Editing Basil Zaharoff (section)

==Post-war dealings==
In the years that followed, Zaharoff involved himself in the affairs of the lesser powers, which the [[The Big Four (World War I)|Big Four]], involved in remaking Europe, could happily ignore. In particular, he set out to ensure that Greece and Venizelos received a proper share from the spoils from the badly weakened Turkey. In 1920, he donated half a billion [[gold franc]]s to the [[Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg)|Greek State]] for the Greek cause ([[Megali Idea]]).<ref>Hans Hallmann: ''Neugriechenlands Geschichte 1820-1948''. H. Bouvier & Co., Bonn, 1949, page 132</ref> 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 to persuade the same King that he had to attack Turkey again but with [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk|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.

Zaharoff was also involved in two more significant financial ventures in October 1920, becoming involved in the incorporation of a company that was a predecessor to oil giant [[BP]]. He foresaw that there was a great future in the oil business.

His association with [[Louis II, Prince of Monaco|Prince Louis II of Monaco]] led to his purchase of the debt-ridden ''[[Société des Bains de Mer]]'', which ran the world-famous [[Monte Carlo Casino]] and was the principal source of revenue for the principality. He succeeded in returning the casino to profit again. At the same time, Zaharoff had prevailed upon [[Georges Clemenceau|Clemenceau]] to ensure that the [[Treaty of Versailles]] included protection of [[Monaco]]’s rights as established in 1641. Louis had noted their gradual erosion over the subsequent three centuries.