Expectations

On the other hand, Greek foreign policy committed the error to overestimate the possibility of collective resistance by the Balkan countries to the German forces. The Balkan policy of the Greek government in the 1930s, especially the cultivation of close ties with Turkey, had led Metaxas into believing that substantial help from these countries could be expected in the event of a German attack.

In spite of the failure of the Balkan Treaty to maintain the cohesion of the Balkan countries, the Greek government continued to hope that Turkey would provide political or even military assistance, as defined in a series of treaties which the country had signed both with Greece and with the western powers since 1939. Similar hopes were nurtured by the British military and political leadership for Turkish assistance and for the neutrality - or even resistance - of other Balkan states to the advancing German forces.