Britain had no involvement with Cyprus before 1878, but the sudden and peaceful absorption of the island into the British Empire is not difficult to explain. The cornerstone of British imperial policy in the 19th century was to protect the sea route to India and to support the Ottoman Empire against the ambitions of an ever-expanding Russia. The Crimean War of 1853-6 had been fought just for this purpose.

In 1875, Britain purchased a key block of shares in the Suez Canal. Three years later, another crisis caused by Russian ambitions on the disintegrating Ottoman Empire was defused and the British Prime Minister began to show signs of clearly predatory interest in the area closest to the Suez Canal. During these negotiations in 1878 Cyprus was acquired by Great Britain to assist the Ottoman Empire. The nature of this assistance was to be revealed more fully four years later, in 1882, when Britain absorbed the old Ottoman province of Egypt into its empire.

While the Greek Cypriots first welcomed British rule hoping that they would gradually achieve prosperity, democracy and national liberation, they were soon disillusioned. The British imposed heavy taxes to cover the compensation they were paying to the Sultan for selling Cyprus. Furthermore, the people were not given the right to participate in the administration of the island as all powers were reserved for the High Commissioner in London. A few years later the system was reformed and some members of the Legislative Council were elected by the Cypriots, but in reality their participation was very marginal.

The British faced two major political problems on the island. The first was to contain the desire for union with Greece (enosis). The second was the consequent problem of keeping the two communities in harmony when the Turkish Cypriots began to respond to the enosis by asking for division (taksim) as a defence against their being Hellenized, as they saw. The Greek Cypriots could easily claim to have a strong case in history and made up between three quarters and three fifths of the population.

Under the occupation agreement, Cyprus was still part of the Ottoman Empire and the excess of revenue over expenses, agreed in £ 92,000, was paid annually to the Sultan.

The British embarked on an extensive public works program, including the construction of roads and bridges, supplies of drinking water and irrigation, and even a railway line linking Nicosia to Famagusta and Morphou. In addition, port facilities were improved and administrative buildings, schools and hospitals were built.

When Turkey sided with Germany in the First World War, Great Britain annexed the island, cancelling the 1878 convention. In 1915, Great Britain offered Cyprus to Greece in exchange for joining the allied cause, but this suggestion was rejected, and with it the possibility of enosis, a condition which subsequently gave rise to conflicts. Ten years later, Cyprus became a crown colony and the High Commissioner was replaced by a governor.

Meanwhile, the enosis movement, which aimed at union with Greece, was growing within the Greek Cypriot community, favoured by the powerful Orthodox Church. The movement erupted in riots across the island in 1931, during which the Governor's House was burned down. The revolt was crushed and the Legislative Council was abolished, thus eliminating the local voice in government decisions.

In 1941, during the Second World War, Great Britain again offered Cyprus to Greece, this time in exchange for military action in Bulgaria. Once again the suggestion was rejected.

After the Second World War, when 30,000 Cypriots fought in the British army, requests for enosis were renewed. A plebiscite organized in 1950 by Makarios, later archbishop Makarios III, showed that 96% of the Greek Cypriots supported the union with Greece.

Post-war attitudes were contrary to the old ideas of colonialism, and when the Cypriot request for self-determination only led to the offer of a new constitution, Colonel George Grivas was signalled to launch the EOKA (National Organization of Fighters Cypriots). This armed struggle against British rule began in April 1955 and was welcomed into the churches by the clergy, with the blessing, or rather the guide, of Archbishop Makarios III. The latter was exiled to the Seychelles 14 months after the request for enosis had been declared illegal. The Turkish Cypriot community generated its own movements, calling for the division of the island and creating the TMT, the Turkish Cypriot resistance movement.

After a conference attended by Greece, Turkey and Great Britain in June 1955 no solution was found, Greece applied to the United Nations in 1957 and again in 1958, claiming the right of self-determination for Cypriots. This claim, of course, did not take into account the position of the Turkish Cypriot minority and, as a countertrend, Turkey suggested a partition of the island.

With the death toll above 500, the British were eager to find an appropriate formula for independence. Eventually this was resolved in the Zurich treaty, and on February 19, 1959 Makarios III, dr. Fazil Kucuk (Turkish Cypriot representative), plus the prime ministers of Great Britain, Greece and Turkey, signed the London Agreement, granting the independence of Cyprus. The deal, which left Britain with the sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, provided guarantor powers for intervention in Britain, Greece and Turkey.

The Republic of Cyprus was born on August 19, 1960 and on September 20 it became part of the United Nations and the British Commonwealth.