History of Cyprus

After the reforms of Diocletian it was placed under the control of the Consularis Oriens and governed by a proconsul.^[15] Several earthquakes led to the destruction of Salamis at the beginning of the 4th century, at the same time drought and famine hit the island.

Medieval Cyprus

After the

The

During the

Frederick's supporters were defeated in this struggle by 1233, although it lasted longer in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and in the Holy Roman Empire. Frederick's Hohenstaufen descendants continued to rule as kings of Jerusalem until 1268 when Hugh III of Cyprus (d.1284) of the Lusignan family claimed the title and its territory of Acre for himself upon the death of Conrad III of Jerusalem, thus uniting the two kingdoms. The territory in Palestine was finally lost while Henry II was king in 1291, but the kings of Cyprus continued to claim the title.

Like Jerusalem, Cyprus had a Haute Cour (High Court), although it was less powerful than it had been in Jerusalem. The island was richer and more feudal than Jerusalem, so the king had more personal wealth and could afford to ignore the Haute Cour. The most important vassal family was the multi-branch House of Ibelin. However, the king was often in conflict with the Italian merchants, especially because Cyprus had become the centre of European trade with Africa and Asia after the fall of Acre in 1291.

The kingdom eventually came to be dominated more and more in the 14th century by the Genoese merchants. Cyprus therefore sided with the Avignon Papacy in the Western Schism, in the hope that the French would be able to drive out the Italians. The Mameluks then made the kingdom a tributary state in 1426; the remaining monarchs gradually lost almost all independence, until 1489 when the last Queen, Catherine Cornaro, was forced to sell the island to Venice. Ottomans started raiding Cyprus immediately afterwards, and captured it in 1571.

This is the historical setting to

Cyprus 1571

In 1571,

After the Venetians lost control and the Ottomans gained control over Cyprus, Venice continued to use Cyprus for trading. Merchants that were imprisoned during the war were released and had their goods and ships returned to them. The trade continued and was only interrupted during wars. There were also Venetian consuls present in Cyprus to stabilize trade and protect the traders. The government of Cyprus used to borrow money from Venician merchants in the early 16th century. Until the end of Ottoman rule on Cyprus, the trade continued with being held during the times of war.^[18]

Religion and culture under Ottoman leadership

The Ottoman Empire was predominantly Muslim. Therefore, there was a cultural and religious clash when it conquered Cyprus. As Cyprus became a territory of the Ottoman Empire, more Muslims came to Cyprus mixing in with the Orthodox Christian Greek population of the island. That's why the Millet System was introduced in Cyprus, it allowed authorities to rule over their religious minorities to keep peace in the Country. The Ottoman Empire still tried to spread the Muslim culture in Cyprus. That especially concerned women as by Islam they had to cover their heads and most women at the time obeyed that rule.^[19]

Change of Administration of Cyprus

Since 1670, the Ottomans have shifted their governance of Cyprus and its significance multiple times. From a sanjak (sub-province) to a Grand Vizer's fief, to an eyalet, back to a fief, and finally back to a sanjak.^[20]

Cyprus 1878 (Russo-Turkish War)

During the

The Russo-Turkish War ended the Ottoman control of Cyprus in 1878. Cyprus then came under the control of the British Empire with its conditions set out in the Cyprus Convention between the United Kingdom and Ottoman Empire. However, the sovereignty of the island continued to be maintained by the Ottoman Empire until Great Britain annexed the island unilaterally in 1914, after it declared war against the Ottomans during the First World War. Following World War I, under the provisions of the Lausanne Treaty, Turkey relinquished all claims and rights on Cyprus.

Under British rule, the island began to enjoy a period of increased freedom of speech, something which allowed further development of the Greek Cypriots' ideas of enosis (unification with Greece).^[22]

Modern Cyprus

In 1878, as the result of the Cyprus Convention, the United Kingdom took over the government of Cyprus as a protectorate from the Ottoman Empire. In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, the Ottomans declared war on Britain, leading to the British annexation of Cyprus.

The island's population welcomed the arrival of the British in 1878, as it meant the end of the long Turkish occupation, on one hand, but also because (bearing in mind the example of the Ionian islands) it was believed to be a necessary transitional stage for the final purpose, which was the return of Cyprus to Greece. In the 1920s, the political leaders of the Cypriot Greeks decided to adopt a change of tactics in their pursuit for enosis—the union of Cyprus with Greece. Instead of the uncompromising course for "union and only union", it was decided that, under the circumstances, some civil liberties could be negotiated and won in favor of the Cypriot people. In 1921, the Political Organization of Cyprus was formed to serve that purpose, but was dissolved later that decade.^[23]

Greek Cypriot representatives were repeatedly sent to England over the years to formally set the request to the colonial metropolis, but to no avail whatsoever. The participation of Greek Cypriots in the national struggles of the Greeks (such as in the wars at the end of the 19th century and in the Balkan wars of 1912-13) was an expression of their belief in the common origin of Greeks and Cypriots, in a common fate and a common path. The participation of Greek Cypriot volunteers in the First World War was an expression of the belief that there would be a "Cypriot share" in the "distribution of profits" after the victory (something that also happened later, during the Second World War). Besides, the Greek Prime Minister,

The National Organization of Cyprus (EOK; not to be confused with EOKA), that was founded in 1930 by church circles and whose members were chosen by the Archbishop, played a role in strengthening the demand of enosis. Its purpose was the pursuit of this goal and the rejection of the Autonomy proposed by the English.^[25] In 1931, the even more hardline National Radical Union of the Center (ΕRΕΚ) was founded whose members were secret.^{[citation needed]} The repetitive rebuttal of the Greek Cypriots' hopes, along with other political events at the time, triggered the great uprising of October 1931, known as the October riots. Cyprus thus entered a period of autocratic rule known as Palmerokratia ("Palmerocracy"), named after governor Richmond Palmer, which started shortly before the revolt and would last until the beginning of World War II.

In January 1950, the Orthodox Church of Cyprus organized the Union Referendum (referendum about Enosis), in which Greek Cypriots, which constituted around 80% of the population at the time, were called to vote, and ended in strong favor for the movement. However, their shout fell on deaf ears since the international community showed no desire to support their request^[