Despite having nominal independence, the Greeks were not a united people as they argued over direction and policies. Throughout the 1800s the political situation was uncertain as numerous local and foreign rulers were brought in to quell the country, none of which had any substantial luck.
The political divisions continued into the 1900s as Greece fought internally, while trying to gain additional lands in any direction they could. In 1912 and 1913 the Balkan Wars broke out to finally end Ottoman Turkish domination over the Balkan Peninsula. The first of these wars united Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Greece against the Turks, which ended with a Turkish defeat. War however broke out the following year with the new Turkish government, and again the Balkan countries won this war to finally end Turkish dominance in the region. Following this, World War I (WWI) broke out and embattled the Greeks against the Turks once again.
At the conclusion of WWI battles continued with the new state of Turkey until a settlement had been reached which shifted borders and created mass population exchanges as many ethnic Greeks went west and many ethnic Turks moved east.
During World War II, the Greeks sided with the Allied Forces, but upon the war's conclusion Greece broke out in civil war. This war and political arguments continued until the 1970s, when yet another government collapsed and the monarchy was finally abolished.
Since the 1970s Greece has primarily had positive changes as they re-joined NATO, relations with Turkey have been substantially improved (despite the continuing stalemate in Cyprus), and they joined the European Union (EU). Despite these positive shifts, the Greek economy is still struggling and tends to be stagnant more often than not.