1931 Cyprus revolt 1931 Cyprus revolt The 1931 Cyprus revolt or October Events (, "Oktovriana") was an anti-colonial revolt that took place in Cyprus, then a British crown colony, between 21 October and early November 1931. The revolt was spearheaded by Greek Cypriot nationalists who advocated the Enosis (Union) of the island with Greece. The defeat of the rebels led to a period of repressive British rule known as "Palmerocracy" (Παλμεροκρατία), that would last until the beginning of World War II. At the outbreak of the First World War, Cyprus was nominally a part of the Ottoman Empire, while in fact being administered
Times of Cyprus character for Cypriots, although he was a firm believer in independence for Cyprus rather than union with Greece. In 1958 he stated: 'I have sympathy for the Cypriots as a civilized people who have for generations been denied the ordinary rights of self-rule and freedom.' Foley's anti-colonial stance led to him being prosecuted in 1956 by the British colonial government in Cyprus for breaking the Emergency Powers Act (Cyprus). At a court hearing on 2 January 1957 Foley was fined £50 for publishing an article on the British treatment of Greek Cypriots, under the title 'Hatred, Despair and Anger' which