1945-1949






Cyprus 1949-1960



Seeing their Empire disintegrate, many British politicians regarded Cyprus as militarily too vital to let go.
Another problem was who would govern the island after the departure of the British; the island population was split in a Greek Orthodox majority of c. 80 % and a Muslim Turkish minority of c. 20 %, the latter living in hamlets scattered all over the island. The illegal, nationalist ENOSIS movement demanded unification with mainland Greece, a step the Turkish minority could never accept.
Negotiations in 1959 lead to the CYPRUS TREATY of 1960, which granted the Turkish minority protection; it and the Cypriot constitution were guaranteed by the signatories, the UK, Greece and Turkey. Britain would continue to operate the bases at Akrotiri and Dekeleia.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Recent Cyprus History, From a Perspective Within the United Kingdom, from the Bow Group
Cyprus, Brief Historical Survey, from kypros.org
Foundation of the Republic of Cyprus (1960), from the North Cyprus Homepage
German P.O.W.s held on Cyprus, from Kriegsgefangen.de, text in English
Nicosia's Murder Mile, from Britain's Small Wars 1945-2001
Cyprus 1955-1959, from Britain's Small Wars
CASCON Case CYE : Cyprus (Enosis) 1954-1959, by L.P. Bloomfield, L. Moulton
DOCUMENTS Documents Relating to the Founding of Cyprus, Including the Treaty of Guarantee, 1959, from kypros.org, documents from Lancaster house
Cyprus Treaty of Guarantee, August 16th 1960, from North Cyprus Homepage
Cyprus Constitution of 1960, from ICL
REFERENCE Chapter 12 : Along the Mediterranean, pp.160-177, in : John Gunter, Inside Europe Today, NY : Harper & Bros. 1961 [G]
Article : Cyprus, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1950 p.213, 1951 p.213, 1952 pp.209-210, 1953 p.207, 1954 p.209, 1955 pp.259-260, 1956 pp.194-195, 1957 p.254, 1958 pp.194-195, 1959 p.192, 1960 pp.192-193, 1961 pp.201-202 [G]
Article : Cyprus, in : Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Encyclopedia Year Book 1952 p.124 [G]
Article : Cyprus, in : Americana Annual 1957 pp.211-212 (on events of 1956) [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on January 12th 2002, last revised on March 30th 2007

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