Communism and Nationalism in Postwar Cyprus, 1945-1955

Politics and Ideologies Under British Rule

Alexios Alecou

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9783319292090
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Modern History
• Index: History

This book analyzes the eventsthat impacted the structure and competitive processes of the two dominantCypriot political factions while under the watchful eye of British rule. Basedon new archival research, Alecou addresses the social and political environmentin which the Cypriot Communists and Nationalists fought each other while at thesame time had to fight the British Empire. The differences between communistsand nationalists brought the two sides to a frontal collision in the wake ofthe events of the Greek civil war. The class conflict within Cypriot societywould at some point inevitably lead, in one way or another, to a clash betweenthe two factions. The civil war in Greece constituted another field of conflictbetween Left and Right, accelerating the formation of a bipolar party system inwhich the vertical division of the Greek community in Cyprus eventuallyexpressed itself.

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016

Alexios AlecouCommunism and Nationalism in Postwar Cyprus, 1945-195510.1007/978-3-319-29209-0_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Alexios Alecou¹ 

(1)

University of London, London, UK

 

End Abstract

The political developments in post-war Cyprus are, from a historiographical point of view, a relatively neglected period of modern Cypriot history. To a large extent, the relevant literature is dominated by studies dealing with the 1950s, particularly the period from 1955 to 1959. This should be expected, since it was during this time that the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA) struggle unfolded.

The decade between 1945 and 1955, however, is of particular interest with regard to Cyprus, especially when examined in view of colonialism and international developments of the period. The end of WWII marked the beginning of the polarization of Cypriot society and, after the establishment of new political entities by 1948, its full division. The events subsequent to the Constitutional Assembly–at which the constitutional proposals of the British were discussed (the Diaskeptiki)– and the official declaration of civil war in Greece, up to the beginning of the EOKA struggle, are examined for their contribution to the formation and ideological crystallization of the two factions, communists and nationalists, under the influence of the civil war climate transposed from Greece.

The British attempt to concede constitutional rights to the people of Cyprus can only be considered a starting point in a new period of Cypriot history. The institutional superstructure of Cypriot society, in its inter-temporal evolution, is inextricably linked to the economic, political, and class contradictions of each era. As was the case with every colony, in Cyprus colonial institutions were shaped in such a way as to facilitate the perpetuation of the occupier’s sovereignty. During the early post-war years, the various segments of Cypriot society approached the political liberties of Cypriots from a different perspective. For workers, under certain conditions these liberties could have been a stepping stone to social demands and long-term political objectives. For the conservative strata, however, the expansion of constitutional liberties granted rights and power to forces which threatened the balance of Cypriot society.

The Greek civil war, as the first form of division of post-war Greece, could not leave unaffected the people of Cyprus or the correlation of political powers in Cyprus. From the simplest form of support for the warring sides of the civil war up to their effective participation, the political camps in Cyprus experienced the civil war raging in Greece as something that immediately and urgently concerned them. The clash of these two worlds went through various phases, from the national to the political, from education to the Church of Cyprus. The focal point of this book is 1948, as it was during this year when the class confrontation greatly escalated, leading each side to its extreme.

The main objective of this book is to examine and analyze the events that impacted the structure and competitive processes of the two dominant Cypriot political factions while under the watchful eye of British rule. The differences between communists and nationalists, however, brought the two sides to a frontal collision in the wake of the events of the Greek civil war. The class conflict within Cypriot society would at some point inevitably lead, in one way or another, to a clash between the two factions, but the civil war in Greece constituted another field of conflict between left and right, accelerating the formation of a bipolar party system in which the vertical division of the Greek community in Cyprus eventually expressed itself.

Methodologically, the book is based on both primary and secondary sources. The absence of a large specialized volume of “Cyprological” literature on the subject under examination made it necessary to use primary sources of information, such as party documents and texts (e.g., statutes, proclamations, announcements, conference decisions, etc.), newspapers of the period and archived interview. The events are examined via the cross-examination of various sources; in addition, certain monographs particularly helpful were the unpublished archival sources of the Diplomatic and Historical Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece (DIAYE), the Foreign and Colonial Office archive of Great Britain housed in The National Archives (TNA) and the Contemporary Social History Archives in Athens (ASKI).

Some conceptual clarifications are necessary regarding certain terminologies used in the book. The first concerns the determination of the two dominant ethnic groups in Cyprus. Due to the island’s transition to the British administration and the consequent loss of Ottoman nationality by the inhabitants of Cyprus, the two groups defined as Christian and Muslim during the Ottoman period and the early decades of British rule will be defined herein conventionally, as Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots respectively. These definitions are intended to describe these two groups as they began to be politicized and to acquire on a massive scale national consciousness. The second clarification concerns the concepts of left and right: the book focuses exclusively on the political developments of the period within the Greek Cypriot community. Thus, references to left and right refer to the Greek–Cypriot left and the Greek–Cypriot right or, respectively, to Greek–Cypriot communists and Greek–Cypriot nationalists.

This book is not intended to provide a detailed account of the historical events of the period under consideration, but to highlight those elements which aid in understanding the conditions under which the events to be examined took place. The objective is to contribute to an understanding of certain aspects of Cypriot history, which should ultimately serve as a tool for interpreting the internal Cypriot political scene of the time.

Structure of the Book

The first chapters focus on the conditions prevailing in Cypriot society before and during WWII. Enosis (Unification of Cyprus with Greece) and its importance to the Greek Cypriots is examined, as is the political situation in Cyprus immediately after the end of the war. A summary overview of the main parties and political organizations of the period is provided, as well as an analysis of the electoral processes for local government (1946) and the appointment of an archbishop (1947).

An attempt is then made to outline the factors that led both sides, Communists and Nationalists, to a frontal collision. The influence of Greek policy on Cyprus is recorded, particularly its effect on each of the two warring sides. The appearance, the main characteristics, and the ideology of the Greek far right are analyzed; this is followed by an examination of the right-wing “X” organization and its radical response to the development of AKEL, in light of both the civil war climate transposed to Cyprus and the debate on the constitutional proposals of the British. Accordingly, the relationship between the Communist Party of Greece and The Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL) is highlighted, as is the influence of the Greek Communist Party on Cypriot communists. The strikes of 1948 by the Cypriot labor movement, the longest in duration and marked by political violence are also recorded here as one of the results of the period’s class conflict. The stance taken by the left and the right to the Greek civil war is noted, as is the consolidation within society of the dipole communists ≠ nationalists, which divided Cypriot society and was inherent all aspects of public life during the period.

The following chapters focus on the inner workings of the Greek–Cypriot left. The absolute identification of AKEL with the Democratic Army in Greece and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) prompted many of AKEL’s moderate “fellow travellers” to secede from the periphery of the party, as the left continued to face challenges from within. The circumstances under which AKEL changed its stance regarding enosis are examined: the visit of the party delegation to the Greek mountains, the delegation’s ensuing discussions with KKE leadership, and the importance of this visit on AKEL’s later course are recorded. The crisis that gripped the left, both as a result of internal ideological struggle and external interventions, was a precursor to AKEL’s defeat in the 1949 municipal elections, is also analyzed.

The final chapters examine the homogenization of the elements that hitherto constituted the right and drove it along its path toward armed struggle. The unification referendum is examined as a turning point for the future course of the anti-colonial struggle of the Cypriots, and, combined with the attempted internationalization of the Cyprus problem with the dispatch of “delegations” to the UN, marked the beginning of a new period in the intra-Cypriot conflict between left and right. The appointment of Makarios III as archbishop and his absolute imposition as head of the nationalist faction created the necessary conditions for the victory of the right in its battle for leadership of the anti-colonial struggle: the results of the municipal elections of 1953 politically consolidated the right and gave it primacy in the anti-colonial struggle. At the same time, the vertical division of Cypriot society contributed to the formation of two powerful factions; these two factions permeated all of the social divisions and conflicts of the period, essentially crushing the margins where an intermediate-centrist movement might have found Purpose. Finally, the processes in Cyprus and Greece that prompted the shift to a more intensive assertion of enosis are examined, along with the path taken by the Greek-Cypriots toward the armed struggle of the EOKA period.

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016

Alexios AlecouCommunism and Nationalism in Postwar Cyprus, 1945-195510.1007/978-3-319-29209-0_2

Begin Abstract

2. The Formation of Cypriot Society

Alexios Alecou¹

(1)

University of London, London, UK

End Abstract

Social Cleavages and Politics Before WWII

Up until World War II, the greater part of the island of Cyprus was controlled by the senior clergy, an oligarchy of large landowners, the old notables. This drastically slowed the evolution of Cypriot society to the extent of validating the portrayal of its early twentieth century structures as “archaic.” Senior clergy and landowners cooperated, forming the ruling class. A group of merchants—the embryo of the future bourgeoisie—followed, along with a small group of intellectuals, predominantly educators. The vast majority of the populace were farmers and, to a limited degree, craftsmen. ¹

By the early twentieth century, the Cypriot bourgeoisie began to coalesce, but without a distinct boundary with the landowners, as it was not uncommon for the latter to shift its economic activities toward commercial enterprises. ² The emergence of the bourgeoisie mainly began through new forms of relations of production which, although they functioned within the framework of the Ottoman regime, rapidly developed with the advent of the British. ³

The delayed emergence of the bourgeoisie in Cyprus is attributable to the late development of capitalist relations of production, which in turn was due to a series of barriers, chief among them Ottoman indifference to the island’s infrastructure, which stalled or halted the development of its interior. The absence of significantly populated cities, virtually non-existent development of trade relations between cities and rural areas and the lack of educational infrastructure all constrained the island’s cultural development. ⁴ The improvement of the transportation network and the development of communications through emerging technical innovations (e.g., railroads, telegraph, telephony, cars, etc.) empowered the bourgeoisie, which grew numerically, financially and politically; its main areas of engagement were trade, money-lending and small industry. ⁵

A bourgeoisie had not yet been established by the end of Ottoman rule. The ruling class comprised senior clergy and large landowners, with an assortment of landowners-merchants forming the next class; the latter would subsequently hatch the bourgeoisie and the intellectuals. The new bourgeoisie that began to establish itself with the advent of the British relied heavily on monetary relations: an economy based on money and institutional arrangements enshrining private ownership spurred the development of both trade and money-lending. The establishment of trading offices and agencies, with their relevant clerical staff, as well as small and large industries—albeit of limited capacity—resulted in corresponding changes in the population’s social composition. ⁶ The merchant class functioned as facilitator of the development of a trade economy, purchasing and, in turn, selling to a wider market the products of craftsmen or farmers, who proceeded to supplement their income with non-agricultural work. Starting from Lemesos and originating from the large landowners’ group, but independently of it, a nascent merchant class began to evolve, gradually accumulating enough wealth so as to stand out. ⁷

One of the changes transpiring in manufacture during the British rule was the decline of the craft sector in favor of imported products: this brought about the unemployment of a substantial number of Cypriots and brought the domestic economy to almost total ruin, as Cyprus was unable to develop any significant type of industry in its place. Usurious practices and very high taxation functioned as major hindrances to the development of local industry. ⁸

Thus, the first two decades of the twentieth century saw substantial growth in industry and trade, with the appearance of small industrial units producing goods such as wine and tobacco. However, these industries could not compete with similar industries in England. Britain exploited Cyprus, just like any other colony, using it as a market for its own industrial products, and as an extraction site for raw materials, especially minerals. ⁹ The occasional agricultural crises, particularly after World War I, were a significant factor contributing to the financial power of the bourgeoisie. These crises enabled merchants and usurers to confiscate farming estates that had been mortgaged to them at usurious interest rates during periods of economic prosperity. ¹⁰

Until World War I, the Cypriot capital was of an exclusively commercial-usurious nature. Key enterprises belonged to foreign owners, a fact Greek–Cypriot political leaders protested. Despite significant investment by Cypriot entrepreneurs dating to 1899, only after the war did local capital begin to substantially develop to establish the Nicosia Savings Bank, or Cyprus Bank, as it was renamed in 1913. ¹¹ Foreign capital (English, Greek and American, in particular) had been invested in the exploitation of the mining wealth of Cyprus. ¹² Four companies exploited Cypriot minerals: the Cyprus Mines Corporation which owned the Skouriotissa and Mavrovouni mines; the Cyprus Asbestos Company; the Sulfur and Copper Company in Polis Chrysochous; and the Ch...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Frontmatter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Formation of Cypriot Society
• 3. Communism and Nationalism in Cyprus
• 4. British Methods of Rule: Political Liberties and the Constitutional Assembly
• 5. External Influences: Cyprus as a Reflection of Greece
• 6. Communism vs. Nationalism: Fields of Conflict
• 7. Leading the Anti-colonial Movement
• 8. The Internationalization of Enosis
• 9. Armed Struggle: A One-Way Path?
• 10. Conclusions
• Backmatter