The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA ; ) was a Greek Cypriot nationalist guerilla organization that fought a campaign for the end of British rule in Cyprus, and for eventual union with Greece.
Background
Cyprus, an island in the Eastern Mediterranean inhabited mostly by Greeks, was conquered by the Ottoman Empire from 1571 and remained under its control until 4 June 1878, when in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War, it was handed to the British empire. By that time, a sizeable Turkish minority population had also been established in the island. As nationalistic tendencies grew in both major population groups, Greek Cypriots advocated for Enosis (Union with Greece) which was a part of the Megali idea. The origins of Enosis date back to 1821, the year when the Greek War of Independence commenced, and the archbishop of Cyprus, his archdeacon, and three bishops were beheaded by the Ottoman colonial administration, amongst other atrocities. In 1828, Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first governor of Greece, asked for the union of Cyprus with Greece, while small-scale uprisings also occurred. In 1878, when British general Wolsely came to Cyprus to formally establish British rule, he was met by the archbishop of Kition who, after welcoming him, requested that Britain cede Cyprus to Greece. Initially, the Greek Cypriots welcomed British rule, as they were aware that the British had returned the Ionian Islands to Greece in 1864. They were also hopeful for British investment in Cyprus, which the Ottoman occupation left as an impoverished island.
In 1912, the British government made an offer to Greece to exchange Cyprus for a naval base in Argostoli, in order to gain control of the Ionian sea, an offer which was repeated in 1913. In 1915, the British offered Cyprus to Greece several times in exchange for Greece's participation in World War I. While Greece was undecided whether it should enter the War, however, the British government withdrew its offer. By 1915, the Greek Cypriots' opposition to British rule had increased, seeing that neither the British investment nor Enosis had materialized. In the beginning, the Enosis movement had only few supporters, mainly from the upper classes. However, that was about to change as two groups, disappointed with the new ruler, began to form, namely the Church and the Usurers. A number of Cypriots studying in Greece in the following years became strong advocates of Enosis upon their return. On the other hand, the Turkish Cypriot community started to develop its own nationalism in the early 20th century, as news arrived in the island about the persecutions faced by Muslims in the countries that formed after the collapse of Ottoman Empire.
The November 1926 appointment of Ronald Storrs (a philhellene) as the new governor of Cyprus, fostered the idea among Greek Cypriot nationalists that British rule would be a stepping stone for the eventual union with Greece. Their relationship was to sour in 1928, when Greek Cypriots refused to take part in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the British occupation of Cyprus. Greece appealed for calm, limiting the spread of anti-colonial articles in Greek Cypriot newspapers. Education became another arena of conflict with the passage of the Education Act, which sought to curtail Greek influence in the Cypriot school curricula. Cypriot irredentists also lamented the supposedly preferential treatment of Malta and Egypt at the expense of Cyprus. Relations worsened further when the British authorities unilaterally passed a new penal code which permitted among other things the use of torture. In 1929, Legislative Council members Archbishop of Kition Nikodemos and Stavros Stavrinakis arrived in London, presenting a memorandum to the secretary of colonies Lord Passfield which contained demands for Enosis. As with previous such attempts the answer was negative.