ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

History of Cyprus since 1878

Okay kiddo, so let me tell you about the history of Cyprus since 1878.

Once upon a time, in 1878, the British Empire took over Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire. That means the British became in charge of the island and made it part of their empire.

Now, people on the island had different religions, cultures and languages. Some were Christians, some were Muslims, some were Greek and some were Turkish. They all lived together, but sometimes they had some disagreements between them.

During the 20th century, some of these disagreements became bigger and bigger. The Greek Cypriots wanted to unite with Greece, which is a nearby country, while the Turkish Cypriots did not want to do that. This meant that the two sides started to fight and there was a lot of tension and violence.

In 1960, Cyprus became an independent country. This means it was no longer controlled by the British Empire. However, there was still a lot of disagreement between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots.

Things got worse in 1974, when Turkey invaded Cyprus because they wanted to protect the Turkish Cypriots. This caused a lot of people to flee their homes and many people were killed.

Since then, Cyprus has been divided into two parts. The Greek Cypriots live in one part and the Turkish Cypriots live in another part. There is still tension between the two communities, but they are trying to work together to find a solution.

So that, little buddy, is the history of Cyprus since 1878!