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Thorsten Kruse

Abstract

During the Cold War, Cyprus was repeatedly in the focus of the interests of the two major military blocs. Within these ideological disputes, the German question played a particular role. Makarios’ decision to follow a course of non-alignment through the island’s foreign policy meant that the two German states tried to influence the government of Cyprus for their own interests. When Cyprus allowed the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1964 to establish a trade representation in Nicosia the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) feared that East Germany might be officially recognised by the Republic of Cyprus. From this moment on the German class struggle reached Cyprus. In the period from 1964 to 1972, the political and economic relations of these three countries were influenced by the tense conflict between the two German states. 

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Keywords

Cyprus, FRG, GDR, Berlin, class struggle, German-Cypriot relations, Cold War, communist threat, Non-Alignment Movement, Hallstein Doctrine

References
Cyprus State Archives (Nicosia)

FA1, 285

FA1, 286

FA1, 505

FA1, 610

FA1, 1110

Foundation Archives of Parties and Mass Organisations of the

GDR in the Federal Archives (Berlin)

DC20/I 4/1070.

DY30/IV A2/20/540

Lufthansa Archive (Frankfurt) Folder ‘Verkehr Europa Zypern’ [Traffic Europe Cyprus]

Political Archive of the German Foreign Ministry (Berlin)

PA, AV NA 1479

PA, AV NA 1480

PA, B26, 4

PA, B26, 116

PA, B26, 118

PA, B26, 200

PA, B26, 325

PA, M1a, 1A 12890

PA, M1a, 1A 12907

Ahonen, P. (2011) Death at the Berlin Wall. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kruse, Th. (2008) ‘Deutschland und der Zypernkonflikt (1955-1959). Aus den Akten des Auswärtigen Amtes’ [Germany and the Cyprus Conflict (1955-1959). The Records of the Federal Foreign Ministry], Thetis, Vol. 15, pp. 177-193.

Schwarz, H.-P. (1995) ‘Akten zur Auswärtigen Politik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland’ [Files on the Foreign Policy of the Federal Republic of Germany] 1964, Vol.. 2.

Haravghi, 19 December 1965.
Section
Articles

How to Cite

“Cyprus and the Two German States: ‘Class Struggle’ in the Eastern Mediterranean”. 2017. Cyprus Review 24 (1): 55-69. https://cyprusreview.org/index.php/cr/article/view/145.