Cyprus: Myth and History

Cyprus: Myth and History

The acquisition of Cyprus by Venice in 1489 was an empty triumph commercially — and commerce was the only thing that Venice ever considered. It was not Venetian rapacity alone, however, that laid Cyprus desolate, but the loss of its economically strategic position.

Cyprus: Myth and History

Metternich in the early nineteenth century contemptuously described Italy as ‘a mere geographic expression.’ So much the worse for him! The highly political mind frequently ignores the vital forces of history in which geography plays a greater role than alliances and treaties.