During the EOKA period of Greek Cypriot revolt against British colonial rule, the Greek Cypriots and the British deployed propaganda as a means of swaying allegiances, both within Cyprus and on the international scene. Propaganda and the Cyprus Revolt places new emphasis on the vital role propaganda played in turning the tide against British colonial control over Cyprus. Examining the increase of violence and coercion during this period of revolt, this book examines how the opposing sides’ mobilization of propaganda offered two alternative visions for the future of Cyprus that divided opinion, to the ultimate detriment of British counterinsurgency efforts.
Detailing the deployment of propaganda by both parties across radio, television and print channels, the book draws upon previously unpublished archival material in order to paint a detailed picture of how the British Empire lost control over the hearts and minds of the Greek Cypriot people. This study shines new light on a crucial period of Cypriot history and contributes to wider transnational debates around the use of propaganda and the end of empire. This will be an essential read for students of Cyprus history and British colonial history.
By:
Maria Hadjiathanasiou (University of Nicosia Cyprus)
Imprint: I.B. Tauris
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 542g
ISBN: 9781788317313
ISBN 10: 1788317319
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 11 June 2020
Audience:
College/higher education
,
College/higher education
,
Primary
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. INTRODUCTION - Failure in communication and ‘disconnected’ decolonisation(s) - Reactive propaganda, violence and a ‘crisis of trust’ - From a British experience to bilateral uses of propaganda - Propaganda to ‘divide and rule’ and partition ‘as last resort solution’ 2. ‘A TASK OF FIRST-RATE IMPORTANCE’: PLANNING PROPAGANDA FOR CYPRUS - Introduction - ‘Seditious utterances’: Archbishop Makarios, the Ethnarchy of Cyprus and the Church of Greece - General Grivas and the methods of EOKA - Cyprus government: In search of a ‘new policy’ for ‘straight forward political propaganda’ - John Reddaway in charge and the first ‘General Directive for Propaganda Services’ - Requesting information on ‘counter-propaganda and/or psychological warfare or call it what you will’ - Lawrence Durrell and ‘Cypriotism’: ‘I became something like the head of propaganda’ 3. ‘STEPPING UP OUR PROPAGANDA ON CYPRUS’, OCTOBER 1955 – OCTOBER 1957 - Introduction - Governor Harding, Greek propaganda agencies and the Cyprus Information Services - The importance of ‘public opinion’ and inflammation of Turkish Cypriot feeling Director-General of Information Services: Predicting ‘the future of Cyprus’ - The ‘splitting of sympathy’: An Archbishop in exile and coercion - EOKA’s ‘propaganda of the deed’: Breaking British morale 4. THE PROPAGANDA OFFENSIVE IN SOUND, PRINT AND VISION - Introduction SOUND Radio: Athens Radio Vs Cyprus Broadcasting Service - Jamming: ‘An admission of defeat’? - Reception: ‘Father, I heard Athens!’ - Concluding interferences: ‘Little room left for further incitement’ Voice aircraft and public address vans PRINT Newspapers and publications: ‘Turning off an important tap of hostile propaganda’? - Greek Cypriot/Greek press - English-language newspapers in Cyprus - Government publications for international use - Travel literature Leaflets: An island ‘knee-deep in paper’ - EOKA and PEKA leaflets - British pseudo-EOKA leaflets - Cartoons: ‘Getting a simple idea across with simple people’? VISION Television: ‘Compelling the belief of the Cypriots’ or ‘a provocation against national pride and elementary logic’? - The Cyprus Television Service: ‘The most effective medium’? - EOKA criticism: ‘A useless thing we call it’ 5. ‘NO ONE SHOULD EXPECT DRAMATIC RESULTS FROM PROPAGANDA’, NOVEMBER 1957 – MARCH 1959 - Introduction - Boycott and passive resistance: ‘A public conditioned and encouraged by EOKA’ - EOKA’s ‘smear campaign’ and reassessing British ‘psychological warfare’ - Not ‘blowing the gaff’: Special Investigations Group and ‘non-attributable propaganda’ - ‘Practicabilities for psychological warfare’ and an ‘unreceptive target’ 6. CONCLUSION Index
Maria Hadjiathanasiou is a Research Fellow at the Department of Politics and Governance, University of Nicosia, Cyprus. She has received funding from the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, to conduct research on the topic of British, Greek and Turkish cultural diplomacy in Cyprus, 1945-1974 (2019-2021). She received her PhD in Modern History in 2017 from the University of Bristol. Her research interests focus on decolonisation and colonial insurgencies, cultural history and propaganda.
Reviews for Propaganda and the Cyprus Revolt: Rebellion, Counter-Insurgency and the Media, 1955-59
Dr Hadjiathanasiou's book is required reading for all those interested in histories of propaganda, empire and decolonisation. Using a wealth of new archival sources relating to the Cyprus Emergency, including a rich body of evidence in Greek as well as English, she draws out the crucial importance of propaganda and media manipulation in mobilising nationalist resistance and waging wars of counterinsurgency at the end of empire. This ground-breaking and painstaking study allows us see a key late-colonial struggle for power, hearts and minds, in which the combatants targeted audiences in Britain, Cyprus, and around the world, from a new perspective. * Professor Simon J. Potter, University of Bristol, UK * Can persuasion through directed information take the edges off armed conflict and bring victory at a lower cost? In late-colonial Cyprus the British discovered their presumed superiority at propaganda could not match a sophisticated anti-colonial movement with ethnic unity as their message. Cyprus is a vital case for understanding propaganda's place in decolonisation conflicts. In Maria Hadjiathanasiou's able hands, the topic has finally found the analyst its significance deserves. * Dr. Huw Bennett, Cardiff University, UK *
