History of the Communist Party of Cyprus, 1923–1944 The Dawn of the Cypriot Communist Movement

Introduction

Chapter One: From Cyprus’ cession to the British in 1878 until early interwar

a)      Political and diplomatic developments

b)      Towards slow-moving capitalist economic growth

c)      The Cyprus’ rural and working classes

d)      The 1929 financial crisis

Chapter Two: From the first communist cells to the Communist Party of Cyprus (1919-1923)

a)      The beginning

b)      The new party’s positions

Chapter Three: The first CPC period (1924-1926)

a)      How the CPC operated

1)      Organizational evolution

2)      The party’s presence through the press

3)      The party’s relations with other communist parties

b)      The CPC's positions on union with Greece

c)      Social fronts interventions

1)      On the labor front

2)      On the agricultural front

3)      On women's issues

d)      Participation in elections

1)      The October 1925 elections

2)      The 1926 municipal elections

e)      Discussion

Chapter Four: Between 1926 and 1930

            a) The CPC’s operation

                                       1) Organizational development

                                       2) The CPC goes underground

                                       3) The party’s presence in the press

            b) The CPC's positions on union with Greece

            c) Interventions on different social fronts

            d) Interventions in the electoral process

                                        1) The 1927 municipal elections

                                        2) The 1930 municipal elections

                                        3) The 1930 Legislative Council elections

e) Discussion

Chapter Five: From Vatis’ leadership (December 1930) to the October movement

a)      The organizational situation of the CPC

b)      The CPC political initiatives

c)      Turkish Cypriots and the CPC

d)      The CPC and the movement for union with Greece

e)      Interference in the 1931 by-elections

1)      Paphos

2)      Morphou - Lefka

f)       The July Conference

g)      The changes in the party constitutions

h)      The October uprising

i)       The CPC in the October uprising

j)       Discussion

Chapter Six: The Aftermath of the October uprising: The Vatis-Skeleas-Selvas (Nisiotis) controversy within the Comintern

a)      The issue

b)      Discussion

Chapter Seven: The period after the October uprising until Servas was appointed Secretary General.

a)      Political authoritarianism prevails in Cyprus

b)      The CPC’s activities during this period

c)      Party interventions and persecution of communists

d)      Two landmark trials

e)      Discussion

Chapter Eight: From Servas' assumption of leadership to the eve of AKEL’s creation (1935- 1941)

a)      The general context

b)      The period of reorganization

c)      Suppression

d)      The workers' movement in the context of capital accumulation

e)      The newspaper Anexartitos

f)       The party’s approach of the Second World War

g)      The 4^th Congress

h)      Turkish Cypriots and the CPC

i)       The path towards a frontal political platform

j)       Discussion

Chapter Nine: From AKEL’s creation to the CPC’s dissolution

a)      The general framework

b)      The creation of the Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL)

c)      Capital accumulation and the workers' movement development

d)      AKEL on the question of uniting with Greece

e)      The 1943 municipal elections

f)       AKEL’s Central Committee decision on Cypriot participation in the British military

g)      From AKEL’s creation to the CPC’s 5^th Congress

h)      AKEL’s 4^th and 5^th Congress: Towards a new communist party

i)       Discussion

Conclusion

Appendix

a)      Short biographies of leading CPC members

b)      Tables

Index

Biography

Spyros Sakellaropoulos, Professor in the Department of Social Policy, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece. Recent Books: a) Greece’s (un) Competitive Capitalism and the Economic Crisis (2019) b) The Evolution of the Political, Social and Economic Life of Cyprus 1191-1950 (2022).

Alexis Alecou, Adjunct Lecturer in History at the University of Cyprus, Fellow of the University of London’s Institute of Commonwealth Studies Books: a) Communism and Nationalism in Postwar Cyprus, 1945-1955 (2016) b) (as an editor) Acceleration of History: War, Conflicts and Politics (2016).

A most scholarly contribution to the literature on Cyprus and the Left that challenges the half-truths that so many of us have held dear.

Professor Vassilis K. Fouskas, Royal Docks School of Business & Law, University of East London.

  

An excellent book on one of the first Cypriot political parties, the Cyprus Communist Party (1923–1944), written by two of the leading expert historians in the field. The book sheds light on previously unknown aspects of the social and political history of colonial Cyprus.

Petros Papapolyviou, Associate Professor, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus.