October 2002
1912-2002:
90 years since the liberation of Northeast Aegean Sea

The gradual decomposition of the Ottoman Empire and the internal struggle in the Balkans in the beginning of the 20th century resulted in the creation of alliances in order to have better possibilities of territorial gains during the imminent redistribution of the land.

In October 1912, the 1st Balkan War broke out, which was a coalition among the Balkan states (Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Mavrovounio) against Turkey. The great pressure from the Greek army and navy, along with the occupancy of the islands of the Northeast Aegean Sea, resulted in a Turkish fallback. After six months of negotiations, on May 17th 1913, the Treaty of London was signed and all the territories belonging to the European Turkey were given to the winners.

Nevertheless, the winners' demands towards Turkey were conflicting, especially in regard with the possession of Macedonia. The war was about to resume.

The 2nd Balkan War, against Bulgaria, started in June and lasted until the 28th of July 1913, when the Treaty of Bucharest was singed. This time the northern frontier line of Greece was settled (except for Thrake), which remains the same until the present day.

With the victorious wars of 1912-1913, Greek land almost doubled, while there was a population explosion from 2.666.000 to 4.363.000.