Map Of The Territorial Expansion of Greece From 1832 To 1947

Map created by Adam CarrThe map above is a simplified version of the history of the territorial expansion of the modern Greek state from its founding in 1832 up until 1947.

Creation of the Kingdom of Greece (1832)

Treaty of Constantinople (1832):
- Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire following a revolution that started in 1821.
- The new Greek state was initially small, covering only parts of the Peloponnese, Attica, and Central Greece, roughly south of a line from Volos to Arta.

Britain Cedes The Ionian Islands To Greece (1864)

The Ionian Islands, located west of mainland Greece, were under British protection since 1815 as the “United States of the Ionian Islands.”
Following popular demand and diplomatic negotiations, Britain transferred the islands to Greece in 1864.

Territorial Gains from the Ottomans (1881)

The Treaty of Berlin (1878) promised border adjustments, implemented fully by 1881.
Greece received:
- Thessaly (a large, fertile plain region).
- Part of southern Epirus, specifically the Arta region.

Territorial Gains from Balkan Wars (1912–1913)

Balkan League (Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro) defeated the Ottoman Empire:
- First Balkan War (1912): Greece captured Macedonia, Epirus, Crete, and several islands in the Aegean Sea.
- Second Balkan War (1913): Greece fought Bulgaria over territorial claims, winning and acquiring additional territories, including eastern Macedonia and the region around Thessaloniki.
Confirmed by the Treaty of Bucharest (1913):
- Greece’s area increased significantly, incorporating Macedonia (including Thessaloniki), southern Epirus (Ioannina), and numerous Aegean islands.

Gains from Bulgaria after World War I (1919)

After WWI, Bulgaria ceded additional small border territories to Greece as per the Treaty of Neuilly (1919), specifically minor adjustments along the Greek-Bulgarian frontier (notably Western Thrace).
Western Thrace:
- Transferred from Bulgaria to Greece, securing an essential strategic corridor, with Alexandroupoli becoming an important port city.

Theoretical Gains via Treaty of Sèvres (1920) (mostly unrealized)

After WWI, Greece briefly obtained significant territorial concessions from the Ottoman Empire under the Treaty of Sèvres (1920), including:
- Control of Eastern Thrace (Adrianople region) up to the outskirts of Constantinople (Istanbul).
- Administration of Smyrna (Izmir) and surrounding region in Anatolia (Asia Minor), expanding into western Turkey.
However, these gains were theoretical and short-lived:
- Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) led to massive population exchanges and the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), undoing almost all Sèvres gains.
- Greece lost all territory gained in Anatolia and Eastern Thrace, returning to approximately the borders of 1913–1919, retaining only Western Thrace.

Territorial Adjustments with Albania after World War I (1920s)

In the confusion after WWI and Balkan conflicts, Greece occupied parts of Northern Epirus (southern Albania).
However, following international arbitration and negotiations in the early 1920s, specifically the Protocol of Florence (1925), Greece returned this territory to Albania, setting its current border near the towns of Saranda and Korçë.
The decision to relinquish Northern Epirus permanently clarified the Greek-Albanian boundary, leaving many ethnic Greeks in Albania.

Territorial Gains from Italy after World War II (1947)

After WWII, Italy ceded the Dodecanese Islands to Greece through the Treaty of Paris (1947).

- Islands including Rhodes, Kos, Karpathos, and several smaller islands became permanently Greek territory, completing Greece’s modern geographical form.

Here is another map showing this process: