Hellenic Imperial Dominion Ελληνική Αυτοκρατορική Κυριαρχία Ellinikí Aftokratorikí Kyriarchía |
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| Capital | Constantinople | |||||
| Official language | Greek | |||||
| Ethnic groups | Greeks (90%) Others(10%) Albanians Turks Yugoslavs Russians Ukrainians Arabs |
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| Demonym | Greek | |||||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy | |||||
| - | Emperor | Paul I | ||||
| - | Marshal | {{{leader_name2}}} | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | {{{leader_name3}}} | ||||
| - | Upper House | Senate | ||||
| - | Lower House | Chamber of Deputies | ||||
| Currency | Greek drachma | |||||
The Hellenic Imperial Dominion (Greek: Ελληνική Αυτοκρατορική Κυριαρχία, Ellinikí Aftokratorikí Kyriarchía) also known as Greece or the Greek Empire, is a country in Southeast Europe and Western Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula and western quarter of Asia Minor. Greece shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin, featuring thousands of islands. The country consists of nine traditional geographic regions, and has a population of approximately 10.5 million. Constantinople is the nation's capital. Greece is one of two countries to be in both Europe and Asia.
Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization, being the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, theatre and the Olympic Games. In addition, it also the cradle and originating country of the Eastern Orthodox Church, via the city of Constantinople and the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as poleis (singular polis), which spanned the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Philip II of Macedon united most of present-day Greece in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the known ancient world, from the eastern Mediterranean to northwestern India. The subsequent Hellenistic period saw the height of Greek culture and influence in antiquity. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its continuation, the Byzantine Empire, which was culturally and linguistically predominantly Greek. The Greek Orthodox Church, which emerged in the first century AD, helped shape modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox world. After falling under Ottoman rule in the mid-15th century, Greece emerged as a modern nation state in 1830 following a war of independence.
Over the first hundred years the kingdom of Greece sought its territorial expansion, which was mainly achieved in the early 20th century, during the Balkan Wars and up until its Asia Minor Campaign ended with a catastrophic defeat in 1922. The short-lived republic that followed, beset by the ramifications of civil strife and the challenge of resettling the refugees from Turkey, came to an end in 1936, when the imposition of a royalist dictatorship inaugurated a long period of authoritarian rule, marked by military occupation during World War II, civil war and military dictatorship. After the Axis invasion was lifted, Greece partook in the Russian-backed Balkan Campaign, and the Thrace offensive, culminating in the dramatic capture of Constantinople, after the city fell under Turkish hands for hundreds of years. This pulled Greece into the Russian sphere of influence. Greece achieved record economic growth from 1950 through the 1970s, following a democratization process that saw the Upper House consisting mostly of figureheads, allowing it to join the ranks of developed nations. The country's rich historical legacy is reflected in part by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Greece is a unitary constitutional monarchy, and a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy. Its economy is the largest in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the tenth member to join the European Communities (precursor to the European Union) and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. It is also a member of numerous other international institutions, including the Balkan Union, CSTO and WTO. Greece has a unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry, and prominent shipping sector.
History[]
Cold War[]
After the Allied capture of Istanbul, the city was renamed to Constantinople on the international stage. Early on, Greek Orthodox and Turkish Muslims had no issue with each other, however this soon turned into rioting and street-fighting between Greeks and Turks. This resulted in the Greek government carrying out a massive deportation and ethnic cleansing against the Turkish population, however it was quite bloodless, as Greek troops helped the immigrants safely get to American-allied Turkey.
Greece also participated in the Palestine war, altough not necessarily with the intent of being an "Arab/Muslim ally", but to oppose Israel. The cities of Jerusalem and Nazareth also held deep importance to the Eastern Orthodox Church, as it did Muslims.
Eventually, Paul I created the new title, the Emperor of Greece. As part of the Eastern Orthodox realm, Constantinople was declared the new capital city of the Greek Empire, which was politically-motivated to spread the image of Greece as an ally of the Eastern World. This Greek Empire however, was not well held-together, as political opposition brewed from Athens, considered the ancient home-base of Western civilization and Western ideology, therefore it was home to anti-monarchist and pro-Western opposition.
The Greek Empire still managed to become the second-most powerful Warsaw Pact state. Western political leaders regarded the rise of the monarchy in Greece, and its re-transformation into an Orthodox-based theocratic empire as a threat and assault on democracy, and thus, Western leaders continued to attempt to create a seperated Greek state, with a republic-based in Athens while the moanrchy bases its capital city in Constantinople, something which Paul I vehemently rejected, stating that Greece is one united state.
In the 1970s therefore, Constantin II gave up his power, and agreed to take on a constitutional figure-head role. This allowed to Greece advance even more, which many claim was a Western ploy that backfired against the West, as the will to overthrow monarchy faded with the allowing of democratic institutions and elected officials to pivot Greek politics. Greece remained in the Warsaw Pact, and emerged as the most powerful state in the Balkan Union.
Post Cold War[]
In the 1990s, the Warsaw Pact collapsed, and more democratic opposition raged across Greece. As such, Greece did not attend the CIS Provisional Meeting, and the Greek Parliament ultimately decided to follow a neutral position in world politics, embracing both the history of Western liberal democracy, and the conservative heritage of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Greek politics was heavily geographically-based as well, with those in the Balkans tending to be liberal, while those in Asia Minor tending to be conservative.
Although Constantinople remained the capital city, Athens once-more, received the attention for being the cultural center of Greece. As such, Greece replaced Russia as the major source of economic, military and political aid for the Balkan countries. The Greek drachma was even used concurrently with the Yugoslav dinar in Macedonia, which is ruled by a Glucksburg prince.
Like many post-Cold War nations, such as Germany, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, while the Greek Empire leaned towards the West, did not join NATO, and maintained a statue of neutrality. Therefore, it still maintained its close historical, economic, political and cultural links with Russia.
As part of its open relations policy, Greece signed many bilateral agreements with its historical Turkish foe and neighbor. Still, issue loomed against Turkey, such as the Cyprus conflict.