The position and the prestige that Greece had in the international arena were particularly downgraded in the 1920s, mainly because of the defeat she had suffered in Asia Minor. On the other hand, some of the Great Powers were concentrating on managing their crucial domestic affairs. The example of Germany and the Soviet Union, which led to far-reaching socio-economic innovations (reconstruction of production etc.) in order to overcome an unfavourable international reputation is characteristic.
The attitude of Great Britain was governed by two factors. On the one hand, it wished to maintain the traditional friendship with Greece to ensure control over the Dardanelles and stability in the area of the eastern Aegean. On the other, the policy of the British Foreign Office was in direct opposition to many of the intra-European coalitions and bilateral political treaties Greece had entered into for its own reasons up to the early 1930s. In the same period, relations between Greece and France went through a period of tension. The political ties between Athens and Paris loosened, mainly because of disagreement on economic issues (associated with France's claims for the terms of the settlement of war debts pending until the end of the 1920s). The slackening of this relationship with her traditional allies turned Greece towards Rome in the second half of the 1920s, in order to escape the trap of international isolation.