Protectorate Cyprus

A strategic outpost in the Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus was vital to British imperial ambitions in the East as the Ottoman Empire grew increasingly fragile in the nineteenth century. Here, Gail Dallas Hook describes the British occupation of Cyprus from 1878 to 1914, during which British government, science, and capital investment were installed alongside a new British colonial community, building 'British Cyprus' long before the island became a formal part of the British Empire. Protectorate Cyprus further demonstrates how the British attempted to bring 'good government' to Cyprus yet failed to resolve the issues of Muslim and Greek Orthodox divisions. It is a unique representation of Britain's 'informal empire' before World War I that has been little studied. Protectorate Cyprus is a crucial addition to the history of the British Empire.

In Protectorate Cyprus, education was one of the most effective tools of imperial control and political manipulation used by the British. This book charts the cultural and educational aspects of British colonial rule in Cyprus and analyses what these policies reveal about the internal struggles on the island between 1931 and 1960. Cyprus had been under British occupation since 1878, but it was in the 1930s that educational policies acquired a strong political significance and became essential in preserving the British position on the island. The co-existence of two very strongly-held and eventually conflicting national identities in Cyprus, Greek-Orthodox and Turkish Muslim, inevitably led to the politicisation of education and culture on the island. Therefore, any attempts to impose British culture, language and way of thinking onto Cypriots, or even to create a distinct Cypriot identity, had very limited success. Gradually, the education system reflected the shifting political developments in colonial Cyprus. By the start of the 1950s, schools had become a breeding ground for discontent and between 1955 and 1959 they were an indispensable part of the EOKA revolt. In this book, Antigone Heraclidou provides a new dimension to the understanding and origins of the deadlock that was to prove one of the most intractable in the final years of the British Empire.

In June of 1878, the British Empire acquired the small Mediterranean island of Cyprus, after a secret agreement with the Ottoman Empire. The occupation of Cyprus was officially announced by the British government about a month later and what followed was an unprecedented mania with the island, which manifested itself through the publication of dozens of books and articles, the composition of poems, novels, and music pieces, the staging of operas and ballets, the appearance of dozens of advertisements in newspapers, the dispatch of special correspondents to the island, the announcement of forthcoming tours, etc. This book examines the “Cyprus Frenzy” of 1878 and the way it was expressed in both major and provincial newspapers in Victorian Britain. It follows the six main special correspondents who were commissioned to cover the occupation and who traveled to the island for that purpose: Archibald Forbes (The Daily News), St. Leger Algernon Herbert (The Times), John Augustus O’Shea (The London Evening Standard), Edward Henry Vizetelly (The Glasgow Herald), Samuel Pasfield Oliver (The Illustrated London News), and Hepworth Dixon (for several provincial newspapers). What is pertinent in the investigation of Victorian journalistic practices is the relationship between these correspondents and the military establishment, which was tasked with the duty of forming the first British government on the island. In this context, General Garnet Wolseley, who served as the island’s first High Commissioner, and his famous clique of associates are central characters in the story of Cyprus’ colonization. The book further considers the role of advertisements in propagating colonial discourse and it examines “Letters to the Editor,” published in major newspapers of the time, as a tool in the investigation of the Victorian readers’ reception and response to the occupation. By concentrating on the history of a very particular event—the British occupation of Cyprus in 1878—this book aspires to scrutinize colonial practices through a close examination of the mechanisms that they put in motion, the networks they utilize, and the fantasies they stir.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

As a major tourist destination and the most eastern member of the European Union, housing two British Sovereign Bases and sitting at the intersection of three continents, Cyprus attracts international attention in more ways than one; hence the complex web of converging and conflicting outside interests that has marked and scarred the country’s history. Since 2009, when the previous edition appeared, further big changes have occurred with the United Nations-led efforts to bring about a settlement to the Cyprus problem as well as the latest on the exploration of hydrocarbon in the eastern Mediterranean seabed. Historical Dictionary of Cyprus, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has several hundred cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, architecture, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Cyprus.