a Britain and the Cyprus crisis of 1974 : conflict, colonialism and the politics of remembrance

Abstract

This thesis examines the ideological and socio-political discourses shaping the remembrance and representation of Britain and the Cyprus conflict of 1974 within Greek Cypriot society. In moving beyond the politics of conflict and directly analysing the memory of British actions in 1974, this thesis shows how different societal forces shape and utilise the image of Britain within their construct of modern Cypriot history. With the consequences of 1974 deeply infused into the collective memory of all Greek Cypriots, an analysis of public remembrance rituals, popular publications, official school textbooks and a series of oral history interviews allows for an in depth examination of the explicit and subconscious frameworks shaping the history and memory of conflict on Cyprus. From this basis, this thesis demonstrates how the connection between Britain’s colonial legacy, which continues in a changed form through their military bases, and British ambiguities as a post-colonial Guarantor creates an ideological discourse of inherent suspicion that frames the image and understanding of British actions on Cyprus. The influence of this socio-political discourse, combined with a collectivised discourse of trauma, sustains the power of the conspiracy theories associated with the division of the island. In turn these discourses influence the distortions and counter-memories of oral history interviews associated with the actions of Britain in 1974. From this foundation, wider conclusions are offered into the socio-political debates related to the conflict and partition of the island, with a particular focus on the influence of the transnational discourses of Greece in shaping internal forms of development on Cyprus. As Cyprus is an island divided by multiple competing forms of history, memory and identity discourses, each of which draws on and creates a selective image of the past to frame developments in the present, the analysis of this thesis provides a direct insight into the wider frameworks of memory active within a society scarred by conflict but shaped by the hope for reunification.