British Military Intelligence in Cyprus during the Great War

• Autores: Andrekos Varnava
• Localización: War in history, ISSN-e 1477-0385, ISSN 0968-3445, Vol. 19, Nº. 3, 2012, págs. 353-378
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This article explores the impact of civil-military relations and an unreliable – even disloyal – local population upon intelligence-gathering and counter-espionage in Cyprus, and therefore adds to the existing literature on British Near and Middle East military intelligence during the First World War. Drawing upon archives in Britain and Cyprus, and a range of published primary sources, a fresh contribution to First World War intelligence studies is offered through a focus on British counter-espionage efforts in Cyprus after 1916. The article covers Anglo-French intelligence cooperation on the Syrian and Cilician coast, the wartime loyalties of Cypriots and their value as spies, and insights into Ottoman and German human intelligence activity in the region. The primary focus is on the civil-military relations between the Cyprus colonial government and the military intelligence officers. It is argued that Cyprus acquired some importance as a post for intelligence-gathering and especially counter-espionage, but the problems derived from inadequate civil-military relations, disloyal Cypriot subjects, and the island’s status as a backwater hindered its development as a valuable asset in the Near and Middle East theatre.