In 1878 a Cyprus Convention gave Great Britain the protectorate rights of the Island from the then occupiers, the Ottaman Empire. The indigenous Greeks on the island were never happy with this and wanted essentially Union with Greece. A census at that time showed the island population was 74% Greek and 26% Turkish.
In 1914 Great Britain offered to cede Cyprus to Greece if Greece would attack Bulgaria. Greece did not agree to do so.
In 1925 Cyprus was declared a Crown Colony but the Greeks increasingly wanted Enosis, Union with Greece.
In 1955 Colonel Grivas, a passionate devotee of Enosis, began to mastermind the terrorist campaign, EOKA, to oust the British. In 1956 I was posted to The British Military Hospital, Nicosia to join the Army resistance to the EOKA campaign which by then had gathered momentum and was causing many Army casualties.