial rule. Minneapolis. Britain and Cyprus: A Historical Overview. YiangouA.

), a party of the Left, in1941. See Antonopoulos 2008. The lack of sufficient contact largely due to language barriers between the administration and the Cypriots during the first half of British rule (1878-1931) had substantially favoured the conditions for the dissemination of Greek and Greek Cypriot propaganda. Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies44, pp. Its fightershad no access to larger weapons, like mortars, and simply made their own. 0000006887 00000 n In a better-late-than-never state of mind, the colonial government embarked on a series of experiments in cultural influence in the fields of education and social welfare. See also TNA, CO 67/358/1, Statement made by Rt. By then the Labour Government of Clement Attlee had taken important decisions concerning withdrawal from Jordan (declared independence in1946), India (1947), Burma (1948) and Palestine, and it simply was not prepared to retreat from the Empire any further, especially in the vital area of the Eastern Mediterranean. Leventis Y. 4960. ), International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest. The Council was seen as the political cabinet of the Archbishop with its own Secretariat, Nikos Kranidiotis, who also served the Ethnarchy Bureau.