Territorial changes in Greece and postage stamps. A case of applied international law since 1830

Abstract

Since its foundation, in 1830, and up until 1947, the Greek state expanded dramatically. Greek borders often remained secure and stable, yet there were times were marked with failure of sovereignty. Expansion, in relation to the state’s national integration and homogenization agendas, created new zones of contact and novel relations at the borderlines of each new territorial area, namely those belonging to Greece and her neighbors. This article attempts to offer a taxonomy of the changes of the Greek territorial sovereignty and the political exertion of power with territorial characteristics and envisages to shed light on the bonds between political power and territory. Postage stamps can be seen as evidence- markers of the genealogy of the territorial changes in Greece, based on the violent or peaceful ways of acquiring land, the occupation of Greek territory or failure thereof, non-state power, the occupation of foreign territories, the Greek military presence abroad or the foreign military presence in Greece.