Cypriot pollitics are among the most contentious in Europe, and frequently attract the attention of the international community. Here, Yiannos Katsourides traces the historical development of the Cypriot party system, and in particular the growth of the Communist Party, now known as AKEL- the first formally organised political party on the island. The party was a political movement with a specific programme for radical reform that conficted both with the British Empire and the local establishment. It was treated with hostility and declared illegal. Based on new archival research, Katsorides addresses the social, religious, economic and political environment in which communist and working class politics existed on the island, and locates them within the context of a country connected inextricably with Turkey, Great Britain and Greece. This book will be of significant interest to anyone interested in the history of Cyprus, European communist movements or British colonialism and diplomacy in the Mediterranean.

Table of Contents:
Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Frame of analysis The class cleavage and the mobilisation of the popular strata The organisation of the working class: left parties and class corporations in Europe Social class and political party Class consciousness, collective action and the political subject Book outline Chapter 1: The Particularities of Cyprus: Late Economic Development and Belated Nation Building A rural, pre-modern society British colonialism The tax system The peasant issue Usury The new social order: new classes in the spotlight The emergence and composition of the working class Belated nation-building The cleavage lines in colonial Cyprus The quest for enosis and political rivalries The class cleavage Chapter 2: Political Institutions and Political Participation Representative institutions The Legislative Council Franchise and mass participation Mass political participation Social synthesis of the Legislative Council: oligarchic parliamentarism Clientelism as a defining feature of Cyprus politics Incomplete political integration The limits of colonialism Democratic deficit Elections and participation as tools for regime legitimisation Chapter 3: Political Origins Lower strata mobilisation schemes Rural unrest and social banditry The organisational traditions of craftsmen Non-class guilds and labour clubs The Agrarian Party The Popular Party Socialist circles The Cypriot Labour Party Chapter 4: The Communist Party of Cyprus The founding congress Ideological orientation and radicalism Strategy Social and political alliances: the policy of the united front Modes of communist activism Political programme Social issue National issue Civil rights and liberties Anti-clericalism Chapter 5: Organisational Structuring: A Parallel Society Penetrating society: a “parallel society” Organising the Turkish minority Party press Internal structure Rank and file and leadership Members and followers Leadership Internationalisation of the CPC: relations with communist centres abroad Communist activism among the working class. The CPC in the organisation of the Cypriot trade union movement Chapter 6: Political Integration State repression The “crabs” of communism; the reaction of the nationalists Electoral development and competition Interpreting the communist vote Chapter 7: The Years of Illegality and Taking-Off The riots of October 1931 and CPC reaction Crisis and reorganisation Trade union tutelage as a vehicle of expansion and integration The CPC in the Spanish Civil War From the CPC to AKEL: an opening to society The premises of massification Chapter 8: Conclusion Carrier of Ideas of Social Change and Radicalisation Distinct Features of Cyprus’ Communism Bibliography