1939 An introduction to Cyprus

Ludicrous commentary but absolutely fascinating footage of Cyprus in the first half of the 20th Century. A real time capsule of archive footage.

[@wallyo5159]

Wonderfully nostalgic, patronising and unintentionally hilarious commentary, but also quite misleading. By the 1930s there were increasingly important towns and industries in Cyprus which don't get a mention. In other words, not quite as backward as the film suggests

[@user-zi5ni5nu2n]

Yeah every five minutes or son he mentions the "primitive" way of these islanders have.

[@daigoro789]

absolutely amazing archive footage! thanks so much for sharing! i found myself chuckling at the commentary at several points! a wonderful video in every way :)))

[@mariaeleni93]

Indeed, both funny & revealing...fascinating glimpse of what we gained & what we lost the last 75 so years.....

[@aztextex4132]

"British island of Cyrpus"? Well, not for long.. Cyprus got independence from you guys.

[@EliteNoob22]

Nick Nack No because you always put your hand and fuck up everything in a country of which you leave.Check your other colonies aswell.

[@EliteNoob22]

Nick Nack Heck i wont disagree with the civil services,thank you for that but i do not know about the bank lines and the aid,to be honest very doubtful about the aid.I've seen the other commercials i suppose and before 1955(Start of the Independence fighting) the narrator wasnt really that bad.Honestly do not know about all of the colonies but there were a few you've never wanted free and one of that was Cyprus,so you made sure that you'd always be able to have atleast something in Cyprus,which our stupid Archbishop and President agreed ,thus giving you two military bases in Cyprus.The people were fine together untill you left and untill the constitution was given to us which devided the people and the rule,turkish cypriots had massive percentages for the army,police and for politics even tho their population was like 18%,People started rioting and created an armed group to take down the president and he responded with his own armed group and basically started killing each other,a huge fuckfest. tl;dr : Yes good social services.Idk about bank.No aid.Loved us untill we started fighting for freedom.Did not want us free,Zurich londong agreement,Population division(Divide and Conquer).People fight with each other and then turkey comes "To protect their people"

[@EliteNoob22]

Nick Nack I doubt the Cypriots i know tried to follow you back,Cyprus was oppressed no way you can deny that ,1974 our fault?Of course but the Brits as well as the Greek Junta had put their hand in to get things going,as i mentioned divide and conquer.Turks and Greeks lived fine together,they worked on each other's fields they drank coffee together and shared their lives,they talked Greek,we talked Turkish no problem there.Heh,water's plentiful thank god it rained this year,we do suffer from droughts :) Doubtful we'll agree as we share different opinions

[@EliteNoob22]

Nick Nack Stricter taxes to collect more money since they rented us from Turkey and more that i dont remember atm.

[@chriskw4362]

Nick Nack I know you wrote this 3 years ago but knowing something briefly is worst than not knowing at all! If you read some history and some documents from all sides you will understand that the British are to blame for all this! You speak about “ Turkish Cypriots”. The term was used in 1955 when the commander of the British army called all the Muslims and enlisted them into the police force to fight EOKA. In the 1950s the colonial system was collapsing from all sides and Britain had to find a way to stay. Also Cyprus was leased to Britain by the Ottomans but in 1923 withe the treaty of Lozanne the Ottomans lost all control on the island. Also you speak about the so called coup. Just like a Greek politician once said ” Greece is breathing with to lungs one British and one American” and that’s true if you like it or not! The Turkish invasion was suppose to take place on June 1968 or 1970 but Papadopoulos the dictator of Greece said “ I m not crazy to sell my people”. Also the Americans wanted to use the Crete’s airport to attack nearby targets and again papadopoulos said no. And so in 1973 he was out of the picture and Ioannidis was the new leader. All these are documents from the American and British archives. Also at Zurich Britain stated “if we leave the island the Greeks and the Turks will kill each other” and so the bases were given. Everything’s that happens happens for a reason! What they didn’t plan was the survival of the Republic of Cyprus and that is why Britain supports the two state solution because that way the republic will collapse. Imagine Lebanon had the best two state system and it collapsed and now is an Iranian protectorate. Thank you!

[@muratdoktor]

Turkey has made the 1974 July Intervention on the basis of London and Zurich Agreements since it is a guaranteur country like Greece and the UK. Because the above-mentioned countries have restrained to act together with Turkey in 1974, Turkey has made this legal intervention as Archbishop Makarios explained at the UN Security Council meeting after he left Cyprus. As a result of the legal intervention, the lives of innocent people regardless of their ethnic and national origin have been saved. Please remember the civil war after Bloody-handed Nicos Sampson coup de'ta rebel against the official President makarios, and killing and butchering so many Greek and Greek Cypriots each other.

[@Golifa]

Except Turkey did the exact same thing Eoka B did killed people raped people ruined the country

[@jimcross7065]

What language is he trying to speak... ;0)

[@gvtrivia6780]

500-600 years behind European civilisations in technology if one considers that the footage is from the 1939 (beginning of ww2).

[@scg4201]

And there’s places much more behind then there at those times even today Afghanistan is similar to how this video is but slightly more advanced

[@stavrosathas250]

All these people were working for the English conquerors without any technological means. The British in their country had technology but did not want to help the conquered Greeks of Cyprus.

[@Xenonixon]

"Conquered Greeks". It's typical for a Greek not to mention the Cypriot Turks whereas referring to Cypriot Greeks as "Greeks of Cyprus". Don't they see themselves as Cypriots?

[@jimcross7065]

Aztec after all the money ex-pats have put into Cypriot back pockets, how ungrateful, I agree it is not a British colony, perhaps better if it was, you would be out of the EU by now..great old time movie, really enjoyed it. (Pafos resident)

[@mariaisabelrodriguez4580]

Παιθκια Παιθκια μιλάμε για 1938

[@onceuponatime6462]

It is an intentional attempt to show only rural Cyprus, excluding the town life and all the cultural richness of the island in an attempt to promote to the British audience the idea that this is another primitive island that we've conquered and not what really Cyprus is, a three-thousand-year-old Greek European island with eleven thousand-year-old civilization! A British propaganda movie that technically excludes the fact that the island was bought from the Ottoman invaders that kept the place under occupation for four centuries trying to alter its culture and character with no effect what so ever. If you notice there is a frame of ancient Greek ruins probably of Salamis town now occupied by the Turkish forces, but the commentator does not make any mention of it. Also mentions the Turks as "Mohamed's" quite a few times but does not mention the Greeks, not a single time which is and was the great majority of the island. Even when he talks about the churches and the monasteries he deliberately excludes mention of the Hellenic factor and quotes only "their orthodox church". The British tried unsuccessfully to de-Hellenize the island for almost seventy years until 1955 came and the Hellenic ideal that vibrant runs through the veins of the islanders kick the Brits out neck crop! Even the title of the film is De-Hellenistic and insulting towards the Cypriots "Almost Arcady" in other words not completely Greek! But in reality, the Cyprian dialect which is the Arcadocypriot Greek or Southern Achean is the most original ancient Greek dialect spoken in Arcadia in the central Peloponnese and in Cyprus. Its resemblance to Mycenaean Greek, as it is known from the Linear B corpus, suggests that Arcadocypriot is its descendant. In other words more Greek you die! Cyprus island despite its size it is the only place that the Brits were really defeated whether they like it or not that is the truth, sorry Tommy Shelby are we still friends? I guess the answer "hell yea!" since you as a gipsy boy probably suffered the same... Lastly some useless info about Cyprus1. Cyprus is the first country/place/ nation in the world that converts to Christianity, 2. cat was first domesticated in Cyprus, not in Egypt, 3. Cyprus is the island of Aphrodite/Venus and two thousand five hundred years ago in Paphos town, goddesses birthplace, had hot baths with perfumes when the Brits were hanging from the trees and ate raw smelly-fish! 4. Cyprus is the oldest perfume maker in the world, 5. The lace that is mention in the film you can find an old sample of it at the Vatican, imported to Rome by Leonardo Da Vinci, 6. Cyprus holds the oldest wine appellation in the world " Commandaria" a three-thousand-year-old sweet red wine that all kings of antiquity enjoyed so much from Homer's Teucrus/Teucer to Alexander the Great to Arsinoe and Cleopatra to Richard the Lion Heart and the Knight Templars. 7. during palaeolithic times island's fauna was rich in small elephants, hippos and horses, 8. Geologically the island of Cyprus is rich in copper and asbestos, 9. Cyprus capital is the only divided city of Europe and the only European country that 36% of its area is illegally occupied by Turkish forces, 10. Cyprus ship flag is one of the most powerful in the world.

[@vassophotiou506]

first permanent people in Cyprus from history is in Hirokitia and they are not British Ha ha ha ha

[@joshjazant3]

Haha The British island of Cyprus , you mean the occupied island of Cyprus by the British and its Turkish friends.

[@TTTupload]

Cyprus has never been a Greek island in history

[@joshjazant3]

Just goes to show how much history you know. 8 Thousand years of Greeks on this island with artifacts to prove that time span. Mongol/Turk history 400 years of rape and pillage, and still today no change in your mental attitude, Mr Mongol/Turk

[@TTTupload]

First Turks didnt take cyprus from greeks in 1571. second you think mongol and Turk is same thing this shows your knowledge level of history. And If the Turks wanted to destroy greeks in cyprus or greece, nobody could stop them for 400 years

[@joshjazant3]

TTTupload There we go, you have answered all the questions regarding your history, rape and pillage. Ask all your neighbours that border your country about the your past and present, you have no friends, and never will have 👋

[@TTTupload]

These are the facts my friend. Lets love each other. We will not stay in this world forever.