The terms on which the island was taken over to be occupied and administered by Great Britain, and the position assumed by Queen Victoria as its sovereign de facto if not de jure (for the legal sovereignty of the Sultan remained undisputed), have already been briefly explained (p. 285).

Writers on international law are in agreement as to the position consequently occupied by the island in case of war. Any part of the territory of a State which is under the administration of another State falls within the theatre of war between the administering State and another Power. Thus even before its annexation in 1914 Cyprus would have been included in the theatre of war if that war was waged by Great Britain, but not if it was the case of a war between Turkey and any other Power than Great Britain.

But the action of Britain caused some searchings of heart in experts in international law. Sir R. Phillimore's comments on the whole question deserve quotation in full:

Cyprus is ceded by the Porte for the purposes of occupation and administration by England. These terms are the same as those employed in the recent transfer of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Austria, who has now established her authority over these provinces after much bloodshed, and by the employment of a large military force.