ABSTRACT
Disparity in power is the most important fact in the relationship between Britain and Greece between the establishment of the independent Greek state in 1832 and the proclamation of the Truman doctrine in 1947. It explains much in the relationship, and it colours those things that it cannot explain. The chapter gives an overview of some of the highlights in the fields of politics, culture, learning and the arts, and looks at the main ingredients in a relationship that has always been emotional and sometimes turbulent. It looks at the position of the Crown, the role of institutions, governments, NGOs, cultural organisations, scholarship, literature and the arts, and links at the popular level. Since 1947 in Greece and the 1960s in Cyprus, the bilateral imbalances of power, while still present, have played less of a role, and the challenges facing the three countries relate largely to their relations with the European Union and to the potentially disabling strains facing the Union itself.
