Since
securing independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1831, Greece claimed
Cyprus due to its majority Greek population. Indeed, the new monarch
was styled "King of the Hellenes" to emphasize sovereignty
over Greeks everywhere. Enosis (union) with Greece was also the aspiration
of Greek Cypriots. In 1915 Britain offered to cede Cyprus to Greece
in return for their entry into the war against the Central Powers, but
Greece considered the price too great as they expected a German victory.
This war-time offer by Britain also raised Cypriot expectations since
it invalidated the previous British argument that Cyprus was leased
from the Turks and would revert to them when the British departed. When
Britain made Cyprus a Crown Colony in 1925, the political campaign for
enosis intensified. Serious riots in 1931 were suppressed by the British
authorities. The Greek Orthodox Church led the enosis movement, and
after the Second World War Archbishop Makarios III personified it. In
1951 he secretly invited Cypriot-born retired Greek Army colonel Georgios
Grivas to form EOKA (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Aghoniston, National
Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) as the military wing of the enosis
movement.
The
catalysts for the outbreak of war were three incidents in 1954:
-
a British ministerial statement that Cyprus would never be granted
independence
-
the move of British forces, including HQ Middle East Command, from
Egypt to Cyprus, thereby turning a colonial backwater into a major
military strategic base for the foreign occupier of Cyprus
-
the United Nations refusal to consider the Cyprus question.
Through
a terrorism (aimed chiefly at British military targets) and propaganda
campaign, EOKA sought to gain control of the local population, sway
world opinion, and wear down the British. EOKA did not strive for a
military victory.
To see all those who died do not fill in any boxes
but simply click the search button. For another source of information
see Britains'
Small Wars - Cyprus and the British
Cyprus Memorial Trust. The unveiling of the British Cyprus Memorial
on Remembrance Sunday, 8 November, in Kyrenia, North Cyprus is now available
on
Britain's Small Wars website.
For
British Pathe newsreel clips about the Cyrpus
Emergency follow this link, the page will open in a new window.
An
article from The Telegraph entitled "The
forgotten soldiers buried in no man's land" can be found online.
The
Police Roll of Honour Trust have a website dedicated to The
British Cyprus Police