The Hanging Sword

"They will have to release him. They always do. After all, they had to release Gandhi, Nehru and Nkrumah before they could get a solution." This has been the argument hurled at Britain's Tory government ever since March 1956 when the Eden Cabinet, without the formality of a trial, exiled Archbishop Makarios to the Seychelles Islands for his dealings with EOKA, the Greek Cypriot underground. Last week, in a major gesture of conciliation, the British government accepted this argument. In doing so, it suffered the loss of one of its ablest statesmen and found itself in hotter water at home than ever.

Three weeks ago, when EOKA offered to suspend its two-year-old campaign of terrorism if Britain would free Makarios. Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's Cabinet renewed a longstanding offer to end the Archbishop's exile provided that he publicly urge his countrymen to abandon violence. Makarios' reply was that of a man who clearly felt he held the stronger hand. Said he: "I appeal to EOKA to declare the cessation of all operations, provided that the British government show a spirit of understanding by simultaneously abolishing the present state of emergency [in Cyprus]." He also insisted that negotiations about the island's future should be directly between Britain and "the Cyprus people," i.e., Makarios himself.

Broken Bonds. The Archbishop's answer split Macmillan's government down the middle. Ted Heath, chief Government Whip in the House of Commons, flatly warned the Cabinet that he could not guarantee the support of Tory right-wingers if Makarios were released on these terms. The Marquess of Salisbury, 63-year-old scion of the Cecil family, who have advised England's monarchs since the days of the first Queen Elizabeth, was even more adamant. Inflexibly, the tough-minded elder statesman pointed out that Makarios had "deliberately refrained" from meeting Britain's conditions for his release. To free the Archbishop now, he insisted, would be an act of disloyalty to Turkey, a trusted ally who had stood by Britain throughout the Suez crisis and who regarded Makarios' goal of enosis (union of Cyprus with Greece) as a direct threat to its security. Cyprus, which lies only 40 miles off the Turkish coast, is the only major island on the sea approaches to Turkey that is not already in Greek hands.

Few men carry more weight with the Tory Party and with Macmillan personally than the sibilant, stern Lord Salisbury. Besides being relatives by marriage, Macmillan and Salisbury have been political allies ever since 1938 when Salisbury, along with Anthony Eden, resigned from Neville Chamberlain's government in protest at British appeasement of Mussolini. When Suez and ill-health drove Eden from No. 10 Downing Street last winter, it was Salisbury, together with Sir Winston Churchill, who persuaded the Queen to name Macmillan Prime Minister instead of "Rab" Butler (who had once supported Chamberlain's appeasement).

This time the bonds of old friendship failed to carry the day. On his own initiative, Macmillan overruled Salisbury, and at midweek Colonial Secretary Alan Lennox-Boyd told the House of Commons: "While Her Majesty's Government cannot regard [Makarios' statement] as the clear appeal for which they asked, nevertheless they consider that in the present circumstances it is no longer necessary to continue the Archbishop's detention." The government, added Lennox-Boyd, would not permit the Archbishop to return to Cyprus itself, nor would it comply with his demand for immediate lifting of the state of emergency in Cyprus. But Makarios would "obviously" be a participant in future discussions on the status of Cyprus, and, in the meantime, the government was prepared to offer safe-conduct out of Cyprus to any EOKA member who wanted to leave. (As a token of good faith, Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the Governor of Cyprus, called off a dragnet operation by 3,000 British troops who in Harding's confident view were on the verge of capturing Colonel George Grivas, EOKA's Greek commander.)

Tolling Bells. In much of the world Macmillan's decision was greeted with hope and delight. "At least and at last, negotiations that can mean something are in prospect," declared London's News Chronicle. From Dublin, Irish Premier Eamon de Valera sent Makarios a history of Eire's fight for independence, accompanied by a note describing the book as a gift "from one who understands and sympathizes." In Cyprus itself church bells tolled triumphantly, spelling out "Makarios" in an old Greek ringing code, and as the news spread from balcony to balcony, crowds poured into the streets, joyously kissing sheepish British soldiers.

To the British authorities, who had long argued that most Greek Cypriots were weary of EOKA's bloody tactics, the celebrations were a disturbing revelation. Suddenly all Cyprus was a sea of waving Greek flags and photographs of dead EOKA guerrillas. Hour after hour, thousands of tireless voices shouted "EOKA!" and "We have won!"

The rejoicing was soon ended. The first discordant note was struck when Lord Salisbury, in a dramatic repetition of his 1938 stand, resigned as Lord President of the Council, Tory Leader in the House of Lords and chief of Britain's atomic energy program. By freeing Makarios, wrote Salisbury in his letter of resignation, Britain had surrendered the initiative to the Archbishop, "and he will be able to edge us along from point to point. We shall have a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads."

Somber Hint. Some of Lord Salisbury's forebodings were soon confirmed. From the Seychelles, black-bearded Patriarch Makarios announced flatly that he was not prepared to negotiate with the British until he was permitted to return to Cyprus, and somberly hinted that EOKA terrorism would be resumed unless Britain lifted the state of emergency and released all Greek Cypriot political prisoners. By implication he also rejected Britain's offer of limited home rule for Cyprus under the British crown. "For the people of Cyprus," he declared, "a democratic and just solution means only the application of self-determination"--in other words, union with Greece.

For Britain's Tory government, already demoralized by Suez, this had the ring of another nail going into the coffin. By his resignation, Elder Statesman Salisbury had severely shaken Tory confidence \ the Macmillan Cabinet, provided a rallying cry for the substantial number of Tory backbenchers who were already unhappy over Britain's colonial "scuttles." If Makarios should be willing to meet Britain's concessions with concessions of his own, hard-pressed Harold Macmillan might yet be able to point to Cyprus as a triumph and, despite Salisbury's defection, keep unchallenged control of his party. Most of the British press, while ever respectful toward Salisbury, agreed with Macmillan that Makarios had, in the Daily Telegraph's words, "edged or slithered down enough to justify a gamble in the cause of peace." It was a gamble that, in these trying days, might in time make or break Macmillan.

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