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From the mountains of Epirus to the islands of the Aegean, modern Greece didn’t begin with its current borders. Its shape today is the result of nearly a century of shifting frontiers—defined by wars, diplomacy, and the breakup of empires. Between 1832 and 1947, the Kingdom of Greece grew from a small state in the southern Balkans to one that spanned islands and peninsulas that had previously been ruled by the Ottoman Empire, as shown on a thorough historical map by Adam Carr.
The Starting Point: Independence in 1832
Modern Greece was born in 1832, when the Treaty of Constantinople recognized its independence from the Ottoman Empire after the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829). The new kingdom was tiny—its borders included only the Peloponnese, parts of Central Greece, and a few islands.
Nationalism and the desire for Enosis (the unification of all Greek-speaking territories) spurred a century-long effort to expand. Both significant setbacks and successes resulted from that endeavor.
Slow Growth: Gains in the 19th Century
Britain, which had governed the Ionian Islands as a protectorate, gave them to Greece as a diplomatic gift in 1864. With the backing of European powers, a treaty with the Ottomans resulted in the ceding of Thessaly and portions of Epirus to Greece in 1881 (source).
Larger changes occurred in the 20th century, especially during the Balkan Wars, but these acquisitions were primarily peaceful.
The Balkan Wars and World War I: 1912–1920
The Balkan Wars (1912–1913) were a turning point. Greece joined Serbia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria to drive the Ottomans out of the Balkans. As a result, Greece nearly doubled in size, annexing Crete, Epirus, much of Macedonia, and Western Thrace (source).
After World War I, Greece was awarded Eastern Thrace and control over Smyrna (Izmir) in Asia Minor under the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920. But this territorial peak was short-lived.
The Catastrophe of 1922: Asia Minor Disaster
One of the most significant and devastating reversals in Greek history came just two years later.
Greece lost its influence in Asia Minor in 1922 as a result of an unsuccessful military campaign against Mustafa Kemal’s (later Atatürk) Turkish nationalist forces. Tens of thousands of Greek civilians were killed or displaced in what became known as the Asia Minor Catastrophe, which saw Greek forces decisively defeated. This conflict ended with the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), which redrew the map once again. Over 1.5 million people were displaced from their homes as a result of Greece and Turkey’s forced population exchange after Greece ceded its territorial gains in Anatolia.
Dodecanese Islands in 1947: Final Gains
Greece’s borders underwent their last alteration following World War II. As part of postwar settlements, the Dodecanese Islands, which Italy had controlled for a long time, were given to Greece in 1947. This was the Greek state’s final significant territorial expansion. Since then, the map of Greece has largely stayed the same, despite subsequent political changes.
