alternatehistory.com

The ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople, moved to Thessaloniki and Mount Athos as part of the treaty of Lausanne in 1923. This actually came rather close to being, by December 1922 Turkey was insistent on the patriarchate going, Ismet proposing himself that Mount Athos could serve as it's new headquarters and Venizelos was mostly resigned to is as he very much doubted that the patriarchate would be able to operate under the new Turkish regime. Patriarch Meletios was of the same opinion proposing to Venizelos to move the patriarchate to Thessaloniki if its position in Constantinople could not be saved. Obviously no one on the Greek side was very happy at the prospect and for that matter for a few hundred thousand more refugees reaching Greece, with both the patriarchate's holy synod and mixed council adamantly opposed to the idea. Still as Venizelos was writing to the metropolitans of Nicaea and Cysikus in mid-December (translation mine)

"It is not a question, that preferable under all circumstances would be to retain the ecumenical throne in Constantinople. But I wonder if the normal operation of the ecumenical patriarchate is possible under the present circumstances..."

proposing instead that it's move to Thessaloniki get covered by international treaty. In the end Curzon and Venizelos after 20 sessions were able to force Ismet to back down, with Ismet saying he was accepting it "on humanitarian grounds" but it was a close run thing.

So say Ismet stays more obstinate and Venizelos between being resigned to it and securing British support on other matters, like the final border with Turkey accepts as much. With the patriarchate gone, the Greeks of Constantinople are not exempted from the exchange of populations and as a result the Muslims of Western Thrace are not exempted either. The final treaty remains otherwise largely the same as OTL (lets say that Greece retains the Karagac triangle and Imbros and Tenedos due to backing down on Constantinople). By 1924 the patriarchate is setting up shop in Thessaloniki, with its own equivalent to the Vatican in Mount Athos and none of the limitations it had to face from its continued presence in Turkey in OTL. (like for example the elected patriarch having to be a Turkish citizen). Meletios IV remains as patriarch to his death in 1935 without the Turkish government forcing his resignation, succeeded by Chrysanthus of Trebizond who in turn is followed by archbishop of America Athenagoras I in 1949. Within Greece the bishop of Athens is not elevated to archbishop, the autocephalus church of "old Greece" (below the Olympus) if retained at all is just a sub-unit of the patriarchate like these of Cyprus and Crete for example. But that's likely to be secondary in importance...

Thoughts?
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