Introduction

The interaction between British Council officials and Greek intellectuals and artists during the period 1945-55 is a fascinating topic of study, and yet it has hardly been researched. British political and military power had made itself felt in Greece from the moment that British forces began to take over the Ionian Islands one by one from the French, beginning with Zakynthos in 1809 and ending with Corfu in 1814. The British participation in the Battle of Navarino, which destroyed the best of the Ottoman fleet in 1827, was decisive for the successful outcome of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, and Britain was to become the chief of the three 'protecting powers' of the nominally independent Kingdom of Greece. The founding of the British Council before the Second World War was inspired by Reginald Leeper's recognition of the importance of 'cultural propaganda' in promoting British interests.