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The history of Cyprus is briefly as follows. According to the earliest records we have,
it was first colonized by the Phoenicians. From them it passed to the Greeks; and
Assyrians, Persians, Egyptians, Romans and Byzantines have since occupied it in turn.
In 1878 a convention was concluded with the Sultan of Turkey, by virtue of which
Cyprus was ceded to Great Britain, an annual tribute of £92,800 being paid to the Sultan.
When Turkey entered the Great War in November 1914 the island was annexed by
Great Britain.
The following map is taken from The Observer for 14th June, 1936.
---Illustration---
(BE-XXVII.143).
" `Cyprus is the Key of Western Asia', wrote Lord Beaconsfield to Queen Victoria in
1878. Sir Roland Stokes, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in Cyprus 1926-32 wrote:
`Cyprus is an indispensable and might easily become an invaluable link in the chain of
our Imperial defences.' This saving possibility a grateful Empire owes to that practical
visionary of genius, Beaconsfield. In Bismarck's phrase: `Der alte Jude, das ist der
Mann'."
The following extracts are from an article by Captain Norman Macmillan, A.F.100:,
D.F.100:, which appeared in the Daily Mail for 9th June, 1936.
"Italy has now turned from war conditions in Abyssinia to a process of colonization."
"The construction of aerodromes in Abyssinia in recent months, and the creation of
more that is now taking place, will enable the Italians to control that country as surely
and certainly as the British Air Command controlled Iraq."
"Cyprus is British. There we can do what we will. There is no need to negotiate
treaties to determine what armed stations we create, what garrisons we employ."
"Money expended there will be expended upon a part of Empire territory that is held
in fee simple. There is no fief to local government, no qualified occupation under
mandate from the treaties of the great war."
"On the seaboard, concrete shelters could be provided for submarines, together with
underground accommodation for oil, spares, victuals, and repair shops. Thus munitioned
as a great submarine and air fortress, Cyprus could dominate the Eastern Mediterranean,
and give us security for our trade route and possessions in and about that ocean."
"By utilizing Cyprus as a base, we have it in our power to make provision for the
safety of our people both at home and overseas. Let us get on with it before it is too
late."
"It can be made invincible if the Navy and the Air Force combine to make the
principal Mediterranean base for British aircraft and submarines--Cyprus."
To prevent the slightest misunderstanding we must state again that The Berean
Expositor has no politics. We give the quotations above as signs of the times, but express
no opinion either way thereon, for this lies entirely outside our province.