Imperial Control in Cyprus

In Protectorate Cyprus, education was one of the most effective tools of imperial control and political manipulation used by the British. This book charts the cultural and educational aspects of British colonial rule in Cyprus and analyses what these policies reveal about the internal struggles on the island between 1931 and 1960. Cyprus had been under British occupation since 1878, but it was in the 1930s that educational policies acquired a strong political significance and became essential in preserving the British position on the island. The co-existence of two very strongly-held and eventually conflicting national identities in Cyprus, Greek-Orthodox and Turkish Muslim, inevitably led to the politicisation of education and culture on the island. Therefore, any attempts to impose British culture, language and way of thinking onto Cypriots, or even to create a distinct Cypriot identity, had very limited success. Gradually, the education system reflected the shifting political developments in colonial Cyprus. By the start of the 1950s, schools had become a breeding ground for discontent and between 1955 and 1959 they were an indispensable part of the EOKA revolt.In this book, Antigone Heraclidou provides a new dimension to the understanding and origins of the deadlock that was to prove one of the most intractable in the final years of the British Empire.

There is much to appreciate about this book ... I am particularly impressed by the conclusion, which takes the discussion away from the traditional narrative of British efforts at de-Hellenization and ‘divide and rule’, and looks at understanding the British efforts to create a contemporary education system ... I therefore recommend the book as the most up-to-date on the politics of education in Cyprus for the period 1931–59.

Antigone Heraclidou is a postdoctoral research associate at the Museum Lab of RISE (Research Centre on Interactive Media, Smart Systems and Emerging Technologies). She holds an MSc in International History from the London School of Economics and a PhD in Modern History from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London. She is the author of Imperial Control in Cyprus: Education and Political Manipulation in the British Empire (2017) and co-editor of Cyprus: from Colonialism to the Present: Visions and Realities. Essays in honour of Professor Robert Holland (2018) and ‘Political Actors in the Mediterranean, 1918-1964: Cyprus and Malta compared’ Special Issue of the Journal of Mediterranean Studies, 23(1), 2014. She has also published her work in international journals and was the co-organiser of three international academic conferences in London. She has taught History modules at the University of Cyprus, the Open University of Cyprus and the European University of Cyprus. She worked closely with several museums in Nicosia from her post as an Officer at Nicosia Tourism Board. Her research interests include Cyprus’ colonial history, decolonisation, education and cultural heritage.