Heinz A. Richter

Geschichte Der Insel Zypern (Peleus) Heinz A. Richter

The volume of Geschichte der Insel Zypern (History of the Island of Cypru) describes the evolution from the end of the 1959 liberation struggle through the civil war of 1963-1964. Makarios' proposed revisions to the constitution to attempt to overcome the existing political stalemate led instead to confrontation. In December 1963, the accumulated tension exploded into civil war. In order to prevent extended fighting, the UN and US got involved in the conflict and suggested the deployment of a NATO Peace-Keeping-Force. Makarios prevented this from happening, and instead brought in the UNFICYP in the spring of 1964 and who remain there to this day. As the US became more involved in order to quell the conflict, they actually had the opposite effect and turned a regional conflict into an international crisis, destabilizing the southeast flank of NATO and leading to increased tensions between Greece and Turkey. German text.