The developments of 1939

1939 proved to be a watershed for the reorientation of Greek foreign policy. After the invasion of Nazi troops in Prague in March and the dissolution of the state of Czechoslovakia, Britain in cooperation with France decided to grant guarantees for the territorial integrity of Greece and Rumania. Given that such a commitment had constituted a pivotal objective of Metaxas foreign policy-making since 1938, the formal declaration of the British and French guarantees reinforced the pro-western orientation of the country and cast a shadow upon Greece's alleged policy of neutrality in the event of a European conflict.

The annexation of non-German soils had made clear that Hitler's aim was not the integration of all Germans into a state, but was linked to long-term as well as dangerous aspirations of absolute dominance over Europe. The conclusive and painful understanding of the above led the governments of France and Britain to take action by setting limits to the expansionism of Nazi Germany.