A possession of the Ottoman Empire until 1878, when it was handed over to Britain, Cyprus has always been more Greek than anything else. In 1960, after six years of terrorism and guerilla warfare, Cyprus became an independent republic and a member of the British Commonwealth. The government is designed to ensure that, although Greek Cypriots remain dominant, they can achieve little without co-operation from Turkish Cypriots. Britain, Turkey and Greece all maintain forces on the island-Britain for NATO's benefit, and Turkey and Greece to train the new Cypriot army. The Cypriot government quickly falls apart, victim of the Greeks' and Turks' flat refusal to work as a team.
Ethnic enclaves form and fighting resumes.
At Christmas 1962, the British move out of their Sovereign Base Areas-not to take control, but to separate the belligerent groups and prevent Turkey from intervening on behalf of the Turkish Cypriots. In response, Turkish Cypriots quit the government. Relations between Greece and Turkey become dangerously tense. Britain, so recently the colonial power, has no credibility as a peacekeeper.