Dodecanese islands were occupied by the French and British, but Rhodes remained under Italian occupation. In 1915, the French also occupied Kastellorizo. Following the war, the Tittoni–Venizelos agreement, signed on July 29, 1919, called for the smaller islands to join with Greece, while Italy maintained control of Rhodes. The treaty further outlined an exchange where Italy would receive Antalya for southwest Anatolia. The Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War and the foundation of modern Turkey prevented the exchange. Italy formally annexed the Dodecanese as the "Possedimenti Italiani dell'Egeo" under the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne. Mussolini embarked on a program
Greek Armed Forces in the Middle East the second-largest Allied Navy in the Mediterranean after the RN, accounting for 80% of all non-RN operations. Greek ships served in convoy escort duties in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean (where it succeeded in destroying a few enemy submarines), the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. RHN ships also participated in the landing operations in Sicily, Anzio and Normandy, as well as at the ill-fated Dodecanese Campaign. A significant moment in the RHN's history was the acceptance of the Italian Fleet's surrender in September 1943, alongside the British Royal Navy. Two of the most notable Greek warships of the war were the