Before joining the Motherland, the Dodecanese was under foreign occupation for more than 600 years. The geographical area of the Dodecanese island complex was ruled by successive foreign powers. However, the people of the Dodecanese maintained the Greek language, Orthodox faith, and Greek customs. For centuries it fought against foreign oppression, seeking its union – in fact reunion – with Greece. This strong desire intensified in the early 1910s, immediately after the start of Italian rule.

During World War II and after the capitulation of the Italians (1943), the Germans became rulers of the Dodecanese. After the collapse of Nazi Germany (May 1945), Great Britain assumed its administration. On 10 February 1947, the Paris Peace Treaty was signed with Italy, according to which the Dodecanese was ceded to Greece. The ceremony for the handover of the Dodecanese to Greece from the British authorities took place on 31 March 1947 in a festive atmosphere. On that day, British Brigadier General Parker signed the handover protocol. The first governor of the Dodecanese was Vice Admiral Periklis Ioannidis, with Mihail Stasinopoulos as his political advisor, who later became President of the Hellenic Republic.

The incorporation of the Dodecanese into Greece was officially sealed on 7 March 1948, in the presence of Hellenic state and political authorities. This day constituted the justification of the struggles and reward for the sacrifices of the people of the Dodecanese, a landmark in the history of not only the Dodecanese, but the entire Greece, since this was the last addition to the national territory to this day.

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