European Kingdoms

Modern Greece
AD 1974 - Present Day
Incorporating Heads of State (1974-2026)

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The modern 'Hellenic Republic' at the eastern end of the Mediterranean in Europe was brought into being on 11 June 1975, following a referendum which confirmed the abolition of the former monarchy of the 'Kingdom of Greece'.

The modern Greek republic borders Albania, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria to the north (which incorporates much, but not all, of ancient Thrace), while Turkey faces it across the Aegean Sea. The Ionian Islands and most of those in the Aegean are also part of the Greek state, as is Athos.

The territory of ancient Greece stretched quite some way farther than do the modern borders. It was home to various Mycenaean and then Greek city states during the end of the second millennium BC and throughout the first millennium BC respectively. The people who created and ruled these states were not only Indo-Europeans, they also intermingled with the preceding native population.

This included a large number of descended Neolithic farmer groups of Old Europe, people who had founded the Sesklo culture in Greece around 6700 BC and who may have later been represented by the Pelasgians. Conquest by Rome saw them become part of an empire which governed the region for the next millennium and-a-half, until the fall of the Eastern Roman empire at Ottoman hands in 1453.

Greek independence followed in the early 1800s after a struggle to throw off Ottoman controls. The last king of this modern Greece, Constantine II, went into exile on 13 December 1967, with his constitutional role being taken by 'regents' (in effect dictators) who were appointed by the military junta in Greece.

Please note that the History Files does not regularly monitor changes in modern heads of state or their representatives. Get in touch here if this section requires updating.

(Information by Peter Kessler and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information from The Ottoman Empire: A Historical Encyclopaedia, Mehrdad Kia (two volumes), from The Founder of Modern Egypt: A Study of Muhammal 'Ali, Henry Dodwell (Cambridge University Press, 1967), from Encyclopaedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Cambridge (England), 1910), from Kingdoms of Europe, Gene Gurney (New York, 1982), from Hammond Historical Atlas (Maplewood, New Jersey, 1963), from Historical Atlas of the World, R R Palmer (Ed, Chicago, 1963), from Times Atlas of World History, Geoffrey Barraclough (Ed, Maplewood, New Jersey, 1979), from Washington Post (Letters, 19 April 1998, 5 April 1999, 28 June 1999, 4 November 2002 (Obituary of Michalis Stasinopoulos), 18 June 2018 (Greece and Macedonia seal name-change deal after decades-long dispute), 12 January 2019 (Digest), 26 January 2019 (Greece agrees to name change for Macedonia), and from External Links: BBC Country Profiles, and A History of Thessaly: From the Earliest Historical Times to the Accession of Philip V of Macedonia, Ronald Grubb Kent ((Press of the New Era Printing Company, 1904, available via the Internet Archive), and The Greeks really do have near-mythical origins, ancient DNA reveals (Science), and Macedonia agrees to name change (The Week), and Republic of North Macedonia born amid mass protests (The Week), and Last king of Greece dies (The Guardian), and Rulers, and Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), and Violent protests in Greece (The Guardian), and Air force officer accused of spying for China (The Guardian).)

1974 - 2023

Exile. Born 2 June 1940. Former king of Greece. Died at 82.

1974 - 1975

President ten days after anti-monarchy referendum.

1975 - 1980

Parliamentary-elected president. ND Party.

1980 - 1985

President. ND Party (until 10 Mar 1985).

1981

Greece becomes a member of the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Community and the European Union. Despite many concerns about the country joining, Greece's entry is a way to ensure democracy and stability in Southern Europe at the height of the cold war.

Greek Prime Minister Constantinos Karamanlis signs the accession treaty to the European Economic Community in 1981, the forerunner to the European Community and European Union

1985

Acting. Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).

1985 - 1990

President from 29 Mar. No Party.

1990 - 1995

President. ND Party.

1991

Yugoslavia's Macedonia region declares independence from the crumbling state. Greece objects to the name which is subsequently adopted for the region - the 'Republic of Macedonia' - as well as its flag on the grounds that both imply territorial claims to the neighbouring Greek province of Macedonia. The argument will rumble on for over two decades, although relations are normalised in 1995. Macedonia is henceforth known as the 'Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia' (FYROM).

The independence referendum in 1991 by Yugoslavia's southern province of Macedonia confirmed the province's desire to remove itself and create the independent republic of Macedonia (usually FYROM to the rest of the world)

1994

The country's socialist government strips King Constantine of his Greek nationality and expropriates what remains of the royal family's property. Constantine sues at the European court of human rights and is awarded twelve million euros in 2002, a fraction of the five hundred million he had sought.

1995 - 2005

President. No Party.

1999

On 7 September a massive earthquake, registering 6.0, strikes from a previously unknown geological fault at a point approximately seventeen kilometres north of Athens. It causes widespread structural damage and kills 143 people. Taking place less than a month after a similar earthquake in Turkey, the Turks supply aid and rescue teams, which contributes significantly to a thaw in relations between the two countries.

From the ruins of the 1999 earthquake came improved relations with neighbouring Turkey after years of mutual hostility following events which surrounded Cyprus in the 1970s

2000 - 2002

In June 2000, senior British diplomat Brigadier Stephen Saunders is shot dead in Athens by the left-wing guerrilla group, 'November 17'. In July 2002, the group's suspected leader and other members are arrested after one of them is injured, allegedly by his own bomb, and provides information to the police. The subsequent trial ends with prison sentences for all of the suspects.

2005 - 2015

President. PASOK.

2008

An opinion poll which is conducted in Greece finds that fewer than twelve percent of Greeks favour a return to a constitutional monarchy and the 'Kingdom of Greece'. More than forty-three percent of people asked still blame ex-King Constantine II for the coming of the military junta which itself caused so many problems.

2009 - 2013

Greece's credit rating is downgraded in December 2009 by one of the world's three leading rating agencies amid fears that the government may default on its ballooning debt. The worldwide credit crisis which had begun in the United States in 2007 is really biting by this stage. Tough austerity measures are introduced amid mass protests and strikes.

In 2009 international credit ratings agencies downgraded Greek debt after Athens revealed that the public deficit was at 12.7 percent of GDP, breaking a three-percent threshold which had been set by the eurozone's 'Stability and Growth Pact'

The problem becomes a rumbling issue with the EU as Greece accepts successive bailouts via the European Financial Stability Facility. The Greek parliament passes the 2014 budget in December 2013, which is predicated on a return to growth after six years of recession. Now-current Prime Minister Samaras hails this as the first decisive step towards exiting the bailout (Greece's credit rating is upgraded in 2018).

2015 - 2020

President. New Democracy (ND).

2018

The 'Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia' (FYROM) agrees to change its name in July 2018, bringing to an end the long dispute with neighbouring Greece. It will now be known as Severna Makedonija, or the republic of North Macedonia, providing a sufficient difference from the neighbouring Greek province of Macedonia to be acceptable to Greece itself. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras survives a vote of no confidence to sign the accompanying accord with Northern Macedonia.

2020 - 2025

First female president. Former high court judge. No Party.

2022

A sixteen year-old Romany boy refuels his vehicle at a petrol station before allegedly driving off without paying on Monday 5 December. He is chased by the police in Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, being shot in the head during the chase. Although the officer in question is quickly arrested and suspended for unauthorised use of his weapon, the act is just the latest in a number which involve the Romany community.

Fires which burned on the road outside a main hospital in Thessaloniki on Monday 5 December 2022 were lit by a group of Romany men, but plenty of the city's Greek inhabitants were equally enraged by the needless shooting

Actions by angry Roma in the city and a protest march which involves about fifteen hundred people lead to police retaliation with tear gas and stun grenades. Several hundred people also take part in a peaceful protest march in central Athens over the shooting, as well as over a past incident in which a Romany man had been shot during a police chase.

2023 - Present

Son of Constantine II. Born 20 May 1967.

2025 - On

President. New Democracy (ND).

2026

A Greek air force officer who has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China is been detained pending trial after appearing before a military judge. The case is seen as an expose of Beijing's determination to infiltrate Europe's security and intelligence services.

Son and heir. Born 29 October 1998.