What would happen if Greece won the Greek-Turkish War [1919-1922]?

By Maxwell Thornton, B.A History & Political Science, University of Toronto (2021)

After a win against Ataturk’s Turkey, Greece would have full control of Thrace, Ionia, and if the allies allow it, Constantinople, thus succeeding the Megali idea after one hundred years, with a Greececlooking like this.

During the 1920’s, there could be a population exchange with Turkey, with Greek immigrants settling in Thrace and Ionia, reinforcing Greek populations there. However, anti-Turkish violence, vandalism of Ottoman-era properties like Mosques, and population expulsion could occur as well to those who stayed.

EDIT 22.08/2018:  Turks living in this new Greek state could live in persecution by nationalistic Greeks in a similar way that Jews were discriminated against and persecuted by the Nazi party in the mid to late 1930’s. This also could get worse with a guy like Ioannis Metaxas coming to power in 1936, who may ignore the persecution or even encourage it. All of this could anger this timeline’s Turkey to probably being irredentist for the lands lost from the war and revengist for the persecuted Turks there.

As the 1930’s goes on, many Greeks could feel more proud of their identity as the one nation that reunited with its lost peoples and lands after being occupied by a bigger power. They could industrialize somewhat quicker, militarize a large army, and solidify itself as a Mediterranean power. However, their neighbor to the east would also build up an army to challenge the status quo.

From here, the 1940’s would see a WWII involving a coordinated attack and occupation of Greece by Italy and Turkey. If Greece is freed by the western allies like in our timeline, they would own an occupation zone in Anatolia and join NATO against the Soviet Bloc, who would also likely own an occupation zone in Anatolia as well, possibly a territory resembling Western Armenia.

After this alternate cold war, this Greece could be a stronger nation in NATO and the EU, possessing more land, a bigger navy, and trade routes. Not to mention Orthodox Christianity, the Greek language, and Hellenistic culture being more influential in the Mediterranean. If Constantinople is still Greek, Orthodox Christians would visit the city every year for Easter and Christmas celebrations at the Hagia Sophia, making Greece the national head of Orthodox Christianity and Christians worldwide.

It’d likely be Greece instead of Turkey being a stronger country in Southern Europe.

Here is a video that analyzes this scenario 

By YouTube Channel Alternate History