Safeguarding through stability: British constitutional proposals in post-war Cyprus

Abstract

‘Constitution’ is often defined as a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organisation is acknowledged to be governed. In the case of colonial Cyprus, Britain always aimed to safeguard possession of this strategically located island, with a minimum of cost and involvement in its internal affairs. This paper aims to report the efforts of the British to grant the Cypriots a constitution and legislature following World War II. Both the voices within Britain that protested over human rights’ violations in Cyprus and Cypriots’ ever-growing demand for self-determination and the Union of Cyprus with Greece (enosis), forced the British to move on with this process, which was not sufficient, however, to convince all representatives of the Cypriot population to pursue an agreement.