King Otto of Greece Otto (; ; 1 June 1815 – 26 July 1867) was King of Greece from the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece on 27 May 1832, under the Convention of London, until he was deposed in October 1862. The second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, O ...

was deposed in a popular insurrection in October 1862. Starting on 18 October in

Vonitsa Vonitsa () is a town in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece, seat of the municipality of Aktio-Vonitsa. The beach town is situated on the south coast of the Ambracian Gulf, and is dominated by a Venetian fortress on a hill. Von ...

, it soon spread to other cities and reached

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

on 22 October.

Background

King Otto had ruled the

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece (, Romanization, romanized: ''Vasíleion tis Elládos'', pronounced ) was the Greece, Greek Nation state, nation-state established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally ...

since May 1832.

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

had been transformed into a

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

in the aftermath of the

3 September 1843 Revolution The 3 September 1843 Revolution (; N.S. 15 September) was an uprising by the Hellenic Army in Athens, supported by large sections of the people, against the autocratic rule of King Otto. The rebels, led by veterans of the Greek War of Independe ...

. However, Otto continued to intervene in the internal affairs of the state by frequently dissolving

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and ignoring large-scale

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

when it benefited him and his allies. By 1861, Greek opposition had grown into a broad front, which largely saw parliamentary politics as futile and instead wished to remove Otto from power. In March 1861, Greek authorities uncovered a plot to overthrow the King consisting mainly of university students and low ranking military officers. On 6 September, student Aristeidis Dosios attempted to assassinate Queen Amalia. The following day, a crackdown was launched on the anti-Ottonian opposition. On 1 February 1862, an insurrection broke out in

Nafplion Nafplio or Nauplio () is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important tourist destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the Middle Ages du ...

, led by Theodoros Grivas, , and Dimitrios Botsaris. Soon, the revolt started to spread to

Santorini Santorini (, ), officially Thira (, ) or Thera, is a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from the mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago formed by the Santorini caldera. It is the southern ...

, Hydra,

Syros Syros ( ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greece, Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and at the 2021 census it had 21,124 inhabitants. The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano S ...

, Tripolis, Argos and

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a prefecture (''nomos' ...

. However, the royal authorities quickly managed to restore control by thwarting an outbreak of the revolt in Athens and mobilising a large body of troops to suppress it. The revolt was suppressed by 20 March.

Revolution

Otto of Greece expulsion table and crown

On 16 October, King Otto and Queen Amalia left for a royal visit to

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

in order to strengthen the bonds between the Greek people and the Crown. However, an insurrection erupted two days later in

, on the

Ambracian Gulf The Ambracian Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Arta or the Gulf of Actium, and in some official documents as the Amvrakikos Gulf (), is a gulf of the Ionian Sea in northwestern Greece. About long and wide, it is one of the largest enclosed gulfs ...

, led by

Dimitrios Voulgaris Dimitrios Voulgaris (; 20 December 1802 – 10 January 1877) was a Greek revolutionary fighter during the Greek War of Independence of 1821 who became a politician after independence. He was nicknamed "Tsoumpes" (" Τσουμπές") after t ...

Konstantinos Kanaris Konstantinos Kanaris (, ; c. 1790Benizelos Roufos Benizelos Roufos (; 1795–1868) was a Greek politician and Prime Minister of Greece. Biography Early life Roufos was born in Patras in 1795, a scion of the wealthy Roufos-Kanakaris family. He was the son of Athanasios Kanakaris who fought dur ...

. Soon, the insurrection spread to

Missolonghi Missolonghi or Mesolongi (, ) is a municipality of 32,048 people (according to the 2021 census) in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis Mesolongiou (). Missolon ...

and

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

. On 22 October, the insurrection reached the capital

and a provisional government was established, with Rouphos as the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. On the following day, the revolutionaries proclaimed the deposition of the royal couple, and convened an assembly for the election of a new monarch. The royal couple was then brought from

Kalamata Kalamata ( ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece after Patras, and the largest city of the Peloponnese (region), homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regiona ...

by the Minister of Police and placed under the protection of a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

warship, HMS ''Scylla''. At the same time, the property of the royal couple, which remained in the

Old Royal Palace The Old Royal Palace ( ''Palaiá Anáktora'') is the first royal palace of modern Greece. It is neoclassical building situated at the heart of modern Athens, facing onto Syntagma Square. It was constructed between 1836 and 1843 to serve as th ...

, was inventoried before being returned to their legitimate possessors. Advised by ambassadors of the

Great Powers A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...

, Otto and Amalia left Greece and went into exile. In spite of everything, the King refused to abdicate and did not envision his departure as being definitive.

Aftermath

The Constitution of 1864 was established to implement the transition from

to a

crowned republic A crowned republic, also known as a monarchical republic, is a system of monarchy where the monarch's role is almost entirely ceremonial and where nearly all of the royal prerogatives are exercised in such a way that the monarch personally has ...

under a new sovereign.

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:1862 10 23 Revolution Conflicts in 1862

1862 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos Island, in modern-day Nigeria. * January 6 – Second French intervention in Mexico, French intervention in Mexico: Second French Empire, French, Spanish and British ...

1862 in Greece Hellenic Parliament History of Greece (1832–1862) 19th century in Athens October 1862 1860s coups d'état and coup attempts 1860s in Greek politics Otto of Greece

Background

Revolution

Aftermath

See also

Citations

References