The period 1935-36 was crucial both for domestic issues and also for the strategic choices and the course of Greek foreign policy. The occupation of Abyssinia by the Italians, the expansion of Nazi Germany in the region of the Rhineland and the parallel crisis in the Far East had a serious impact on Greece's international position.
The Greek government had good reason to be seriously concerned about the future of the country, since it was aware that Greek territory was part of what was considered 'vital space' for Mussolini's Fascist Italy. Italian provocation, in combination with the incapacity of the Balkan alliance to respond to the new order, led Greece to re-establish its - traditionally good - relations with England. This diplomatic orientation of the country was further reinforced after the dictator Ioannis Metaxas seized power.