The Expansion of Greece 1897-1922

The Expansion of Greece 1897-1922 (Exhibit)

Introduction

This web page contains links to the content of the exhibit pages for the exhibit 'The Expansion of Greece 1897-1922' by the late Al Kugel.

This ‘exhibit tells the story of the rapid geographic expansion of the Greek kingdom during the quarter century from the Cretan Uprising in 1897 through the Balkan Wars, World War I and the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922, as illustrated by contemporary postal material.

The material shown is a collection of postmarks (mostly on covers) from the newly-annexed or occupied territories, organized chronologically and geographically, as shown in the Plan of Exhibit on the next page. Material which is relatively easily acquired was sharply downplayed so that a disproportionately large part of the exhibit could be concentrated on items for which only a few examples have been recorded.

In contrast to the very successful augmentation of Greek territory under Prime Minister Venizelos, who was defeated in the election of November 1920, the successor governments overreached in a Napoleonic attempt to capture Ankara, the enemy capital. With a front that was too long and supply lines that were too thinly stretched, the troops became vulnerable to a serious Turkish counter-attack. When it came, a retreat turned into a rout, and the Greeks were forced to evacuate Anatolia and Eastern Thrace.

This exhibit was created by, and is the property of the late Al Kugel, and is being supplied by his heirs as a courtesy to the Military Postal History Society. (See the MPHS webpage) The Military Postal History Society (MPHS) is a non-profit organization for philatelists and stamp collectors interested in the collecting and studying of the postal aspects of all wars and military actions of all countries, including soldiers' campaign covers, naval mail, occupation and internment covers, patriotics, propaganda, V-mail, censorship and similar related material.

Historical Note

These exhibit page scans were made from black and white photocopies of the original exhibits. Those exhibits were created by Al Kugel many years ago, and are presented here for historical and research purposes. As far as the MPHS is aware, there are no color scans available of these older exhibit pages, nor for any of the illustrated postal history items.

PDF (Searchable) Format

Web Format

Web Pages of the Exhibit of The Expansion of Greece

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Updated 8 September 2026