Monarchy of Greece () or Greek monarchy () is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign (''

Basileus ''Basileus'' () is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs throughout history. In the English language, English-speaking world, it is perhaps most widely understood to mean , referring to either a or an . The title ...

'') reigns as the head of state of

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 ...

. Monarchy in Greece lasted from 1832 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1973.

History

The monarchy of Greece was created by the

London Conference of 1832 The London Conference of 1832 was an international conference convened to establish a stable government in Greece. Negotiations among the three Great Powers ( Britain, France and Russia) resulted in the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece under ...

at which the

First Hellenic Republic The First Hellenic Republic () was the provisional Greek state during the Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Empire. From 1822 until 1827, it was known as the Provisional Administration of Greece, and between 1827 and 1832, it was known as ...

was abolished. The Greek crown was originally offered to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha but he declined, later being elected the

king of the Belgians The monarchy of Belgium is the Constitutional monarchy, constitutional and Inheritance, hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/quee ...

. In 1832, Prince Otto of Bavaria of the

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

was styled "His Majesty Otto I, King of Greece", over which he reigned for 30 years until he was deposed in 1862. After Otto's deposition as king, the crown was offered to many others, including the novelist and former British colonial secretary

Edward Bulwer-Lytton Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (; 25 May 1803 – 18 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secr ...

. A head of state referendum was held in 1862 to name a new king. The vast majority of Greek people wanted Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, to be their new king. He won the referendum by 230,016 against the Duke of Leuchtenberg. Alfred declined to be king, and so did every candidate until Prince Vilhelm of Denmark of the

House of Glücksburg The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, also known by its short name as the House of Glücksburg, is the senior surviving branch of the German House of Oldenburg, one of Europe's oldest royal houses. Oldenburg house members hav ...

, who had received only six votes. Vilhelm was elected unanimously by the Greek Assembly, and became "His Majesty George I, King of the

Hellenes Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, Anatolia, parts of Italy and Egypt, and to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. They also f ...

". There was a referendum in 1920 to restore

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

as monarch, but four years later the

Second Hellenic Republic The Second Hellenic Republic is a modern Historiography, historiographical term used to refer to the Greece, Greek state during a period of republican governance between 1924 and 1935. To its contemporaries it was known officially as the Hellenic ...

was established and the monarchy was abolished following a referendum in 1924. Then in 1935 the monarchy was restored after a referendum and maintained after a referendum in 1946. In July 1973 the

Greek military junta The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels with CIA backing overthrew the caretaker government a month before scheduled elections wh ...

called a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

, which abolished the monarchy for the second time in Greek history. Then in 1974, the democratically elected prime minister, Konstantinos Karamanlis, called a

which legitimately confirmed the abolition.

Residences

Tatoi was the private residence and 10,000-acre estate outside of Athens originally bought by King George I in the 1870s. The property was seized by the Republic following the 1974 referendum and has long been a contentious issue between the former royal family and the Greek state. The Old Royal Palace () is the first royal palace of modern Greece, completed in 1843. It has housed the Hellenic Parliament since 1934. The Old Palace is situated at the heart of modern Athens, facing onto

Syntagma Square Syntagma Square (, , "Constitution Square") is the central square of Athens, Greece. The square is named after the Greek Constitution of 1844, Constitution that Otto of Greece, Otto, the first King of Greece, was obliged to grant after a popular a ...

Kings of Greece

Royal consorts

Regents of Greece

Insignia

File:Royal Monogram of King Otto of Greece.svg, Monogram of Otto I File:Royal Monogram of King George I of Greece.svg, Monogram of George I File:Royal Monogram of King Constantine I of Greece.svg, Monogram of Constantine I File:Royal Monogram of King Alexander of Greece.svg, Monogram of Alexander I File:Royal Monogram of King George II of Greece.svg, Monogram of George II File:Royal Monogram of King Paul of Greece.svg, Monogram of Paul I File:Royal Monogram of King Constantine II of Greece.svg, Monogram of Constantine II

References

External links

* {{Europe topic, prefix=Monarchy of * Political history of Greece 1832 establishments in Greece 1973 disestablishments in Greece