Everything about Kingdom Of Greece totally explained
The
Kingdom of Greece (
Greek:
Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος,
Vasíleion tīs Elládos) was a state established in 1832 in the
Convention of London by the
Great Powers (the
United Kingdom,
France and the
Russian Empire). It was internationally recognized in the
Treaty of Constantinople, where it also secured full
independence from the
Ottoman Empire. It succeeded from the
Greek provisional governments of the
Greek War of Independence, and lasted until 1924, when the monarchy was abolished, and the
Second Hellenic Republic declared. The Kingdom was restored in 1935, and lasted until 1974, when, in the aftermath of a
seven-year military dictatorship, the current
Third Republic came into existence.
House of Wittelsbach
The Greeks had risen up against the
Ottoman Empire in 1821, leading to a struggle which lasted until 1829. Greece had been led since 1828 by Count
John Capodistria, but after his assassination in 1831 the country descended into civil war. At this stage, the Great Powers stepped in and decided to make Greece a kingdom. At the
London Conference of 1832,
Great Britain,
France and
Russia (the
Great Powers at the time) offered the Greek throne to the 17-year-old
Bavarian
Prince Otto of the ruling House of
Wittelsbach, who became the first
King of Greece. Otto was a minor when he arrived in Greece and thus a Council of
Regents ruled in his name until 1835. In 1835, Otto began a period of absolute
monarchy in which he selected an advisor (usually Bavarian) to serve as the President of the Council of State. At times, he himself was his own chief councilor.
September 3 revolution
By 1843, public dissatisfaction with Otto and the "Bavarocracy" had reached a tipping point, and the people were starting to make demands for a constitution. Initially Otto refused to grant a
constitution, but as soon as German troops were withdrawn from the kingdom, a
military coup was launched. On
3 September 1843, the infantry, led by Colonel
Dimitrios Kallergis and the respected Revolution captain
Ioannis Makriyannis assembled in the square in front of the palace in Athens. The rebellion refused to disperse until the king agreed to grant a constitution, which would require that there be Greeks in the council, that he convene a permanent national assembly, and that Otto personally thank the leaders of the uprising. King Otto gave in to the pressure and agreed to the demands of the crowd.
House of Oldenburg-Glücksburg
After King Otto was deposed in 1862, 17-year-old
Prince William of
Denmark was elected to the throne as a
constitutional monarch, known as George I. He reigned for 50 years, and his tenure is remembered for expanding the boundaries of Greece (upon his accession to the crown, Britain ceded the
Ionian Islands to Greece), its economic progress and the acceptance of the concept that the government should be headed up by the leader of the party that received the most votes in the previous election, not whichever minister was most favored by the king. Nevertheless, King George I was quite politically active. He was assassinated in 1913 in
Thessaloniki, which had recently been annexed to Greece as a result of Greek victory in the
First Balkan War.
King George I was succeeded by his son,
King Constantine I, who had distinguished himself as a military leader in Greece's drive to add territory to her demesne. He was educated in
Germany, and married
Sophia, the daughter of the Kaiser. Constantine was perceived as pro-German, in opposition to
Eleftherios Venizelos' support for the
Triple Entente. Further bolstering this view was the king's overt efforts to keep Greece neutral in the
First World War. The
Entente Powers backed Eleftherios Venizelos and after a period, known as the
National Schism, where separate governments were established in
Athens and
Thessaloniki, Greece joined the
Entente and King Constantine was forced to abdicate in favor of his son,
Alexander in
1917. Greece was rewarded for her support of the winning side in the war with territories in
Asia Minor including
Smyrna. King Alexander died in 1920 from a monkey bite and his father returned as king. After the disastrous
Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), King Constantine was deposed again and he died in exile in
Sicily.
King Constantine was now succeeded by his eldest son,
King George II, who left the country in 1924 when the
Second Hellenic Republic was declared. In 1935 a military coup headed by General
Georgios Kondylis abolished the Republic, and staged a
plebiscite which approved the restoration of the monarchy. King George II returned to the country, where he subsequently actively supported the dictatorial
Metaxas Regime. During the
German invasion of Greece in 1941, he fled with the government to Egypt. He returned to Greece in 1946 and reigned until his death in 1947.
King George was followed by his last brother,
King Paul who reigned from
1947 until his death in 1964. His son,
King Constantine II was king until he was exiled after a failed counter coup against the
military junta in December 1967. The Junta appointed an illegal Regent in place of the King and eventually staged a carefully controlled
plebiscite in 1973, which led to the illegal abolition of the monarchy.
Georgios Papadopoulos became the new
President of Greece on
1 June 1973.
The reign of the military junta effectively ended the following year but King Constantine II wasn't restored to the throne. The matter of his restoration was set in
another plebiscite in December 1974, where 69% of Greeks voted for the final abolition of the monarchy.
List of Kings of Greece
Heir
During the kingdom, the
heir apparent carried the title of
Diadochos, as unique as
dauphin in France (but not linked to any territory). During the
Glücksburg dynasty, the heir also enjoyed the title of "Duke of
Sparta".
Further Information
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