Restored Byzantium

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Donald Reaver

Donald Reaver

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That is a lot of new territory, what is the population makeup of the areas they have conquered? Surely they can't have transferred all the Turks out of that area, they would swamp what is left of Turkey.
 

Harald Sigurdson II

Donald Reaver said:
That is a lot of new territory, what is the population makeup of the areas they have conquered? Surely they can't have transferred all the Turks out of that area, they would swamp what is left of Turkey.
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Yeah, but at the time the population of Antolia was 15 million, and there were still many that weren't Turkish, even after the Armenian genocide.
 

Anekcahdep

Donald Reaver said:
That is a lot of new territory, what is the population makeup of the areas they have conquered? Surely they can't have transferred all the Turks out of that area, they would swamp what is left of Turkey.
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True, but as you will see shortly, Turkey is very adversely affected by the Treaty of Constantinople. Most Turks have been transferred out by this point, except those willing to under go "Hellenization"
 
Green Painting

Green Painting

ANEKCAHDEP said:
Text of the Treaty of Constantinople​
November 15, 1921​
THE BRITISH EMPIRE, GREECE, FRANCE, JAPAN, ITALY, AND SERBIA
on one side
AND TURKEY
on the other, being united to end war in the East which has been raging since 1914, agree to the following clauses
  • That The Republic of Turkey renounce claim to the Vilayets of Constantinople, archipelago, Adrianople, Aidin, Hüdavendigâr, and Kastamonu.
  • That the Republic of Turkey recognizes Greek sovereignty over said provinces.
  • That The Republic of Turkey and the Kingdom of Greece will engage in population exchanges.
  • That the United Kingdom, and any companies from the United Kingdom will be given rights to collect and sell natural resources in Turkey.
  • That the United Kingdom has control of Mesoptamia
  • That Turkey's army will never have conscripted more than 200,000 soldiers at one time.
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3 quite substantial nitpicks:
1) Republic of Turkey was only declared on October 1923, in 1921 it was still a mere provisional government by the Grand National Assembly.
2) I don't think Ismet Pasha would have any prestige left after a defeat of this scale. In fact, the legitimacy of the entire Turkish national movement would be brought under question when they sign the Treaty Of Constantinople. An Ottoman Restoration in the rump Turkey is entirely possible.
3) 200,000 soldiers is twice as many as Germany got in Versaille. And a Tukish army of this scale would put a monstrous military pressure on the new Byzantine Empire.
 
Green Painting

Green Painting

ANEKCAHDEP said:
True, but as you will see shortly, Turkey is very adversely affected by the Treaty of Constantinople. Most Turks have been transferred out by this point, except those willing to under go "Hellenization"
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There was an Ottoman census in 1914 that gives the tri-racial population per province.
image.jpg
According to this census, in the provinces to be ceded to the Greeks,, the pre-war figures would be (Muslims, Greeks):
Constantinople: 560434 205752
Adrianople: 360411 224680
Aidin: 1249067 299097
Hudavendigar: 474114 74927
Kastamonu: 737302 20958
Subtotal(informal): 3381328 825414

It would be three million+ muslims and around eighty thousand Greek in the ceded provinces. If all of them stay in the new Byzantine Empire, it would be almost half that that of the six million Greeks you had in Greece proper.

Of course, some of the three million would have already been wasted in Enver Pasha's "Jihad" follies or displaced by the winning Greek army after the war began. But the reminder, I'm afraid, would still constitute a sizeable minority within the Second Byzantine Empire and a majority in the newly-acquired provinces. It would be a quite difficult to carry out "Hellenization" or assimilation against a minority of such size.

Or, are you going to conduct population exchange with rump Turkey? This way, bulk of the Greeks in rump Turkey (provinces like Trebizond) would be expelled from their ancestral homeland (if they were not already expelled at this point), in exchange for a bulk of (if not all of) the millions of Muslims in the ceded provinces to be expelled to rump Turkey. This would create a severe underpopulation in the Asian provinces of the Byzantine Empire, and sudden influx of refugees in the rump Turkey, and humanitarian disasters on both sides of the border.

image.jpg
 
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Some Bloke

ANEKCAHDEP said:
September 10, 1921
He wrote to his family on Lesvos, and told them of his remarkable luck. He wondered what the next few months would hold for him and his country.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please post any comments, critiques, questions, ideas, suggestions, etc.
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Attaturk was killed by a Lesbian?! I can't see Turkey living this one down.:D

On a more serious note I suspect the Italians and the rest of Europe will refer to this new/expanded state
as the Byzantine Empire.
 

Anekcahdep

London Times May 4 1924
Sultan is restored in Turkey​
Civil Unrest leads to the fall of the Republic​
Corum- After several days of riots in major Turkish cities over food and housing shortages, Ismet Pasha and several other republicans called for the Ottoman Sultan,Mehmed VI, to return and take control of the country. The sultan returned from exile in Morocco, and is currently working in establishing his rule. It is expected that the country will become a constitutional monarchy. Emperor Constantine I of Byzantium says that his country is watching the event carefully, and that Turkey’s instability is of great concern. In Turkey, the change of power has been viewed positively, as the Republic has lost almost all prestige after the loss of Constantinople over two years ago_Oğuz Kazaz, a Corum shopkeeper, said that “the Republic was a corrupt institution, and I am glad to see its fall”. In the Republic, the only legal party was the Turkish National Party, but there were many underground parties which are now legal and eligible for the new Turkish congress, such as the Turkish Democratic Party, the Turkish Communist Party or the Party of Turkish Fascists.
 
Athelstane

Athelstane

I am for as big a Greece/Romaion as I can get, but I fear this is more Turks than it can easily absorb or deport, and borders it will not find easy to defend.
 

Anekcahdep

London Times June 1 1925​
Civil Unrest grows in Turkey​
Sultan is losing control of the situation​
Corum-Just over a year after the sultan was restored to power, his support has all but collapsed after he was unable to alleviate the problems of his country. Attempts at reform were unsuccessful, as the Turkish parliament was in near constant gridlock. In the city of Konya, paramilitary groups took control of city government last Tuesday, and swore loyalty to Kâzım Karabekir, a former Ottoman General and leader of the Party of Turkish Fascists. So far the standoff has been peaceful, but time will tell if this grows into an armed revolt.


London Times, June 4 1925
Coup in Turkey​
Fascists under Kâzım Karabekir seize control​
Konya-In a coup that started four days ago, Kâzım Karabekir has declared himself Önder, or leader, of “the Turkish State”. Four days ago his forces seized control of Konya, and when the Sultan ordered an attack the army defected. The Sultan was captured trying to flee the palace, and is currently in prison, awaiting trial. The coup marks the second fascist takeover of a country, with the first being Italy over three years ago. It is yet to be seen if Karabekir will bring the same stability that Mussolini has brought to Italy.


London Times, June 8 1925
Byzantium signs treaty with France​
Promises friendship, weapons sales, and more​
Athens-Last night, after weeks of negotiations, France announced that they and Byzantium had signed the Treaty of Athens. The treaty entails that France will sell old weapons and warplanes to the Byzantines as part of France’s overreaching plan to support the “Balkan Entente”, which consists of Byzantium, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, Rumania, and Czechoslovakia. Emperor Constantine XII stated early this morning that his country had signed the treaty in light of the instability in Turkey and relatively little defence of the eastern part of the country.


London Times, October 16, 1925
Byzantium encourages immigration​
Constantine calls for greek diaspora to return​
Constantinople- In a speech yesterday, Emperor Constantine XII of Byzantium called for greek people who were living in america, Italy, and all over the world to return home and help settle the underpopulated eastern provinces. Since the Empire was restored three years ago the country has already seen many greeks return to a country no longer under Turkish oppression.
 

Dieu Le Roi

ANEKCAHDEP said:
Sorry, But I don't quite understand what you are asking?
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I think he meant 'when's the next update?' We're all eagerly awaiting :D

Careful not to overestimate the amount of Greek immigration from abroad, although it'd imagine there'd still be plenty to go around. Maybe if you look at Poland as a comparison? If you scale the figures to match for population, the restoration of Poland after WW1 would be a good analogue I think.

I wonder if we'll be seeing a Varangian Guard restored too? :D That's be amazing, although I imagine it would be a more modern one, perhaps open to all foreigners (more along the line of the French Foreign Legion than the original).

Keep up the good updates! :)
 

Anekcahdep

London Times, November 5, 1925
Byzantine Emperor Dies​
Crown Prince George is crowned Emperor​
Constantinople-Emperor Constantine XII was found dead in his bed early yesterday morning from old age. His son and crown prince was coronated today as Emperor George I of the Romans. Today is a national day of mourning in Byzantium in honor of the deceased 97th emperor.
 

Anekcahdep

London Times, March 21, 1926
Varangian Guard is Restored​
Emperor recreates Byzantine Guards​
Constantinople-As part of Emperor George I’s overall policy of revitalizing old policies of the Byzantine Empire, he has recreated the Varangian Guard, the personal soldiers of the Byzantine Emperor. George stated that he recreated the guard “to ensure that the royal family is protected, and to show that the Roman Empire is back in all of its glory”. The guard will be made up of hand picked soldiers from the Byzantine army.


London Times, October 2, 1926
Turkey threatens Byzantium​
Karabekir calls for war​
Konya- In a speech yesterday, Kâzım Karabekir, the leader of the Turkish state, called for war against Byzantium. Anti Greek sentiments are at an all time high in Turkey, and have only been increasing after Karabekir came to power over a year ago. The Turkish leader has called for all asian parts of Byzantium to be returned, but especially parts of the former Kastamonu province that still has a Turkish minority which avoided the population exchange. Emperor George stated that Byzantium will surrender no land to Turkey or anyone else. Turkey has stabilized since Karabekir came to power, but Armenian and Kurdish minorities have been marginalized.
 
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