European Kingdoms

Kingdom of Greece
AD 1830 - 1974

Ancient Greece was conquered piecemeal by the Roman Republic in the last two centuries BC. From then until the fall of Constantinople in 1453 it was part of the Roman and Byzantine empires. Then the Ottoman empire controlled it until, during the early years of the nineteenth century, the Greeks revolted. They were finding a good deal of success in their fight against the Turks, but the modernised Egyptian army under Muhammed Ali was ordered to sail to Greece to put a stop to their efforts. Popular European support of the revolt led the Russians, French and British to send a fleet which sank the Egyptians at Navarino in 1827. This was the last serious threat to the Greeks' efforts.

1821 - 1829

The Greek War of Independence against rule by the Ottoman empire.

1821 - 1828

Alexander Ypsilanti

Led the revolt.

1827

The Treaty of London is signed, in which Britain, France and Russia support Greek independence.

1827 - 1830

Count Kapodistrias

Regent.

1828 - 1829

The Russo-Turkish War ends in the Peace of Adrianople. The London Conference in 1830 recognises Greek independence.

1832 - 1862

Otto of Bavaria

First King. Brother of the king of Bavaria.

1863 - 1913

George I of Denmark

Elder brother of King Frederick VIII of Denmark.

1905

Eleutherios Venizelos, the 'lion of Crete', wins the independence of his island from Turkey.

1913 - 1917

Constantine I

Son. Abdicated.

Andrew

Brother. m Alice of Hessen-Battenberg.

1915

Persuaded to join the Allied cause of Britain, France and Russia, the Greek prime minister, Eleutherios Venizelos, attempts to end Greek neutrality. However, he has overestimated the strength of his position at home. On 5 October he is dismissed from office by the king who, apart from being the German kaiser's brother-in-law, wishes to preserve Greece's neutrality. That neutrality cannot be enforced militarily, though, and Britain and France land an expeditionary force which turns Salonika into a vast Allied base from which they can attack the Austrian forces in Serbia.

1916 - 1917

Venizelos returns to politics, forming a government at Salonika which Britain recognises as legitimate. The following year, Constantine abdicates, and Venizelos is able to resume his post with popular support.

1917 - 1920

Alexander

Second son of Constantine I.

1920 - 1922

Venizelos attempts to seize a large section of western Anatolia from the Ottoman empire. Turkish troops capture Smyrna on 10 September 1922, massacring the Greek population and ending the Greek-Turkish War. After having colonised western Turkey some three thousand years before, at the end of the Mycenaean period, all Greeks are expelled from Turkey, many of them having been Turkish in all but name for generations and not being able to speak Greek at all.

1920 - 1922

Constantine I

Philip Mountbatten

Grandson of George I. m Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.

1922 - 1924

George II

First son of Constantine I.

1924 - 1935

The monarchy is abolished and a Greek Republic established.

1935 - 1941

George II

1941 - 1944

Greece is occupied by Nazi Germany. and the Greek monarchy is only just about reinstated after the Second World War.

1944 - 1947

The poverty endured by the ex-Turkish Greeks and the grievances they have brought with them spark civil war in Greece.

1946 - 1947

George II

1947 - 1964

Paul

Third son of Constantine I.

1964 - 1973

Constantine II

Son. Became an exile in 1967. Deposed 1973.

Sophia

Sister. Married King Juan Carlos of Spain.

1967

The army leads a coup which establishes a dictatorship. Constantine II tries to organise a counter-coup. When this fails he is forced to flee the country. The monarchy is abolished in 1973, but the kings continue to claim a Hereditary title.

1967 - 1974

Georgios Papadopoulos

Joint Dictators.

1967 - 1974

Dimitrios Ioannides

1974

Following a failed attempt to invade Cyprus and bring it under direct Greek rule (thus prompting the Turkish invasion of eastern Cyprus), the dictatorship is quashed and a democratic Greek Republic is declared.

Hereditary Kings of Greece
AD 1974 - Present Day

Constantine II went into exile on 13 December 1967, with his constitutional role being taken by regents who were appointed by the military junta in Greece. It wasn't until 1 June 1973 that the junta abolished the monarchy, replacing it with a republic headed by a president. Constantine has never officially abdicated his throne, but today he is allowed free access into and out of Greece.

1973 - Present

Constantine II

Exile. Born 2 June 1940.

Crown Prince Paul / Pavlos

Son and heir. Born 1967.