THE IMPERIALISTIC FOUNDATIONS OF
BRITISH COLONIAL RULE IN CYPRUS
By contrast with other ex colonies, historiography tends to examine the Cyprus
history in the light of the Cyprus Problem. This involves a tautology and the danger
of narrating the history of injustices or mistakes. Certainly one of the major
parameters to be examined, which would not deal with Cyprus as an a-historical
island and a reflection of the Cyprus Problem, is the foundation of British colonial
rule.
Vitally important to British imperial communications Cyprus occupation served
British imperialistic interests and depended on the exploitation of the island.
Although the new regime is thought to have made a breach with the Ottoman past,
the British adopted some of the Ottoman structures. In addition radical reforms
were not introduced and Cyprus, a neglected colony, the so called Cinderella, was
condemned to backwardness. As a result, great disaffection by the colonial rule and
rising economic discontent gave rise to urban and peasant opposition. The main
preoccupation of my study stands in the gradual development of the national
movement during the last period of British colonial rule, that lead to the upsurge and
the liberation struggle in the 1950s1. An attempt is made to assess the impact of
economic imperialistic methods on the Cypriot population and how they became
one of the causes for the fight against the colonizers. Of course by following this
methodology we should by no means deprive the local history of its integrity and
make the people little more than pawns of outside forces. Thus colonizers and
subject people must be comprehended as aspects of each other and yet as
autonomous. By taking account of the interplay of imperialism with nationalism it is
possible to understand the different forms of imperial intervention in Cyprus.
1
If the history of the choices of the people is to be told then one must take into account the history
of the transformations which gave a new shape to the conditions of their life, conditions which were
not their choice but shaped their history. Thereby the role of the colonial power is decisive in the
destruction of the old and the creation of the new conditions in which the lives of the people
changed. See Robert C. Young, Postcolonialism An historical introduction, USA, 2001, p. 8.
1
EXPANSION AS A PREREQUISITE OF IMPERIALISM
When Cyprus was acquired in 1878 from the Ottoman Empire Britain demonstrated
the primacy of strategic over economic motives2. Cyprus was to be used as a place of
arms and was considered to be a key to Asia3, one of the outposts securing the route
to India4. It is difficult to separate out the underlying economic causes, from political
and strategic considerations or from the importance of power and national prestige
and say where the dominant drive came from. During the political and military
acquisitions of the late 19th century5, the period of ‘new imperialism’6, political and
economic factors set in action without distinction. At this point we may paraphrase
Lenin’s classical work Imperialism the highest stage of Capitalism and say that
“Imperialism is the highest stage of Colonialism”7.
EXPLOITATION
TAXATION: Imperialism manifests itself through economic penetration and
exploitation. The empire was formally territorial whereas informally extending with
trade and investments. Exploitation assumed a different form in Cyprus. A real
draining came with the Tribute8. As Cyprus was hired out from the Ottoman Empire,
2
See Raymond Dumett, «Exploring the Cain/Hopkins paradigm: issues for debate; critique and topics
for new research», Gentlemanly Capitalism and British Imperialism. The new debate on Empire,
Raymond Dumett ed., p.23.
3
C.W.J. Orr, Cyprus under British Rule, London, 1972, p.44.
4
“Three months after the conquest Disraeli said: In taking Cyprus the movement is not
th
Mediterranean. It is Indian.” Cited in Times of Cyprus, 20 August 1956, extract from Percy Arnold’s
book, Cyprus Challenge.
5
In the place of free trade in commerce and the non interference of the British Government came a
period typified by annexations and spheres of influence of an increasingly protectionist sort. When
commonly mocked for the acquisition of vast territories in a “fit of absence of mind”, the British
ironically answered that: “Since the oldest of them dates from 1612 (Bermuda) and the youngest only
from 1946 (Sarawak) the British must be chronically absent-minded”.(In fact the youngest was
Tanganyika acquired in 1919, as Sarawak was a protectorate since 1888.) That is according to the
leaflet “Introducing the Colonies”, released by the British Government and sent by the Greek Embassy
st
th
in London on 1 December 1952. Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 30,6 sub
file.
6
See Benjamin J. Cohen, The question of Imperialism. The Political Economy of Dominance and
Dependence, New York, 1973, p.80.
7
Ania Loomba, Colonialism, Post colonialism, London, N .York, 1998, p.11.
8
British politicians before the First World War opposed the Tribute and they either characterized it
as an anachronism or an encumbrance. Churchill’s official Memorandum in 1907 remains one of the
2
the Tribute was the money paid from the vassal state, meaning Britain to its
sovereign. This sum never reached the Ottoman Empire but Cyprus revenue was
destined to pay the interest of the Ottoman loan of 1855 and was left as a charge on
Cyprus until 19279.
In fact by pretending to be the protector of the Ottoman Empire guaranteeing
defense in case of Russian invasion, Britain was protecting her financial interests as
well. Undoubtedly the nucleus of economic force existed inside imperialism. Since
1854 when the first Ottoman loan was subscribed, a series of other loans for the
next twenty years plunged the Ottoman Empire into debt and default followed in
187610. Although Britain proclaimed her support for the unity of the Ottoman Empire
and aided it to promote reforms11, was sufficiently two-sided to acquire Cyprus and
Egypt each for strategic reasons, which were backed by financial commands. British
investments had to be protected and payment of debts secured, so Cyprus by paying
the tribute, joined in the undertaking.
In this way Cyprus was the only colony that was forced to subsidize the British
Treasury and was the only island with the highest percentage of taxes in the world 12.
Although Cyprus was annexed in 1914 and in 1925 it was declared a British Colony
and despite the fact that Turkey was exempted from the 1855 loan at the Lausanne
treaty in 1923, the Cypriots kept on paying the tribute for 50 years as it was
converted to public debt13.
fiercer critiques of British policy still on the Cyprus files.See Ronald Hyam, «Churchill and the British
Empire», Churchill, Robert Blake and Wm. Roger Louis ed., Oxford, 1996, p.185. Rider Haggard judged
the dishonest way Britain was “bleeding the Cypriots dry” Rider Haggard, Tαξίδι ςτην Κφπρο το 1900,
Αθήνα, 1994, σ231 and the Times characterized the Tribute as the ‘scandal of the British occupation’.
9
The Depedent Empire, 1900-1948 Colonies, Protectorates, and Mandates Selected Documents on the
Constitutional History of the British Empire and Commonwealth Volume VII, Frederick Madden and
John Darwin ed., Westport, Connecticut ,London, 1994, p.p. 524, 525.
10
P. J. Cain and A. G. Hopkins, British Imperialism: Innovation and expansion 1688-1914, London, New
York, 1993, p.p. 401,402.
11
οσ
Sia Anagnostopoulou, Μικρά Αςία, 19 αι. -1919. Οι ελληνορθόδοξεσ Κοινότητεσ. Από το Μιλλζτ
των Ρωμιών ςτο Ελληνικό Ζθνοσ, Athens, 1998, p.p.19, 20
12
Heinz A.Richter, Ιςτορία τησ Κφπρου, Τόμοσ Α΄:1878-1949, Athens, 2007, p. 108, G.S. Georghallides,
A Political and Administrative History of Cyprus 1918-1926 with a survey of the foundations of British
rule, Nicosia, 1979, p.16 and C.W.J. Orr, Cyprus under British Rule, London, 1972, p.63 .
13
The Depedent Empire, 1900-1948 Colonies, Protectorates, and Mandates Select Documents on the
Constitutional History of the British Empire and Commonwealth Volume VII, Frederick Madden and
John Darwin ed., Westport, Connecticut ,London, 1994, σ.σ. 524, 525.
3
The Tribute was not the only taxation. The tax system which existed before the
occupation and the mechanisms of collection remained intact and people continued
to pay taxes, a well known precedent for them from the Ottoman rule. The only
difference was that taxes were paid directly to the government in an effort to
maximize state revenue14. The effectiveness of tax collection led many farmers to
bankruptcy after heavy indebtedness to usurers. Apart from the poll tax which was
abolished in 190315, vexatious tithes remained a heavy burden for farmers until their
final abolition in 1927.The government collected one tenth of the crop production
despite the failures of harvests at times. There were also taxes on immovable
property, on trade and profession and since the 1920s taxation of clubs, coffee
houses and theatres16. In the 1950s heavy taxation was imposed on mass consumer
goods such as cotton and woolen clothes, sugar, matches, petrol, tobacco and
spirits17. Because of the high tax on imported raw materials and the low tax on
imported goods, due to government tariff policy, there were serious drawbacks to
the development of local industry in Cyprus. As a result of the high price of imported
sugar three marmalade factories had to fold up and a match factory had to close
down because of the government’s refusal to reduce excise duty on its production or
to restrict import from abroad.
Furthermore taxation on wood, iron and cement raised the cost of house building
and consequently caused housing problems and high rents in the 1950s, at a time
when urban population was steadily increasing. On the other hand mineral
companies, whose production constituted more than half of the island’s export,
were vested to the state and exported their products with a very low tax 18. In this
way foreign investment was encouraged and foreign firms’ interests were protected.
14
This system was similar to the Ryotwari which had been at work in the western part of India.
R. Katsiaounis, Labour, Society and Politics in Cyprus during the second half of the nineteenth century,
Nicosia, 1996, p. 99.
15
R. Katsiaounis, Labour, Society and Politics in Cyprus during the second half of the nineteenth
century, Nicosia, 1996, p. 194.
16
G.S Georghallides., A Political and Administrative History of Cyprus 1918-1926 with a survey of the
foundations of British rule, Nicosia, 1979,p.p. 242 και 246.
17
th
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 32,8 sub file, ΕΑΣ (Greek Cypriot
th
Liberation Front) leaflet «Cyprus fights for freedom» sent by the Greek Consulate on 27 November
1952.
18
Δημοκράτησ, December 1951, p.233
4
Taxation had increased by 700% since 193919. This meant that money for
administration and development was deducted from the population and Cyprus was
sustained by its own means20.
EXPLOITATION AND DEPENDENCY-ΤΗΕ ΜΥΤΗ ΟF DEVELOPMENT
A pretext used for the reinforcement of imperialist tactics was the conquering
power’s responsibility for the development of backward areas which lacked
education, health, economic progress and technology21. Whether mischievous or
imperialistic22, these acts brought Cyprus, to economic disaster. Consequently
people had been on a subsistence level and progress was really slow. The focus is not
to blame imperialism for the poverty and the general conditions of the indigenous
population but to try to understand the economic and social effects it had on the
inhabitants.
Only as late as after the Second World War Britain made efforts to promote
colonial prosperity. In 1946 the Colonial Secretary Arthur Creech Jones announced
the ten year development programme for the improvement of the colonies which
was described as “blood transfusion”23. The contribution for Cyprus was 1,750.000.
The government in its report to the UN assembly said that the ten year development
programme allowed 12 million for Cyprus six million by the Government, two million
by local authorities and the rest out of Government loans. Greek Cypriots mocked
this obvious inconsistency in formal reports and the complicated statistics
19
Tax revenue in 1939 was 900,000 whereas in the early 1950’s it was 7,000,000. Historical Archive of
th
the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 30,8 sub file, from the Ethnarchy report to the Secretary of the
th
United Nations, sent by the Greek Consulate on 14 October 1952.
20
That is according to the leaflet “Introducing the Colonies”, released by the British Government and
st
sent by the Greek Embassy in London on 1 December 1952. Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign
th
Ministry: 1952, File 30,6 sub file.
21
“For three quarters of the century Britain let this false make- believe with Cypriots that they were
there to build roads, to eradicate malaria, to restore the woods. I doubt whether these thoughts
th
burdened the Cabinet.” Times of Cyprus, 20 August 1956, extract from Percy Arnold’s book, Cyprus
Challenge.
22
The notion that the colonizers were there to “get their subjects back on their feet” prevailed. Νζοσ
Δημοκράτησ,16 November 1952, «Eden’s tall story in the U.N.»
23
That is according to the leaflet “Introducing the Colonies”, released by the British Government and
st
sent by the Greek Embassy in London on 1 December 1952. Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign
th
Ministry: 1952, File 30,6 sub file.
5
presented, characterizing them as “acrobatic syllogisms”24 and seized the chance to
praise Greece their mother country which would have taken care of their situation in
case of the achieved union with it. On the other hand British newspapers gave the
picture of a flourishing island whose prosperity was shadowed by the struggle for
union with Greece25.
Cyprus remained throughout the colonial rule a country with backward economy. In
understanding this we have to realize the depth of colonial intervention as well as
non intervention in peasant affairs26. Agriculture was far from being self-sufficient in
a country where 75% of the population was farmers and agricultural economy was
the barometer of the people’s prosperity. There was little or no improvement in
cultivation and ploughing was still primitive27. Another problem caused by
insufficient rainfall was irrigation. As government reports mentioned, of the 2,097
square miles of arable land 60 were under perennial irrigation namely 3%28.
The “Soil Conservation Bill” was published as late as 1951 and the United Nations
soil specialist said that if the existing conditions were not improved Cyprus would
suffer from famine in fifty or probably a hundred years29. There was little assistance
by the government for the spraying of disinfectants or destroying of fruit pests and
the supply of fertilizers. In the absence of large -scale organization, piecemeal
attempts at improvement were not effective. To make matters worse after the
Second World War fertile land had to be devolved to the state or was confiscated so
that military bases, barracks, concentration camps and airports could be built. Some
of this land was even bought by the War Office in 1955 after negotiations with the
24
Ελληνική Κφπροσ, February 1954, p. 27
Ελληνική Κφπροσ, December 1953, p.259.
26
See Tony Smith, The pattern of imperialism. The United States, Great Britain and the late
industrializing world since 1815, USA, 1981, p.p.69 and 75.
27
Village life was little in all probability ameliorated from what it had been for the last three thousand
years. As C.W.Orr had described in 1916: “The sun-baked mud houses, the paved threshing floors,
the primitive agricultural implements, all recall the shadowy past, the days of the earliest civilization.
The wooden plough, with its pointed metal shaft, is of the same pattern as those which are to be seen
portrayed on the walls of ancient Egyptian temples, and similar ones must have been in use for
thousands of years.” C.W.J. Orr, Cyprus under British Rule, London, 1972, p.
28
st
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 82, 1 sub file, U.S. General Assembly,
th
7 session, Information from non self governing territories, August 1952.
29
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 106, 2nd sub file, a research entitled
“The myth about the prosperity of Cyprus” sent by the Greek Consulate on 25 July 1952.
25
6
owners30. The government was denounced for acquiring 87,000 acres of land until
1955, in this way31.
The unsatisfying condition of agriculture was mainly owed to the primitive means
of cultivation based on the old wooden plough and inadequate mechanization. A
great percentage of land, 85.7% was cultivated with the help of animals and 2.7%
manually. 500 tractors were used in about 4% of the land, while a large number of
them were used in mining, the construction of camps and three or four big farms the
government took pride in32. It would help to understand the situation if we consider
the following fact: Almost 100,000 families depended on agriculture. Many peasant
families lived in primitive conditions of housing and hygiene while half of them either
owned no land or were small growers and owned up to 15 acres33.
The population of Cyprus increased from 361,199 in 1946 to 494,000 in 1952, an
increase of 35%. Consequently the reduction or even the stagnation of production
did not cover the needs of the increased population. There was a continuous rise in
the price of bread, 70% of the cereals were imported34. Although Cyprus used to
export meat, in 1950 nutrition had to rely on imports because animal population had
decreased since 192535. And despite the fact that Cyprus is an island, fish was
considered a luxury and the supply of fish, usually of small size was not equal to the
demand36.
Credit was a serious problem which wrecked rural population. Until 1940 farmers
were at the mercy of money lenders and it was a common secret that interest often
30
st
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1957, File 42, 1 sub file, section 1,Parliamentary
th
Debates of 25 July 1957 sent from the Greek Embassy in London.
31
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1954, File 45, Subject: Cyprus, Labour Monthly,
November 1954.
32
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 106, 2nd sub file, a research entitled
“The myth about the prosperity of Cyprus” sent by the Greek Consulate on 25 July 1952.
33
th
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1948, File 1,5 section, Report of the agricultural
th
conditions of Cyprus by the director of the Greek Ministry of Agriculture, 27 September 1948.
34
th
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 30,8 sub file, from the Ethnarchy report
th
to the Secretary of the United Nations, sent by the Greek Consulate on 14 October 1952.
35
nd
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 106, 2 sub file, a research entitled “The
myth about the prosperity of Cyprus” sent by the Greek Consulate on 25 July 1952.
36
st
th
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 82, 1 sub file, U.S. General Assembly, 7
session, Information from non self governing territories, August 1952.
7
exceeded the rate of 12% which was the legitimate rate fixed in 1919. After the
settlement of agricultural debts in 1940 the rate was set at 9%. Then the agricultural
credit was undertaken by the Agricultural Bank and the Farmers’ Cooperatives which
charged 6%. The Agricultural Bank was founded in 1925, forty seven years after the
conquest, but soon capital which could supply long term loans ran out 37. In 1938 the
Central Cooperative Bank was founded and was financed by Barclay’s, one of the five
biggest London banks. Both banks were the means of profitable investment for
British capital and represented the imperialistic interests of the City. The Central
Cooperative Bank which was a sort of governmental department38, accumulated
capital not only through credit but also through the supply of fertilizers by the
Imperial Chemical Industry offering at the same time long term credits for their
payment39. In Cyprus where capital kept the farmers in bondage, foreign banking
capital came at the top of the credit pyramid and the local landlords and merchants
were the main intermediary between the colonial government and the impoverished
peasants.
The belated measures taken by the Government under the Debt Settlement Law to
reduce rural indebtedness did not stop farmers from plunging heavily into debt. In
the years from 1919 to 1939 forced sales of agricultural land amounted to over 1/5
of the total. Although under the Ottoman rule expropriation was prohibited, in 1885
the British permitted the selling of land for debt repayment. Nevertheless the British
colonial government had not encouraged usury itself but cultivated the alliance with
the exploiters of the agrarian sector40. They had left the system of exploitation to
flourish and expand for more than half a century without interfering and abandoned
farmers to their own devices. The system, as Tony Smith supports, has its own rules
“that are all the more powerful because their greatest force comes not from an
37
Georghallides G.S., A Political and Administrative History of Cyprus 1918-1926 with a survey of the
foundations of British rule, Nicosia, 1979, p. 226.
38
th
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1953, File 104, U.S. General Assembly, 8 session,
th
Information from non self governing territories,10 August 1953.
39
th
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 32,8 sub file, ΕΑΣ (Greek Cypriot
th
Liberation Front) leaflet «Cyprus fights for freedom» sent by the Greek Consulate on 27 November
1952.
40
Tony Smith, The pattern of imperialism. The United States, Great Britain and the late industrializing
world since 1815, USA, 1981, p.p.69, 75.
8
active threat of intervention so much as from a threat of withdrawal, a withdrawal
that would leave these dependent regimes to the fate of civil and regional
conflict”41.
Britain of course is not to be blamed completely as Cyprus was not in a condition
for deindustrialization, nevertheless she did everything to exploit the existing
factories and industries and build new ones that she favoured like the new American
factories: the coca cola brewery and the cigarette factory. That is the technological
base of the industries was dictated by the compulsions of the metropolitan
industries, no matter what the local conditions were. The need for mineral resources
forced the Government to invest in mines whose rights were vested to the state and
royalties in respect of mining leases were levied by the government. As all of the
mining companies were foreign, investments favored foreign interests. Moreover
there was little public revenue because they exported their products as well as their
profits and Cyprus was not allowed to have full benefits thereof. This way the
material foundation upon which manufacturing, chemical or engineering industries
could have grown up in Cyprus was taken away.
There were 34 industries in all. In some instances government measures had an
adverse effect upon local industries as where the customs duty imposed on
imported raw material was higher than that prevailing for imported readymade
articles made of the same material42. No effort for absorption of Cyprus produce was
made with the result of their retting or disposal at low prices. There were urgent
cries for the disposal of potatoes and the high price of bread43. Exports of many
products were restricted to Britain and the Commonwealth at regulated prices: 60%
of the imports from 1949 to 195144. Exports could have been worse but for the
fantastic demand of minerals for military purposes. Import was restricted to goods
41
Tony Smith, The pattern of imperialism. The United States, Great Britain and the late industrializing
world since 1815, USA, 1981, p.71.
42
th
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 30,8 sub file, from the Ethnarchy report
th
to the Secretary of the United Nations, sent by the Greek Consulate on 14 October 1952.
43
Δημοκράτησ, June 1954, p.125.
44
st
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 82, 1 sub file, U.S. General Assembly,
th
7 session, Information from non self governing territories, August 1952.
9
coming from Britain and assailed Cyprus market. These concerned large quantities of
luxury goods and cement, fuel oils, iron bars and iron pipes. Britain also had the
monopoly of the import of cars45. The balance of trade was based on exports of
agricultural products and minerals, with imports seriously outweighing exports.
Hence the great imbalance in trade was because Britain had abandoned the precepts
of free trade since the end of the 19th century and imposed the tariff reform in
order to promote the British industry and the interests of the City which made
Britain the biggest investor, banker, insurer and commodity dealer in the global
economy. Consequently Britain’s ties with the colonies became tighter in order to
secure both defense contributions and exclusive markets for her products and
business transactions.
As a result of the high prices and unemployment there was an alarming increase of
immigration in the 1950s as shown in statistics. The great demand for labour hands
during the Suez crisis as well as the encouragement of youths to join the British army
and the prospect of a better life in Britain deprived Cyprus of competent young men.
According to British statistics in 1957 out of 5,550 Cypriots 4,548 immigrated to
Great Britain46.
Technologically speaking whatever amelioration was mainly in strategic areas of the
economy and served imperialist purposes. In the 1950s of the 3,250 miles of roads
only 740 were asphalted47 and the side roads were dangerous. Out of the total of
7,784 vehicles 4,167 were private48 which means that the rest were either used for
government or military purposes. There were no new buses for public transportation
except for some assembled with imported sasses. However there were seven foreign
airlines carrying mainly servicemen and their families49. 71 miles of railway line
closed down in 1951. Having been the astonishing demonstration of the British iron
45
According to the report “Colonial Reports, Cyprus 1953”, Δημοκράτησ, June 1954, p.125.
st
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1957, File 42, 1 sub file, section 1, Parliamentary
th
Debates, 29 July 1957.
47
st
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 82, 1 sub file, U.S. General Assembly,
th
7 session, Information from non self governing territories, August 1952.
48
st
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1952, File 82, 1 sub file, U.S. General Assembly,
th
7 session, Information from non self governing territories, August 1952.
49
st
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1953, File 104, 1 sub file, 10 August 1953, U.S.
th
General Assembly, 8 session, Information from non self governing territories.
46
10
industry, it had become an imperialist symbol and ceased to exist when it was not
profitable.
Similarly there was only one big port in Famagusta since the 13th century and was
not widened until 1931 because the government did not find it profitable to use for
trade purposes as locals did not have the means for the purchase of goods50. The
government proceeded with a serious scheme of a major extension of the port that
would be double its capacity in 1957 but the commitment undertaken changed
within a few months as plans in the Middle East changed as well. Cyprus’s main
military usefulness was not planned to be that of a naval base but a base to operate
aircrafts51. So imperialist interests had to be taken into consideration before any
work or improvement was made in the island.
In 1949 the American Government was given permission to build military bases and
to operate a wireless station near Nicosia in order to watch radio transmissions from
Russia. It was twenty times more powerful than permissible and Daily Graphic called
it “The Big Ear of the West”52. That was part of an ambitious plan to aid anti
communist propaganda and Cyprus was chosen for the cause. Cold War preparations
demanded the use of technology not for the promotion of the welfare of the people
but for military purposes.
Concluding imperialism can comprise unequal and disadvantageous relationships
between countries in trade and investment53. To the extent a sizeable part of
revenue was transferred to Britain through different ways of imperialist exploitation
that had to do with foreign capital, the flow of technology, trade and the
establishment of foreign companies. The economic order was maintained by the
ruling coalition of owning classes.
Consequently Cyprus’s development was
retarded, its potentialities as a market were reduced and the prospects for
industrialization diminished. A country’s underdevelopment is to be understood as
50
G.S. Georghallides, A Political and Administrative History of Cyprus 1918-1926 with a survey of the
foundations of British rule, Nicosia, 1979, p.25.
51
st
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1957, File 42, 1 sub file, section 1, Parliamentary
nd
Debates, 22 November 1957.
52
Andrew Defty, Britain, America and Anti – Communist Propaganda 1945-1953, USA, 2004, p.p. 135160.
53
Eric J. Hobsbawm, Η εποχή των Αυτοκρατοριών 1875-1914, Athens, 2007, p.121.
11
the reflection solely of its own economic, political, social and cultural characteristics.
But Cyprus underdevelopment was part of the historical product of past and
continuing economic and other relations between the island and the developed
metropolis54. Britain employed commodity import and export controls with the aim
of maintaining a favourable balance of trade with each of her colonies. Cyprus was
tied in the net of a system of multilateral trade where a ruling class managed foreign
investments, monopolistic preferences and overseas enterprises, which imperialist
British policy forwarded aiming to maintain its interests “with the world as a whole”
and not with any specific partner. In short underdevelopment was not due to the
survival of archaic institutions in regions isolated from the stream of world history55.
On the contrary underdevelopment was and still is generated by the same historical
process which also generated economic development: the development of
capitalism itself.
The great discontent, as a result of economic imperialism was used against the
colonizers especially when the charismatic leader Makarios, the Archbishop of
Cyprus, became the one who incited people to rise. At this point peasants who held
the burden of colonial exploitation and whom revolution would rouse to political
activity were mobilized by the Ethnarch, Makarios, and not by AKEL, the communist
party, which united the working classes. The diffusion of nationalist ideals was
efficient by actively involving farmers in PEK, the farmers’ union, Christian
organizations, athletic unions and by propaganda from the pulpit. As the British were
trying to gain the acquiescence of a better off peasantry the Ethnarch on the other
hand politicized the peasants by standing by them for the solution of problems like
poor harvests, social security and agricultural credit, which would be settled once
Cyprus was united with the mother country, Greece. Most importantly by spreading
the nationalist ideas among the rural population allies for the liberation struggle
were not found only in towns but in distant and remote areas where EOKA fighters
could rely for help.
54
See Wolfgang Mommsen,<< The end of Empire and the Continuity of Imperialism>>, Imperialism
and after. Continuities and Discontinuities, Wolfgang Mommsen, Jurgen Osterhammel, ed.,Lοndon,
1986,p.335
55
Andre Gunter Frank, “The development of Underdevelopment”, Robert I. Rhodes ed. Imperialism
and Underdevelopment: a reader, New York, 1970,p 9.
12
STRATEGY
Nevertheless the primacy of geopolitics has to be emphasized56. Economic
motives cannot be treated separately from strategic or political considerations.
The British stand on Cyprus has to be characterized as confusing. There was of
course a long period until the First World War when the island developed from an
imperial asset to an expendable backwater57. After it became a colony in 1925 and
until the Second World War concession to Greece was strongly questioned. British
ambivalence was evident as opinions ranged in the postwar period and were always
between the edges considering Cyprus ‘a defense key and potential fortress’58 and at
the same time as ‘a headache and a trouble spot’59- until the ‘Cyprus impasse’60 in
the 1950’s.
Quite so strategic conceptions were rather ambiguous during the Suez crisis and
Cyprus was the new base to replace it61. Strategically located within bombing range
of communist controlled oil fields in Romania and the Soviet Baku region the island
could also guard the Middle Eastern oil area and the Suez Canal62. The interest for
Cyprus went along with the increased interest in oil. Uncommonly in the 1950’s
Middle East represented 17% of the international oil production, as compared with
2% in 1920 and most importantly the confirmed reserves amounted to 66% of the
international production. Eden declared in Parliament that British prosperity relied
on Cyprus which was considered to be a frontier guarding imperial interests and
mainly oil63.
56
Ronald Hyam, Understanding the British Empire, New York, 2010, p. 71.
See Andrekos Varnava, British Imperialism in Cyprus, 1878-1915. The inconsequential possession,
New York, 2009, p. 202.
58
th
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1949, File 120, 5th sub file, New York Times, 17
May 1949.
59
rd
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1954, File 76, Philadelphia Bulletin, 23 August
1954 and Baltimore Sun, 27th August 1954.
60
th
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1954, File 57, Time and Tide, 4 December 1954.
61
That is according to the leaflet issued by the ‘British Society for International Understanding’ in
answer to the question: ‘Why we retain Cyprus’. See Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry:
st
1951, File 71, 1 sub file, sent by the Greek Embassy in London on 18th September 1951.
62
nd
Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1950, File 50, 2 sub file, San Francisco News,
8th March 1951.
63
Leondios Ierodiakonou, Το Κυπριακό Πρόβλημα.( Πορεία προσ την χρεωκοπία), Αθήνα, 1970, p. 108.
57
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On top of that there had been a profound American involvement in world affairs,
dictated by the development of Cold War. USA kept air bases on Cyprus to guard the
approaches to the rich oil area of the Middle East where great American interests lay
too. The sharing out of oil resources between the English and American oil
monopolies in the Middle East and the subsequent cooperation between the two
imperialist nations brought about common strategic concerns. Cyprus was the vital
key in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s network of defense points so it was
no wonder that it became a “pawn” in the diplomatic chessboard of the Great
Powers64 and an international problem. It proved therefore difficult for the British to
retain imperial control, face the rising national movement and at the same time treat
the dispute with Greece in the United Nations.
64
st
An ‘Apple of Discord’ as Die Welt described it .Die Welt, 21 December 1954, Historical Archive of
the Greek Foreign Ministry: 1954, File 85.
14