: 45 piastre British Cyprus
George V – 1928
Formation Cyprus was a territory of the
Ottoman Empire, lastly as part of the
Vilayet of the Archipelago, since it was
conquered from the
Republic of Venice in 1570–71. priests blessing the
Union Jack as it is raised in
Nicosia, 1878 A
British protectorate under nominal Ottoman
suzerainty was established over Cyprus by the
Cyprus Convention of 4 June 1878, following the
Russo-Turkish War, in exchange for British support of the Ottomans during the
Congress of Berlin. Cyprus was then proclaimed a
British protectorate and was informally integrated into the
British Empire. This remained in place until 5 November 1914, when after the Ottomans joined the
Central Powers, in turn entering
World War I, Britain declared the complete annexation of Cyprus into the British Empire, albeit under a military administration status. The
Crown Colony of Cyprus was proclaimed a decade later, in 1925, after Britain's annexation of Cyprus was verified twice, firstly in the
Treaty of Sèvres in 1920, which was never implemented, and then confirmed again in the
Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
Proposed union with Greece King Pávlos of the Hellenes declared that Cyprus desired union with the
Kingdom of Greece in 1948. A
referendum was presented by the
Orthodox Church of Cyprus in 1950, according to which around 97% of the
Greek Cypriot population wanted the union. The Greek petition and
enosis became an international issue when it was accepted by the
United Nations (UN).
Cyprus Emergency The Cyprus Emergency was a military action that took place in Cyprus from 1955 to 1959. The Cyprus Emergency primarily consisted of a campaign by the Greek Cypriot military group
EOKA to remove the British from Cyprus so it could be unified with
Greece.
Independence Signed on 19 February 1959, the
London and Zurich Agreements started the process for the constitution of an independent Cyprus. The United Kingdom granted independence to Cyprus on 16 August 1960 and formed the
Republic of Cyprus. Archbishop
Makarios III, a charismatic religious and political leader, was elected as the first president of independent Cyprus. As part of the independence agreement, the United Kingdom retained possession of the Sovereign Base Areas of
Akrotiri and Dhekelia as a
British Overseas Territory. In March 1961 at the
1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference, Cyprus became an independent
republic in the Commonwealth of Nations, and Archbishop
Makarios III became both a Commonwealth
head of state and a Commonwealth
head of government. In 1961, the Republic of Cyprus became the 99th member of the
United Nations. ==Notable residents==