AHC: Byzantine Empire in the 20th Century

With a PoD no earlier than 1st January, 1800, make the Byzantine Empire exist in the 20th century. Though the PoD is before 1900, I've decided to put this thread here due to its 20th century focus.
 
Idk, maybe have an international coalition of nations like Russia, Austria, the U.K. and France intervene fully in the Greek Revolt in the 1820s to have Greece reclaim Istanbul/Constantinople and the Turkish Aegean Coast and install a neutral monarch to restore the Byzantine Empire as a buffer state against the Ottomans while the Balkans are split into Russian and Austrian spheres of influence or annexed by them or made independent and North Africa falls to the European powers earlier.
 
Restoration of the Byzantine Empire was the fantasy of Ferdinand of Bulgaria, who was reported to have kept full Byzantine emperor regalia on hand against the day when Bulgaria would somehow expand / morph into a latter-day Byzantium.
 
Restoration of the Byzantine Empire was the fantasy of Ferdinand of Bulgaria, who was reported to have kept full Byzantine emperor regalia on hand against the day when Bulgaria would somehow expand / morph into a latter-day Byzantium.

I love it. But I feel it'd make sense for a more successful Greek war of Independence. Also, these guys should be in charge:

'Well, you could have some kind of neo-Byzantinist state established by Phanariotes or through their machinations.

The Phanariotes envisioned some kind of "enlightened" absolutist monarchy with shades of oligarchy, and a huge emphasis on Byzantine traditions and court culture. Their model of government and society was partially based on Imperial Russia: a strong, fairly centralized monarchy with an administrative nobility and strong bureaucracy.
They rejected most if not all influences of the French Revolution; modern nationalism included. Instead of Greek nationalism, they championed a neo-Byzantine proto-nationalism meant to unite all the Balkan nations into an identity based on Orthodox religion and imperial consciousness. Of course, they still envisioned the dominance of Greek culture and language, so the differences between this and "conventional" Greek nationalism are not that huge.
Phanariotes also respected the Byzantine traditions of charity, and personally funded various monastic orphanages and hospitals. OTOH, they were aristocrats first and foremost and emphatically not in favor of egalitarianism or social revolution, unlike the Serbian or Bulgarian (or OTL's Greek) revolutionary movements. Just because this state would pay a certain attention to charity doesn't mean it won't be highly stratified and classist/dominated by aristocracy.'

Greece as established by the Phanariote revivalists would be fascinating. Not necessarily good - I'd say OTL's Greece has it beat by far - but fascinating.
Of course, any kind of Greece would acknowledge and play up classical heritage at least a little. It's just too good to pass up.

This was a post done by Halagaz. Thank you to him.
 
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