Versailles #66: Greater Greek Dreams
When Diplomacy Fails Podcast
Zack Twamley
4.8 • 773 Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2019
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The story of Greece comes under our microscope at long last. Here we are introduced to a fascinating vision, yet another example of what might have been. Greater Greece was a project which appealed to many people outside the realm of Greece itself, and in this episode we will get to grips with the origins of the idea in Greek, but mostly in British foreign policy. It was in Britain, as we'll see, that some of the most enthusiastic supporters of an enormous Greek empire existed. This 'redeemed' Greece would expand its power and influence across the Hellespont, into Constantinople, into Anatolia, all over the Aegean, and virtually everywhere else that a smattering of Greek culture and history could said to have resided.
We also recap in this episode how Greece got to this point. Greece was, in spite of what Premier Venizelos might have claimed, a very divided country by 1919. The legacy of the war, where the country had flip flopped between allied and central power supporter, had left serious scars, which only Venizelos seemed capable of keeping under control. The danger, as ever, was that Greece might unravel if it were left wanting in its claims. Another more serious danger though, which was realised too late, was what might happen if the Greeks DID get what they wanted. What would it mean for Greek and Turkish relations into the future if Greece acquired portions of Anatolia? Without due consideration of this question, the allies blundered onward with terrible naivety, pushing Greeks and Turks into a collision course, the impact of which reverberates to this day...
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi there, Zach Twomley here from When Diplomacy Fails. You're about to listen to the latest episode of the Versailles Anniversary Project, episode 66 in fact, which is kind of crazy. Remember the good old days when there was one episode every single week? Well, that is about 10, so it seems. And it doesn't show any signs of slowing down any time soon. As a regular listener to this show, you are well aware by now |
| 0:22.4 | the best ways to support this podcast. You can simply tell somebody about it that is by far the best way |
| 0:28.4 | to help out. Spread the news of what Zach does every so often by talking to himself for a living |
| 0:34.0 | about things that people don't really know all that much about. With a tagline like that, |
| 0:38.3 | how can they possibly resist? If you're feeling generous though, or if you're feeling like you'd like |
| 0:43.5 | to access even more content, then you should look no further than patreon.com forward slash when |
| 0:48.5 | diplomacy fails. Currently, for $5 a month, you can access an hour of extra content every month, |
| 0:55.3 | and that hour of extra content at the moment is looking at the Suez Crisis. If you're interested in the story of the Suez Crisis |
| 0:59.9 | from several generations ago in 1956, then this is the best place to go. If you're curious, |
| 1:07.5 | make sure you check out that episode we released a few episodes back, basically detailing what happened in each episode of the Suez Crisis. |
| 1:14.4 | It's a great story, guys, and I've been told by several people who have paid up and accessed it, |
| 1:19.8 | that they really do enjoy it, and that the money goes a long way. |
| 1:23.7 | In this day and age, $5 doesn't get you all that much, but with when diplomacy fails, it gets you an awful lot. |
| 1:29.5 | In addition to this, in a week's time, we'll be looking at, well, a Q&A for when diplomacy fails to celebrate our seventh birthday. |
| 1:38.1 | I was about to say her 100th birthday, because Versailles saw in my mind, but of course, it's not 100 just yet. Make sure to send your |
| 1:46.0 | questions my way. I did originally say that the 11th of May would be the deadline, but I'm |
| 1:51.4 | feeling quite generous. So send them my way and sure if we don't have time, we don't have time, |
| 1:56.3 | but perhaps there's a chance you'll be included. I've already got more than enough |
| 2:00.4 | questions to start the episode, |
| 2:02.2 | but I'm always open to having a few more. |
| 2:04.8 | Alrighty guys, with telling people, with going to Patreon, |
| 2:08.5 | and with sending questions my way and tuning in for that Q&A episode, |
... |
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