In the meantime , admittedly , the balance of power on the world stage had changed fundamentally . Russia had become an important nation and Catherine II was throwing a greedy eye at the Turkish territory from Asia Minor to India . In order to achieve this ambitious conquest , she wanted to talk Austria , Venice and France round to concerted action . In the course of this , Venice was to receive Cyprus among other territories as booty . In view of the threatening gestures by the Orthodox tsarist realm , the Sultan decided on an attack on the Russian fleet in the Black Sea . Only Austria supported the tsarina , but , on account of the effects of the French Revolution , it had to break off its campaign in 1791 without having achieved anything , while Russia was able to push its frontier forward a little , even though by nothing like the intended amount . In addition , the Turkish fleet was practically destroyed with the result that the Russian fleet was able to cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean while the Cypriots not only groaned under the special taxes ordered on account of the war , but in addition had to pay for the expansion of the defensive installations .

The renewed defeat of the Turkish forces , one of many , now finally led to the insight that reforms were necessary in the Ottoman Empire - admittedly first of all only by Selim III . The young sultan found himself confronted with massive resistance and , in addition , was surprised by Napoleon's campaign against Egypt . The country on the Nile was albeit in the meantime more just formally subject to Ottoman sovereignty . The Sultan allied briefly with the British against the French and won this war . But the reforms fell by the wayside ; Selim was deposed and strangled by the Janissaries .

A little later , Mahmud II acceded to the throne , he too was willing to make reforms , but more cautious . Schools on the western model were established , high authorities renamed into ministries and the wearing of European clothing was ordered in cities . There was still a lack of any insight in the administrative apparatus into the need for essential reforms . Mahmud for his part found himself confronted with the burgeoning nationalism of the peoples within his Empire which gave new force to the uprisings . The last wars , in their turn , had led to an increase in the burden of duties and with the impulse given by Western Europe there were uprisings by the Serbs and Greeks . The latter succeeded in establishing a Greek state in the Peloponnese which was able to count on West European support . In passing it may be observed that there was a fundamental misunderstanding between the volunteers from the North and the Greeks . The Europeans still thought of ancient Greece , but the Greeks meant the Byzantine Empire when they dreamed of the restoration of their territory . Before the spark of liberty jumped over to Cyprus , the governor of the island organised a massacre of Orthodox inhabitants which nipped any revolt in the bud . The archbishop , three bishops and over 500 Greeks were executed and murdered in July 1821 ; confiscations and terror lasted for weeks . After the preliminary works under Mahmud II , his son and successor Abdülmecid I proclaimed the abolition of tax farming in 1840 , and thus the introduction of tax burdens fixed by the state which were intended to be free of the arbitrariness of office holders . Jews and Christians were granted the same rights as the Moslems by law , the judicial system was reorganised , the boundaries of the provinces were redrawn on the French pattern , a newspaper and a bank were established . But the measures were not implemented efficiently , either in Egypt , where in the same year Talaat Effendi arrived specially as new governor , or in the Ottoman Empire as a whole . The second attempt in 1856 also brought only partial successes . The reforms seeped away in official channels ; anyone who had previously profited from the system , procured weapons for himself or protested to the highest authorities . But internal administrative reason also led to a withdrawal of or delay in enforcing the firmans . Nevertheless , conditions did improve ; on Cyprus schools and hospitals were constructed ; hygienic innovations made their appearance so that the population nearly tripled . The economic problems , inflation and unpredictable burdens remained .

The conflict between the Ottomans and Russia flared up again and again , bringing the weakened Empire new defeats , such as in 1853/54 in the Crimean War . In 1877/78 , the Sultan signed a disastrous peace treaty in order to save his capital . Now , admittedly , the Russians became too strong for the British who saw their trade routes in danger . Up to then , the Ottoman guild economy , which had remained on a medieval level and was thus uncompetitive , had brought them huge profits . Otto von Bismarck offered himself as an 'honest broker' at the Congress of Berlin in 1878 , and in return for their moderate policy towards the Ottoman Empire , the Sultan ceded control over Cyprus to the British . The island passed formally into the British Empire in November 1914 when it was annexed after Turkey entered the war on the side of the Central Powers . In fact , the year 1878 is decisive ; the sea route to India ran past Cyprus through the Suez Canal , which had opened in 1869 . In addition , the British Empire was laying claims to the Middle East and Egypt . All this gave the island its strategic importance back for a short time .

The greatest gain from British rule for the Cypriots was the legal security which came to the island with the British , and the ending of nepotism . Already in 1882 , Cyprus received a constitution , completely in the tradition of British colonial policy . Linked with this was a new system of courts with civil and criminal jurisdiction , as well a supreme appellate instance . The administration worked efficiently .