ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the reaction to the Cypriot elites and their roles in the Great War. It examines the divisions within the Cypriot elites across religious and ethnic lines. The Greek Cypriot elites and bourgeoisie were divided along socio-political and Greek political/ideological/party lines, which determined the nature of their support for enosis. In December 1915, local Greek Cypriot nationalist elites in Limassol and Larnaca organised the ‘feast of the Greek flag’, attended by civic groups such as the boy scouts, and invited the Greek consul to administer an oath of allegiance to the Greek flag and king. Vatimbela’s speech was extraordinary in making the Cypriots into Greeks and ignoring the British, the Cypriot Muslims, and the majority of the Christian population who did not identify as Greek. The Colonial Office again appealed to the Foreign Office to warn the Greek government against such speeches.
