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1931 Cyprus revolt
Date	21 October – 25 October 1931
Location	Major cities and villages of Cyprus
Caused by	National, economical
Methods	Arson, Demonstrations, Rioting, Vandalism
Resulted in	Suppressed by the colonial police
Parties
United Kingdom British Cyprus Pro-Enosis demonstrators Supported by: Church of Cyprus
Lead figures
Ronald Storrs Bishop of Kition Nikodemos
Casualties and losses
Many government buildings were destroyed, burned or damaged No human casualties Deaths: 7 Injuries: 30 Arrests: 2,616

The 1931 Cyprus revolt or October Events (Greek: Οκτωβριανά, Oktovriana) was a revolt against British colonial rule that took place in Cyprus, then a British crown colony, between 21 October and early November 1931. The revolt was spearheaded by Greek Cypriots who advocated the Enosis (Union) of the island with Greece. The defeat of the rebels led to a period of autocratic British rule known as "Palmerocracy" (Παλμεροκρατία), that would last until the beginning of World War II.

Background

At the outbreak of the First World War, Cyprus was nominally a part of the Ottoman Empire, while in fact being administered by the British Empire as agreed in the Cyprus Convention of 1878. On 5 November 1914, the Ottomans entered the conflict on the side of the Central Powers, prompting Britain to void the Cyprus Convention and annex the island as the two states were now at war. In 1915, Britain offered Cyprus to Greece in exchange for the Greek intervention into World War I on the side of the Triple Entente. The Greek government refused the offer as at the time it was embroiled in a deep internal crisis known as the National Schism. Cyprus had already been described as a bargaining chip for negotiating with the Greeks when it was offered in exchange for the deep water port of Argostoli in 1912.

Following the end of the war Britain received international recognition of its claims to the island at the 1923 Conference of Lausanne. Greece was the only country that could potentially contest the decision, based on the fact that four fifths of its population were ethnically Greek. However at the time Greece faced economic ruin and diplomatic isolation as a result of a disastrous defeat in the Greco-Turkish War, thus Greek envoys made no mention of Cyprus at the conference. Cyprus then attained the status of a crown colony and the number of the Cypriot Legislative Council members was increased in favor of British officials. The aforementioned setbacks did not put a halt to the spread of the Megali Idea (Great Idea) and the closely related Enosis (Union) ideologies, the ultimate goal of which was the incorporation of all areas populated by Greeks into an independent Greek state. The November 1926 appointment of Ronald Storrs (a philhellene) as the new governor of Cyprus, fostered the idea among Greek Cypriot nationalists that British rule would be a stepping stone for the eventual union with Greece.

Their relationship was to sour in 1928, when Greek Cypriots refused to take part in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of British rule on Cyprus. Greece once again appealed for calm, limiting the spread of anti-British articles in Greek Cypriot newspapers. Education became another arena of conflict with the passage of the Education Act, which sought to curtail Greek influence in the Cypriot school curricula. The Church of Cyprus which at the time played an important role in the social and political life of the island became one of the bastions of Greek nationalism. Cypriots also lamented the supposedly preferential treatment of Malta and Egypt at the expense of Cyprus. Relations worsened further when the colonial authorities unilaterally passed a new penal code which permitted among other things the usage of torture. In 1929, Legislative Council members Archbishop of Kition Nikodemos and Stavros Stavrinakis arrived in London, presenting a memorandum to the secretary of colonies Lord Passfield which contained demands for Enosis. As with previous such attempts the answer was negative.

Conflict

In September 1931, Storrs blocked a Legislative Council decision to halt tax hikes that were to cover a local budget deficit. Greek Cypriot MPs reacted by resigning from their positions. Furthermore, on 18 October, Archbishop of Kition Nikodemos called Greek Cypriots to engage in acts of civil disobedience until their demands for Enosis were fulfilled.

On 21 October, 5,000 Greek Cypriots, mostly students, priests and city notables rallied in the streets of Nicosia while chanting pro–Enosis slogans. The crowd besieged Government House, following three hours of stone throwing the building was set on fire. The rioters were eventually dispersed by police. At the same time British flags were stripped from public offices across the country, often being substituted with Greek ones. Order was restored by the beginning of November. The British accused the Greek general counsel in Nicosia Alexis Kyrou (a Greek nationalist of Cypriot descent) of instigating the revolt. Kyrou had indeed worked behind the scenes to create a united opposition front against the British prior to the revolt, in direct disobedience to the orders he received from Athens. A total of seven protesters were killed, thirty were injured, ten were exiled for life, while 2,606 received various punishments ranging from prison terms to fines on account of seditious activities.

Aftermath

The revolt led to the dismissal of Kyrou whose actions had inadvertently damaged both the pro-Enosis cause and Anglo–Hellenic relations. The revolt also dealt a blow to Storrs' career, he was soon transferred to the post of Governor of Northern Rhodesia. The Legislative Council and municipal elections were abolished, the appointment of village authorities and district judges was relegated to the governor of the island. Propagating pro-Enosis ideas and flying foreign flags was banned as was the assembly of more than five people. The new measures were aimed at suppressing the operation of the Orthodox church and communist organizations, like the AKEL. Censorship had a severe effect on the operation of newspapers especially those associated with left wing politics. Cyprus thus entered a period of autocratic rule known as Palmerokratia (Παλμεροκρατία, "Palmerocracy"), named after governor Richmond Palmer, which started shortly before the revolt and would last until the beginning of World War II. The revolt has been described as the most intense rebellion that Britain faced in the interwar period. The revolt is known in Cypriot historiography as Oktovriana (October Events).

Monuments commemorating the October Events were erected in Strovolos and Pissouri in November 2007 and October 2016 respectively.

See also

• Akrotiri and Dhekelia

Footnotes

1. Xypolia, Ilia (2017). British Imperialism and Turkish Nationalism in Cyprus, 1923-1939 Divide, Define and Rule. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781138221291.
2. Klapsis 2013, pp. 765–767.
3. Klapsis 2009, pp. 127–131.
4. Frendo 1998, pp. 47–51.
5. Klapsis 2009, pp. 131–135.
6. ^ Klapsis 2009, pp. 135–136.
7. Rappas 2008, pp. 363–364.
8. Rappas 2008, pp. 363–369.
9. Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus (23 October 2016). "Χαιρετισμός του Προέδρου της Δημοκρατίας κ. Νίκου Αναστασιάδη στην τελετή αποκαλυπτηρίων Μνημείου για την εξέγερση των Οκτωβριανών το 1931, στο Πισσούρι". Archived from the original on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
10. Open University of Cyprus (14 October 2012). "Μνημείο πεσόντων εξέγερσης Οκτωβριανών 1931". Retrieved 2 May 2018.

References

• Frendo, Henry (1998). "The naughty European twins of empire: The constitutional breakdown in Malta and Cyprus 1930–1933". The European Legacy: Toward New Paradigms. 3 (1): 45–52. doi:10.1080/10848779808579863.
• Klapsis, Antonis (2009). "Between the Hammer and the Anvil. The Cyprus Question and the Greek Foreign Policy from the Treaty of Lausanne to the 1931 Revolt". Modern Greek Studies Yearbook. 24: 127–140. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
• Klapsis, Antonis (2013). "The Strategic Importance of Cyprus and the Prospect of Union with Greece, 1919–1931: The Greek Perspective". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 41 (5): 765–782. doi:10.1080/03086534.2013.789275. S2CID 161803453.
• Rappas, Alexis (2008). "The Elusive Polity: Imagining and Contesting Colonial Authority in Cyprus During the 1930s". Journal of Modern Greek Studies. 26 (2): 363–393. doi:10.1353/mgs.0.0020. S2CID 145799982. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
• Xypolia, Ilia (2017). British Imperialism and Turkish Nationalism in Cyprus, 1923-1939 Divide, Define and Rule. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781138221291.

v t e Cyprus problem
Participants	Island divisions Republic of Cyprus Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Declaration of Independence Turkish Cypriot enclaves (1963–64) United Nations Buffer Zone Akrotiri and Dhekelia Guarantor powers Greece Turkey United Kingdom
Events	Cyprus Emergency Cypriot intercommunal violence Bloody Christmas (1963) Battle of Tillyria Civilian casualties 1974 Cypriot coup d'état Turkish invasion (1974) Military operations Military losses Air combat Battle of Pentemili beachhead Operation Niki Tochni massacre Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda massacre S-300 crisis Maritime-zone dispute 2018 Cyprus gas dispute
Politics	Enosis and Taksim Enosis referendum Akritas plan List of UNSC resolutions Demographic issues History of nationality in Cyprus Refugees Turkish settlers in Northern Cyprus Enclaved Greek Cypriots Embargo against Northern Cyprus
Organisations	9 September Front Black Gang EOKA EOKA-B PEKA Turkish Resistance Legion for the Movement Legion Turkish Resistance Organisation
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Peace process	ABC plan Annan reunification Plan 2004 referendums Two-state solution 2008–2012 talks 2014 talks 2015–2017 talks

v t e Megali Idea
Background	Fall of Constantinople Ottoman Greece Greek Plan Greek War of Independence First Hellenic Republic Kingdom of Greece
Annexations	Ionian Islands (1864) Thessaly (1881) Crete (1912) Epirus (1912) Macedonia (1912) North Aegean islands (1912) Western Thrace (1919) Dodecanese (1947)
Temporary acquisitions	Eastern Thrace (1920–23) Imbros and Tenedos (1912–13, 1920–23) Northern Epirus (1914–17, 1919–21, 1940–41) Smyrna Zone (1919–22 as dependency) Constantinople, Zone of the Straits (1918–23 with France, Italy and United Kingdom)
Other areas	Asia Minor which included: Ionia Aeolis Doris Cappadocia (Cappadocian Greeks) Lydia Caria Mysia Troas Phrygia Galatia Bithynia Lycia Cilicia Cataonia Lycaonia Pamphylia Isauria Pisidia Paphlagonia Chamanene Armenia Minor Part of Commagene Cyprus Eastern Rumelia Pelagonia (Monastiri region) Gevgeli Sazan island Pontus
Ideas	Greek nationalism Hellenization Enosis
People/Organizations	Ioannis Kolettis Aristotelis Valaoritis Ethniki Etaireia Macedonian Committee Alexandros Koumoundouros Dimitrios Kalapothakis Stephanos Dragoumis Pavlos Melas Kostis Palamas Military League Eleftherios Venizelos Penelope Delta Themistoklis Sofoulis Nikolaos Plastiras Georgios Christakis-Zografos Theodoros Pangalos Northern Epirus Liberation Front EOKA Georgios Grivas Dimitrios Ioannidis
Events	Party of Radicals (Ionian Islands) Epirus Revolt of 1854 1854 Macedonian rebellion 1867 Macedonian rebellion Cretan revolt (1866–1869) Cretan revolt (1878) Epirus Revolt of 1878 1878 Macedonian rebellion Macedonian Struggle Greco-Turkish War (1897) Theriso revolt Balkan League Balkan Wars Himara revolt of 1912 Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus Provisional Government of National Defence National Defence Army Corps Greece in WWI Occupation of Constantinople Greek landing at Smyrna Republic of Pontus Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Great Fire of Smyrna 1931 Cyprus Revolt Greece in WWII Greco-Italian War Cyprus Emergency 1974 Cypriot coup d'état
Treaties	Treaty of London (1864) Greek-Serbian Alliance of 1867 Treaty of Berlin (1878) Convention of Constantinople (1881) Treaty of Constantinople (1897) Greek-Serbian Alliance of 1913 Treaty of London (1913) Treaty of Bucharest (1913) Treaty of Athens (1913) Protocol of Corfu (1914) Venizelos–Tittoni agreement (1919) Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (1919) Treaty of Sèvres (1920) Treaty of Lausanne (1923) Treaty of Paris (1947) Treaty of Guarantee (1960)

v t e Cyprus articles
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Outline Index Category Portal

• Conflicts in 1931
• 1931 in Cyprus
• October 1931 events
• 20th-century rebellions
• Cyprus dispute
• Greek nationalism
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