The Strategic Importance of Cyprus and the Prospect of Union with Greece, 1919–1931: The Greek Perspective

Abstract

The outbreak of the First World War brought about an important change in the status of Cyprus which was officially annexed by Great Britain. In the years that followed, successive Greek governments preferred not to pose openly the prospect of the island's cession to Greece. Athens understood that, given London's strategic interest in Cyprus, a favourable solution of the issue was inevitably related with the satisfaction of British strategic interests in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region. In other words, the prospect of the creation of British military bases on Cyprus in the event that London actually consented to the island's union with Greece was not rejected on the part of Athens; on the contrary, it was seen as a necessary sacrifice in order to serve the final goal of Enosis.