Political Violence in Late Colonial Cyprus: The Balance of Risk

Based on reflections on his 1998 book Britain and the Revolt in Cyprus, 1954–59, the author now offers the view that more attention should be given to Greek-Cypriot missteps as well as British ones. The article looks at the roles of Archbishop Makarios and Governors Harding and Foot. The outcome of the 1950s struggle, it argues, cannot be understood in narrowly Cypriot terms but only in its regional context. The author is of the view that a window of opportunity for enosis was lost in miscalculations and confusion between the aims of ousting the British and securing a union with Greece.