Introduction: Greek foreign policy, 1923-1940: idiom and practices

Understandably, Greek foreign policy of the inter-war period was not structured in any uniform way. However, in general terms it could be said that certain common characteristics governed the period 1923-40. What principally preoccupied the political leaderships was the balance of one-sided foreign influences and the growth of inter-state co-operation with neighbouring countries (Balkans, Turkey).
However, the official diplomatic idiom was generally submissive (the Tellini incident) or sometimes untimely (the Politis-Kalfof protocol). In the 1930s, the political desire to preserve the neutrality of the country remained active. The ultimate collapse of the European system of collective security forced the Regime of the Fourth of August to openly become part of the sphere of influence of Great Britain and France in order to be protected from Fascist expansionism.