They say that in OTL, his anglophilia and spearheading of good relations with the UK secured Greece the position of a loose ally of the UK, particularly in the years prior to WWII. Greece remained neutral in WWII and many credit the aforementioned British influence on George's Kingdom of Greece as one of the main reasons.

Would George's politics and diplomacy be very different if he didn't develop a fondness for British culture ?

On a related note, what other nation-filias could plausibly catch his attention and influence his decisions and personal ideology ?
 
The Prime Minister/Dictator Metaxas was also a proponent of close relations with the United Kingdom, even though he was ideologically close to Italy and Germany, as he thought aligning with England would be much more beneficial for the interests of Greece.

Regardless, Greece tried to remain neutral, not calling provocations from Italy and such. I presume that this would be the case no matter the personal opinions of the King and the PM, the country simply wanted to be quiet at last after half a century of warfare, civil strife and bitter national division. However, if Italy or any other power demands the puppeting of Greece, the leaders of the country will have no choice but to go to war, as they did IOTL.

To sum up, George's anglophilia had nothing to do with Greece going to war. Where his anglophilia did matter though, was after Metaxas' death, when he had all the power in his hands. If he was less of an anglophile, the Battle of Greece could go very different, either through a more rational defense line which maybe could hold out, or refusing to hear advice and concentrate defence in Metaxas line and refusing the assistance of Commonwealth troops, enabling thus the Germans to spearhead the attack to Thessaloniki and Athens via Yugoslavia much faster, probably getting Crete much faster and easier, which could butterfly the German policy towards airborne invasions.
 
Fascinating stuff. Thanks for the history lesson. :) I do admit that my knowledge of modern Greek history is rather shaby.
 
Top