Economic Development under the British, 1878–1900

When Cyprus passed from Ottoman control to British administration as a result of the 1878 Convention, most islanders welcomed the change. There was a popular feeling amongst Cypriots that the period of economic stagnation had come to an end, and that better times lay ahead under the British. The debt-ridden and economically backward Ottoman Empire lacked both the resources and the will to do much to develop its possessions, whereas Britain, as the world’s leading industrial power, had the finance and the expertise to bring about an economic transformation. In practice the experience under the rule of the British was a huge disappointment, and in many respects their administration proved even less popular than that of the Ottomans. Individual colonial officers were usually well intentioned and highly efficient, but in reality little was achieved during the first sixty years of British rule. What went wrong, and how did the experience of Cyprus compare with that of other territories under British rule?