What If Greece Realized the Megali Idea?

The Megali Idea was a political concept of the unification of all Greeks living in the Balkan Peninsula, the Aegean Islands, Cyprus, and the coast of Asia Minor.

Constantinople was to become the capital, as a symbol of continuity with the Byzantine Empire, which had not existed for several centuries. The most prominent supporter of this idea was Eleftherios Venizelos.

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00:00 - Video Intro

[indomitablesloth]

I love how the most unrealistic part of the scenario is Greece's economy being good

[romle]

I love how you can make a scenario like, , A country gets more land" and transform it into a world wide crisis

[georgios_]

Greece also claimed Pontus as part of the Megali Idea. In the Eastern Black Sea coast, there were large mountainous areas still inhabited by Orthodox Greeks. The people were mostly eradicated or expelled to the USSR, together with the Armenians, as part of the Armenian genocide

[PrussianGeneral]

Amazing video! Greece being big is a wonderful idea! 🇬🇷🇹🇷

[GigaRoman]

I swear it's gonna be SO easy finding a Turkish comment that says "They wanna dream 😂" 🙄

[LesRealLlama]

Never thought a Greek alt history would be one of my favourites, I got little knowledge/haven’t look much into Greek history (I mean since 1821 independence not the byzantines), so looking at a part of Europe i know little about during the interwar period was extremely enjoyable 10/10 video ❤️🔥 can’t wait for more!😊

[nikolamladenovic]

I'd love to see a modern Hellas with these borders, making the Aegean sea a 'mare nostrum' of sorts.

[In_Our_Timeline]

Yiorgos Theotokas, a Greek novelist, explained the psychological effects of the 1922 defeat as follows:

"For a brief period, they believed that the long-buried hopes of their ancestors were going to come true as the Treaty of Serves continued its happy but uncertain course. However, the awful summer of 1922 arrived far too quickly. Watching, tense with anxiety, the daily unfolding of the national tragedy and the last-ditch efforts of the Royalist Governments of Greece to salvage the situation, they did so from the hermitage of Arsenios.

[arissp]

Greece should have never advanced to Ankara. We had all the islands, we had Asia minor, Cyprus and a big part of thrace. We would never have Constantinople again because the great powers wouldn't allowed it. We should be happy with what we had. The Turks wouldn't have access now to the Aegean. But different times different minds back then

[georgios_]

Another great scenario I've seen is the Guns of Lausanne. In this, Turkey defeats the Greek army in Anatolia, as in the real world, but then negotiations between them and the British break down, and the revolutionary Greek government takes back all the land in European Turkey (and Imbros and Tenedos). Since Turkey had no navy, they couldn't realistically fight back for this without British support. So a stalemate is reached, and the new Treaty of Lausanne awards all the Asian lands to Turkey, and all the European lands to Greece. So slightly more favorable terms than the Lausanne of the real world

[w_d_shadowofficial]

The logistical problems in the Anatolian campaign because of the Royalist victory. The UK, France and Italy supported Venizelos and King Alexander, when Alexander died and Constantine came to power, the Italy withdrew their support and the UK and France said that as long as Venizelos is the prime minister, they'll continue supporting Greece.

Venizelos was forced to hold elections, that made Venizelos lose in the 1920 elections, that caused the rest of the Greek Allies withdraw support and either side with Turkey or stay neutral.

[georgios_]

I think an interesting tangent would be if Greece managed to get some more lands in Anatolia, thus making Turkey join the Axis in the second World War. Russia would struggle more, as Turkey would capture the Caucasus with the help of Azerbaijani rebels, and Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad would all fall, making the USSR crumble by late 1943-early 1944. Seeing this, America would speed up the development of the Nuke, and use it on Nazi Germany, on Nuremberg and the Rhur. Hitler would be shot and then Nazi Germany would be consumed by civil war. This would make for an interesting post war scenario, as America is already the only superpower, and the borders of Europe are once again redrawn

[danielsantiagourtado]

One of my favorite scenarios! You're the Best man! Huge fan! Always enjoy your work🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷

[tonegrail]

Anatolia also belongs to Greece. The turks belong east of the Caspian Sea.

[adelite]

While your video is informative, there are a few historical nuances that require clarification. Firstly, the depiction of Greeks having control over Istanbul in the map is inaccurate. The city was partitioned by Allied powers, with the British taking Pera and Galata, the French securing Fatih (Byzantium), and the Italians gaining control over Kadıköy and Üsküdar, all under the label of "international control." This division also extended to areas like the Dardanelles, parts of Tekirdağ, Bursa, etc.

Secondly, the characterization of the Greek army as weak and the Turkish army as strong requires reconsideration. Despite Soviet assistance, the Greek army advanced significantly, reaching as close as Polatlı. The turning point was the Battle of Dumlupınar, where confusing terrain and strategic tactics led to the swift passage of Greek defense lines, encircling half of their forces. This marked the downfall of Greek aspirations in defending Ionia.

Thirdly, the lack of details regarding the perpetrator of the burning of Smyrna deserves attention. The conflicting narratives surrounding this event make it unclear who was responsible. Questions arise, such as why would the Turks burn a city they had just captured, or why would Greeks harm their own community? The absence of concrete evidence makes it challenging to attribute the incident to a specific group, raising questions about the motives behind such actions.

(Text was simplified with ChatGPT)

[saguntum-iberian-greekkons]

The turks gained eastern thrace not by military means but because Greece could not pay the war reparations and so the british forced the Greeks to withdraw and allowed 8, 000 turkish soldiers to pass the Bosphorus

[LoreDad]

I like this a lot! I found the Ottoman Empire remaining a little implausible, but it did make sense in order to have this scenario make sense.

[angelb.]

Another unrealistic aspect was the fact that the Sykes-Picot agreement, in which the Middle-East was carved into British mandates [including Iraq and Palestine]), was signed during WWI. The Ottomans had no say against the British interests in those regions. In the end, only the British got what they wanted, with France and Italy gaining less land in the Middle-East and Asia Minor.

Some say that Venizelos' defeat and the return of the Germanophile Greek royalists led to Greece's isolation, as France and Italy abandoned them. In reality, there were already made secret agreements between France-Italy with the Kemalists before Venizelos' defeat, seeing Greece as a British client. Venizelos' defeat and the return of King Constantine was the "alleged" excuse to drop support to the Greek cause.

[greeneanimations]

I really enjoyed this video. You made a simple “what if [insert country] got more land” scenario into a very interesting scenario. Great job buddy!

[Ellinon_Vasileus]

6:40 That region was inhabited by Greeks (Pontian/Pontiac/Pontic Greeks) not by Armenians...