Makarios III

Makarios III was the Greek Orthodox archbishop who led Cyprus as its first president from independence in 1960 until his death in 1977.

EOKA: A Greek Cypriot nationalist organization that fought British rule in Cyprus from 1955 to 1959. Makarios supported enosis, while EOKA’s armed campaign shaped the negotiations preceding his presidency.
Enosis: The Greek nationalist movement advocating the union of Cyprus with Greece. Makarios initially championed enosis before accepting an independent Cypriot republic.
1960 Constitution of Cyprus: The founding constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, which divided political offices and responsibilities between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Its power-sharing arrangements constrained Makarios’s government and became difficult to operate.
Republic of Cyprus: An independent island state established in 1960, internationally recognized as the sovereign government of Cyprus. Makarios presided over the republic from its foundation until his death.
Georgios Grivas: A Greek military officer who founded and commanded EOKA during its campaign against British rule in Cyprus. Grivas’s later opposition to Makarios intensified conflict over the island’s future.
London and Zurich Agreements: The 1959 agreements that established the terms for an independent Republic of Cyprus. They set the constitutional and international framework that brought Makarios to the presidency.
1963–64 Cypriot crisis: A period of constitutional breakdown and intercommunal violence in Cyprus following proposed constitutional amendments in 1963. Makarios’s proposed amendments precipitated a crisis that ended effective power-sharing.
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus: A self-declared state in northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey and established in 1983. Its emergence followed the division that took shape during Makarios’s final years.
Archbishop of Cyprus: The head of the autocephalous Church of Cyprus, a major religious institution with a historic public role. Makarios’s authority as archbishop gave him a political platform before independence.
Cyprus under British rule: The period when Cyprus was governed by Britain, formally as a colony from 1925 until independence in 1960. Makarios’s nationalist politics developed in opposition to British colonial rule.

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