The period between 1923 and 1940, that is between the Catastrophe of Asia Minor and the entrance of the country into the Second World War, could be defined as the Greek inter-war period - in contrast to its European counterpart. The defeat of Greek forces in Asia Minor signalled the end of a decade of continuous wars, but also the cancellation of the 'Great Idea' after a hundred years of territorial expansion and population integration.

Introvercy and the demands of domestic re-organization, on the basis of new political-social agendas, were to become fundamental characteristics of the times. In addition, this period - perturbed as it was and full of contradictions and retrogressions - is fundamental for a deeper understanding of how modern Greek society was formed. For the first time the Greek state would include within its borders the maximum percentage of Greek people. Out of the ruins of the Catastrophe a period of transition was born without a dominant ideological binding fabric.