Neo-Byzantine Empire (country)

Formation
The modern Byzantine Empire is the result of the strong resurgent nationalism that swept the world after Communism crumbled away; a broken and vengeful Greece, rebuilding from the horrors of the Second World War, dealt with a series of civil wars before ultimately being reborn under the rule of a single man, Cristofis Prilarikis, the leader of a rebel group which advocated a return to the old days of the Imperial rule of Constantinople. After taking control of Athens, he was able to rally many of the other splintered fronts and groups together under him, ultimately uniting Greece under his banner as the few opposing fronts, mainly weak and bickering communist fronts, were destroyed or absorbed into his collective.

Declaring himself Basileus of the restored Byzantine Empire, he consolidated his power and lead on a march on Istanbul, seizing the Turkish province of Rumelia and easily crushing the under-equipped and under-motivated Turkish troops with his army of volunteers and veterans from the civil war he had ended. After somewhat brutally expulsing the Muslim and Turkish population of the city and resettling Greeks there, he restored it's old glory as Constantinople and tore down the mosque that had been built atop the Hagia Sophia.

The next four years were spent consolidating his power and waging a series of wars against Turkey. By 1954, he owned almost all of western Anatolia and his armies became increasingly professional, hearkening back to the days of the Roman legions which conquered nearly all of Europe. Still, though, his relatively upstart state had issues being recognized by the major powers, who still failed to consider it as a major player in European politics.

This would change in 1955, when a short war with Italy was waged over the city of Syracuse. Mainly meant to be a statement more than a conquest, the Basileus left the Italian armies with a quite-bloodied nose, presenting himself before the world; in the same year, the Commonwealth, the United States, and other nations all proposed opening official diplomatic communications with the Neo-Byzantine Empire, securing it's place amongst the modern world.