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Bricks Without Straw: The Dilemmas of the British Administration in Cyprus, 1884–1900

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Abstract

The fact that Cyprus had, for the time being, been rejected as a naval or military base meant that there was no imperial interest in its development. At the same time, the high level at which the Cyprus tribute had been unilaterally set on the whole made it impossible for the local administration to raise the sum required without a British subsidy. This chapter will examine the financial and political difficulties created by the fact that any surpluses or subsidies that might have been spent in raising productivity or lowering taxes, were consumed by the tribute. Cypriot reaction to this financial drain grew through the turn of the century, facilitated by the political and infrastructural benefits that British rule also brought.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Evanthis Hatzivassiliou (2002, 25–26).

  2. 2.

    John Darwin (1997, 641–642) and M. E. Chamberlain (1976, 231–245).

  3. 3.

    See especially Robinson and Gallagher (1961, Chapter 4) and A. G. Hopkins (1986, 363–391).

  4. 4.

    A. G. Hopkins (1986, 379–384).

  5. 5.

    Paul Auchterlonie, 49–67.

  6. 6.

    John Marlowe (1970, 125).

  7. 7.

    Wynne, 608.

  8. 8.

    Edward Fairfield “Memorandum on the Finances and Administration of Cyprus”, June 1882, Enclosure No. 1 in Papers relating to the Administration and Finances of Cyprus, c.3661.

  9. 9.

    Biddulph to Granville, 30 January 1886, FO881/5390, NA.

  10. 10.

    Enclosure number 3 in Biddulph to Granville, 30 January 1886, FO881/5390, NA.

  11. 11.

    “Legislative Council Resolution”, 6 March 1885, Enclosure No. 3 in Biddulph to the Earl of Derby, 12 March 1885, FO881/5390, NA.

  12. 12.

    David Steele (2001, 81).

  13. 13.

    Herbert to Welby, 17 July 1886, FO881/1530, NA.

  14. 14.

    Extract from the “Journal of the Society of Arts”, Inclosure No. 1 in Lang to Pauncefote, 9 August 1886, FO881/5390, NA.

  15. 15.

    Lang to Pauncefote, 9 August 1886, FO881/5390, NA.

  16. 16.

    Fairfield to Currie , 3 September 1886, FO881/15390, NA.

  17. 17.

    Robert Holland (2012, 100–102 and 125).

  18. 18.

    Currie to Fairfield , 4 September 1886, FO881/15390.

  19. 19.

    The Malta Standard, 18 April 1887, cited in Katsiaounis (1996, 103).

  20. 20.

    Diana Markides (2014, 31).

  21. 21.

    Katsiaounis (1996, 98–102).

  22. 22.

    Cobham to Smith, 10 September 1889, CO67/43, NA.

  23. 23.

    Sendall to Ripon, 18 June 1894, CO67/89, NA.

  24. 24.

    White to Salisbury, 24 January 1887, FO881/5390, NA.

  25. 25.

    Iddesleigh to White, 2 December 1886, FO881/5390, NA.

  26. 26.

    George Hill (1952, 451–452).

  27. 27.

    See House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, c.277 Cyprus (Enforced Sales): A return showing enforced sales of property in the island of Cyprus for the years 1887, 1888, 1889 (a) at the instance of the island government (b) at the instance of Private Papers. From the statistics, it appears that the number of government forced sales increased from 37 in 1887 to 159 in 1889 and the number of private forced sales increased from 309 to 449 over the same period.

  28. 28.

    Katsiaounis (1996, 188).

  29. 29.

    For an account of companies listed on the London stock exchange that folded up in 1887, see Gail Ruth Hook (2009), “Britons in Cyprus 1878–1914”, PhD dissertation, University of Texas at Austen, August.

  30. 30.

    Katsiaounis (1996, 181–185).

  31. 31.

    Minute signed by Robert Mead on 2 March 1891, attached to Memorials sent from Paphos and Larnaca and articles in Cypriot press complaining about oppressive taxation, CO67/51.

  32. 32.

    Markides (2014, 33–34).

  33. 33.

    Sendall to Ripon, 4 December 1893, CO67/82, NA.

  34. 34.

    Currie to Meade , 25 February 1893, CO67/83, NA. See also HC Deb, 16 February 1893 Vol 8, cc1559–60, Hansard.

  35. 35.

    Minute, initialled by Thomas Sanderson, January 1893, CO67/83, NA.

  36. 36.

    Article IV, Clause I, 18 & 19 Victoria Cap.99, 14 August 1855, Eyre and Spottiswoode, London and the Statute Law Revision Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict c 19).

  37. 37.

    Diana Markides (2014, 123–126).

  38. 38.

    Conditions of the 1855 loan, 1st., printed on a copy of the General Bond deposited in the Bank of England , 4A77/1, Bank of England Archive B of E.A.

  39. 39.

    Résumé on the 1855 loan, Hamilton, 18 September 1895, FO881/681, NA.

  40. 40.

    Résumé on the 1855 loan, Hamilton, 18 September 1895, FO881/681, NA.

  41. 41.

    Memorandum initialled by Sanderson, 23 June 1896, FO78/524. For fears of difficulties with the French, see also D. W. R. Bahlman (1993), diary entries for 13 November 1895 and 20 March 1896.

  42. 42.

    Roger Owen (2005, 224–225).

  43. 43.

    Salisbury to George Herbert, acting British ambassador to the Porte, 1 July 1896 and Herbert to Salisbury, 20 July 1896, FO78/524, NA.

  44. 44.

    W. N. Medlicott (1940, 187–208).

  45. 45.

    Francis Elliot, British Consul General in Sofia, to Salisbury, 26 August 1896, FO78/524, NA.

  46. 46.

    Francis Elliot, British Consul General in Sofia, to Salisbury, 26 August 1896, FO78/524, NA.

  47. 47.

    Entry for 8 April 1896, Diary of Edward Hamilton .

  48. 48.

    Entry for 9 June 1899, Diary of Edward Hamilton .

  49. 49.

    Andrew Roberts, Victorian Titan, p. 643.

  50. 50.

    Holland and Markides (2006, 96–107).

  51. 51.

    Salisbury to Dufferin, July 1898, FO78/524, NA.

  52. 52.

    Bulletin of the Council of Foreign Bondholders , 4 August 1898, FO78/524, NA.

  53. 53.

    Holland and Markides (2014, 100–103).

  54. 54.

    Markides (2014, especially 203–206).

  55. 55.

    Table enclosed in Sendall to Chamberlain, 10 December 1897, CO67/108.

  56. 56.

    Hansard, House of Lords Debates, 28 July 1882, Vol. 273 cc17–26.

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Markides, D. (2019). Bricks Without Straw: The Dilemmas of the British Administration in Cyprus, 1884–1900. In: The Cyprus Tribute and Geopolitics in the Levant, 1875–1960. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13777-9_3

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