Table Of ContentBRITAIN AND THE REVOLT
IN CYPRUS, 1954-1959
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Britain and
the Revolt in Cyprus
1954-1959
ROBERT HOLLAND
CLARENDON PRESS OXFORD
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© Robert Holland 1998
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ISBN 0-19-820538-4
Jacket illustration: A detail from 'Harding's Nightmare",
painted in Cyprus by George Pol. Georghiou, 1957
For Jack
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author of a book as long as this one inevitably contracts many debts of gratitude along
the way. I have received much assistance from librarians and archivists, notably in the
Public Record Office of the United Kingdom at Kew, the Public Record Office of the
Republic of Cyprus (whose Keeper, Mrs Effie Parparinou, gave me advice on her collec-
tion, and much else besides), the National Archives of the United States in Washington,
the extremely hospitable Eisenhower Presidential Library at Abilene, Kansas (especially
Mr Dwight D. Strandberg), Rhodes House Library in Oxford, whose then Librarian, Mr
Alan Bell, afforded me advance access to the Cyprus Papers of Lord Caradon, the Library
of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in London, and the Library of the Archbishop
Makarios III Foundation, which allowed me to use their newspaper collection in that cool
and lovely archiepiscopal corner of Nicosia. I am indebted to the Academic Affairs Divi-
sion of NATO which awarded me a Research Fellowship in 1991-2, allowing me to carry
out extensive work in the United States and Cyprus during a sabbatical. The Central
Research Fund of the University of London provided a small travel subsidy in 1993. The
inclusion in this book of a set of fine photographs has only been possible through the gen-
erosity of Mr Constantine Leventis. I was immensely fortunate from almost my first day
researching this topic in Nicosia to find a real 'home from home' in the Cyprus American
Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI). To Stuart and Lena Swiny go thanks for
introducing me, and for making CAARI what it is; thanks also go to Vathoulla Moutoukki
for helping to keep it that way and for always finding a space for me even at short notice.
The best thing about the writing of this book has been the genuine friendships which
have lightened its burdens. Here I will only mention four people. Dr George Georghal-
lides, the most accomplished historian of Cyprus in the period of British rule, gave me the
benefits of his deep knowledge, but more than that he extended his vivid and forceful
camaraderie; his wife, Joan, welcomed me constantly and warmly into her home. Diana
and Sophocles Markides were from the first unstinting in their hospitality. From the
former I obtained many insights into the peculiarities of Cypriot politics; from the latter
I learned much about the nature and spirit of Hellenism; from them both I got much fun,
and fresh air walking in the Troodos mountains. Tony Morris and Anna Illingworth of
Oxford University Press were the ideal editors—supportive, patient, and always prompt
with advice. Lastly, to Hillia, my wife, goes not only gratitude for that most up-to-date
marital aid, 'computer support', but thanks for tolerating one of the less satisfactory
human conditions: partnership with a writer whose mind was usually elsewhere, and who
often was elsewhere. I hope this book will be some return not only to her, but to all those
who have helped me in writing it.
R.F.H.
Wimbledon
June 7997
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations and Map xi
1 The Pattern of Colonial Cyprus, 1878-1950 i
2 A Crisis of Trust, i February 1950-1 April 1955 20
3 'Terror Island', 2 April-3 October 1955 55
4 The Struggle for Mastery, 4 October 1955-9 March 1956 83
5 A Light in the Tunnel, 10 March-26 July 1956 120
6 The Sands of Goodwill, 27 July 1956-5 April 1957 144
7 Matters of Honour, 6 April-4 October 1957 182
8 A Time of Gestures, 5 October 1957-13 February 1958 213
9 A Choice of Evils, 14 February~3O June 1958 236
10 The Metaphysics of Partition, i July-4 December 1958 263
11 A Promised Land?, 5 December 1958-19 March 1959 295
12 Afterthoughts and Aftermaths 330
List of Sources 337
Bibliography 339
Index 341
Description:This is the first in-depth reconstruction of a major British decolonization based fully on original documentation. It is essential reading for anybody interested in the response of policy makers to the challenge of 'terrorism' overseas after 1945, the liquidation of the British Empire, the breakdown
