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Dr Noly Moyssi Barbara Stivarou

Abstract

Rationing and price fixing was implemented by many countries during the course of the Second World War, that affected the distribution of supplies such as food, fuel and textiles. This was done in order to avoid price gouging and the creation of black markets, even though the measures were implemented black markets still arose from the start of the war. Cyprus was a colony of the British Empire at the time, and imperial legislation that implemented rationing was enacted on the island. This article focuses on the rationing policy of the British in Limassol through the use of archival material dating to 1943 from the Municipal Archive of Limassol in order to demonstrate the implementation of this policy to the city. Additionally, a glimpse of the problems of the policy can be observed through the press of the time, where textile merchants, tailors and civilians expressed their opinions on the rationing system.

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Keywords

rationing, Second World War, British Empire, British Colonies, textile rationing, black market, Limassol, Cyprus

References
Archival Sources/Unpublished Sources
MAL 572/225/41
Municipal Archive of Limassol (MAL), File 572, Numbering according to the Municipality 225/41, Date of file: 1943 Jan. – Dec. Name of file: Υφάσματα (Fabrics).
MAL 572/225/41/1.
MAL 572/225/41/2.
MAL 572/225/41/4.
MAL 572/225/41/5.
MAL 572/225/41/6.
MAL 572/225/41/9A.
MAL 572/225/41/17.
MAL 572/225/41/22A.
MAL 572/225/41/22ΣΤ.
MAL 572/225/41/27.
MAL 572/225/41/28.
MAL 572/225/41/35A.
MAL 572/225/41/49.
MAL 572/225/41/54.
Report on the Textiles Industry in Cyprus issued by the Supplies Transport & Marketing Department, (Unpublished report, 1947).
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Newspapers
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Anonymous, Νέα Λεμεσού [Limassol News] Νέος Κυπριακός Φύλαξ [New Cypriot Guardian], 20 April 1943, 1.
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Section
Articles

How to Cite

“Fabric Rationing in Limassol During the Second World War, As Part of British Colonial Policy: A Look from the Municipal Archive of Limassol”. 2020. Cyprus Review 32 (2): 155-85. https://www.cyprusreview.org/index.php/cr/article/view/756.