Constantinople, today Istanbul was founded as a Greek colony. It took its name from Emperor Constantine I that designated the city as the new capital of the Roman Empire. After the creation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the Turkish government began to formally call the City Istanbul.

Due to its strategic position, Constantinople was the most important city in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. It was the capital of the Eastern Greek-speaking empire for over a thousand years. It was the richest and largest European city. In 1453 it fell to the Ottoman Empire and after World War I, the city was occupied (1918–23) by the Allies.

Following the "Armistice of Mudros", hostilities between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies were concluded on 30 October 1918. That ended the Ottoman participation in the First World War. French troops entered the city on November 12, 1918, and British troops followed the next day. It was the only time the city had changed hands since the Ottoman Turks took control.

Moudros is a sea port town on the island of Lemnos Greece. During the Dardanelles Campaign of WWI, Moudros and its harbor were used as an Allied base. There is where the signing of the Armistice of Mudros, took place.