Post-war Dealings
In the years that followed, Zaharoff involved himself in the affairs of the lesser powers, which the Big Four that were remaking Europe would have happily ignored. In particular, he set out to ensure that Greece and Venizelos received a proper share of the spoils from a badly weakened Turkey. In 1920, he donated half a billion Gold francs to the Greek state for the Greek cause (Megali Idea). Zaharoff convinced Venizelos to attack but, after some impressive initial success, the Greek army was eventually driven back. In the elections that followed, Constantine’s loyalists managed to force Venizelos to flee, but Zaharoff stayed around and persuaded the same king that he had to attack Turkey again, but with Mustafa Kemal now in charge of Turkey, this venture was bound to fail. Zaharoff’s war adventures were not well received by the press in Paris and London.
At the same time that he was carrying on his war, Zaharoff was also involved in two more significant financial ventures in October 1920, he became involved in the incorporation of a company that was a predecessor to oil giant, British Petroleum. He saw that there was a great future in the oil business.
His association with Louis II of Monaco led to his purchase of the debt-ridden Société des Bains de Mer which ran Monte Carlo’s famed casino, and the principal source of revenue for the country. He succeeded in making the casino profitable again. At the same time, Zaharoff had prevailed upon Clemenceau to ensure that the Treaty of Versailles included protection of Monaco’s rights as established in 1641. Louis had noted their gradual erosion in the nearly three centuries since.
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