Conspiracy Theories and the Decolonisation of Cyprus under the Weight of Historical Evidence, 1955 - 1959
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Abstract
A commonly held Greek Cypriot opinion is that the EOKA struggle failed to achieve its objective of enosis because of some dark machination. According to this view, the ‘heroic’ struggle of EOKA was frustrated either because of the inept handling of the Cyprus problem by the Greek government and/or Makarios or because of some international intrigue which undermined the ‘fair’ demand for enosis resulting in the reluctant independence of 1960. This paper will assess these claims in light of the available historical evidence and demonstrate that they are fundamentally flawed. It will argue that no conspiracy took place in the 1950s against the Greek Cypriots and that independence was a consequence of the forces that were set in motion in 1955. Finally it will discuss both the reasons for the proliferation of such theories and whether there is a need for mainstream history to respond to such theories.
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Greek Cypriot attitude, conspiracy theories, EOKA struggle, criticism, historical evidence
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