Greek nationalism had its hesitant beginnings in Cyprus at the end of the eighteenth century at a time when there was emerging a commercial merchant class along with a tax-farming class.[26] A small segment of Cypriot society became sensitive to Greek nationalist influences penetrating the island in the first two decades of the nineteenth century. No fully - fledged mass nationalist movement was evident in Cyprus during the last fifty years of Ottoman rule, but there is more than ample evidence to support the British Consular Report of 1866 that “the townspeople (of Cyprus) had become inculcated by the Hellenic Idea”.[27]
This nationalist orientation spread from prelates and notables to the mass of the Greek Cypriot population. The Greek Orthodox Church was the irredentist nationalist movement’s foremost exponent through its maintenance and control of education. The increase in literacy meant the spread of nationalist ideology, the social and national indoctrination of the younger generations. Moreover, Greek Cypriot students attended secondary schooling in Greece and to these were added later students at the University of Athens. Teachers from Greece staffed Cypriot schools especially in the decades before and after the British occupation in 1878. These efforts were reinforced by the assistance of organisations specifically structured to promote Greek Cypriot nationalism.[28] The whole structure to promote neo-Hellenic nationalism in Cyprus operated openly and more freely after the British occupation.
N Ganzis
I hope you know who N Ganzis is.
