The Great Idea, Greek Irredentism (1920)

This map, published by Gr. Kouriotis in 1920, shows Greek irredentist claims in the context of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922).

The Great Idea is a political movement that emerged in Greece in 1844, 14 years after achieving independence from the Ottoman Empire. This irredentist movement sought to recover the territory that had belonged to the Byzantine Empire.

In 1920, Greece and the Turkish National Movement were at war as a result of the partition of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War. This propaganda map shows Greece's aspiration to occupy much of the Anatolian coast. To this end, it shows in solid pink the area occupied after the Treaty of Sèvres (1920), which includes Eastern Thrace and Ionia in Anatolia. The striped pink area shows Greece's claim to occupy the north-western coast of Anatolia in order to consolidate its territory.

In 1923, under the Treaty of Lausanne, Greece lost Eastern Thrace and Ionia to the newly formed Turkey.