List of kings of Greece
The Kingdom of Greece was ruled by the House of Wittelsbach between 1832 and 1862 and by the House of Glücksburg from 1862 to 1924, temporarily abolished during the Second Hellenic Republic, and from 1935 to 1973, when it was once more abolished and replaced by the Third Hellenic Republic.
Only the first king, Otto, was actually styled King of Greece. His successor, George I, was styled King of the Greeks, as were all other modern monarchs.
A republic was briefly established from 1924 to 1935. The restored monarchy was abolished following a referendum in 1973 conducted under the auspices of the then-ruling military regime. Its finding was confirmed by a second referendum in 1974, after the restoration of democratic rule.
House of Wittelsbach
The London Conference of 1832 was an international conference convened to establish a stable government in Greece. Negotiations between the three Great Powers resulted in the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece under a Bavarian Prince. The decisions were ratified in the Treaty of Constantinople later that year.The convention offered the throne to the Bavarian Prince, Otto. They also established the line of succession which would pass the crown to Otto's descendants, or his younger brothers should he have no issue. It was also decided that in no case would there be a personal union of the crowns of Greece and Bavaria.
| Name Reign | Duration as Monarch | Portrait | Arms | Birth Parentage | Marriage Issue | Death | Succession right | Title |
| Otto 27 May 1832 – 23 October 1862 | 1 June 1815 Salzburg, Austria Son of Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen | Amalia of Oldenburg 22 December 1836 no children | 26 July 1867 Bamberg, Bavaria aged 52 | Chosen by the Great Powers | King of Greece |
House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
In October 1862, King Otto was deposed in a popular revolt, but while the Greek people rejected Otto, they did not seem averse to the concept of monarchy per se. Many Greeks, seeking closer ties to the pre-eminent world power, the United Kingdom, rallied around the idea that Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, could become the next King. British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were "panting for increase in territory", hoping that the election of Alfred as King would also result in the incorporation of the Ionian Islands, which were then a British protectorate, into an enlarged Greek state.The London Conference of 1832, however, had prohibited any of the Great Powers' ruling families from accepting the crown of Greece, and in any event, Queen Victoria was adamantly opposed to the idea. Nevertheless, the Greeks insisted on holding a referendum on the issue of the head of state in November 1862. It was the first referendum ever held in Greece.
Prince Alfred turned down the Kingship and Prince William of Denmark, son of Prince Christian of Denmark, was elected by the National Assembly to become King George I of the Hellenes.
| Name Reign | Duration as Monarch | Portrait | Arms | Birth Parentage | Marriage Issue | Death | Succession right | Title |
| George I 30 March 1863 – 18 March 1913 | ' | 24 December 1845 Copenhagen, Denmark Son of Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse | Olga Constantinovna of Russia 27 October 1867 8 children | 18 March 1913 Thessaloniki, Ottoman Empire aged 67 | Seventh cousin once removed through William the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Elected King of Greece | King of the Hellenes | ||
| Constantine I 18 March 1913 – 11 June 1917 | ' | 2 August 1868 Athens, Kingdom of Greece Son of George I of Greece and Olga Constantinovna of Russia | Sophia of Prussia 27 October 1889 6 children | 11 January 1923 Palermo, Kingdom of Italy aged 54 | Son of George I | King of the Hellenes | ||
| Alexander 11 June 1917 – 25 October 1920 | ' | 1 August 1893 Athens, Kingdom of Greece Son of Constantine I of Greece and Sophia of Prussia | Aspasia Manos 17 November 1919 1 child | 25 October 1920 Athens, Kingdom of Greece aged 27 | Son of Constantine I | King of the Hellenes | ||
| Constantine I 19 December 1920 – 27 September 1922 | ' | 2 August 1868 Athens, Kingdom of Greece Son of George I of Greece and Olga Constantinovna of Russia | Sophia of Prussia 27 October 1889 6 children | 11 January 1923 Palermo, Kingdom of Italy aged 54 | Son of George I | King of the Hellenes | ||
| George II 27 September 1922 – 5 March 1924 | 19 July 1890 Athens, Kingdom of Greece Son of Constantine I of Greece and Sophia of Prussia | Elisabeth of Romania 27 February 1921 no children | 1 April 1947 Athens, Kingdom of Greece aged 56 | Son of Constantine I | King of the Hellenes |
Second Hellenic Republic
The Second Republic was proclaimed on 25 March 1924, in the aftermath of Greece's defeat by Turkey in the Asia Minor Campaign, which was widely blamed on the royalist government. During its brief existence, the Second Republic proved unstable. Greek society continued to be divided, as it was since the National Schism, between the pro-Republican Venizelists and the monarchists represented by the People's Party, who refused to acknowledge even the legitimacy of the Republic.The cleavage in society extended to cultural and social issues such as differences over the use of Greek language to architectural styles. To this polarization was added the destabilizing involvement of the military in politics which resulted in several coups and attempted coups. The economy was in ruins following a decade of warfare and was unable to support the 1.5 million refugees from the population exchange with Turkey.
Despite the efforts of the reformist government of Eleftherios Venizelos in 1928-1932, the Great Depression had disastrous impact on Greece's economy. The electoral victory of the People's Party in 1933, and two failed Venizelist coups, paved the way to the restoration of the reign of King George II.
House of Glücksburg (restored)
In 1935, Prime Minister Georgios Kondylis, a former pro-Venizelos military officer, became the most powerful political figure in Greece. He compelled Panagis Tsaldaris to resign as Prime Minister and took over the government, suspending many constitutional provisions in the process. Kondylis, who had now joined the Conservatives, decided to hold a referendum in order to re-establish the monarchy, despite the fact that he used to be a supporter of the anti-monarchist wing of Greek politics.| Name Reign | Duration as Monarch | Portrait | Arms | Birth Parentage | Marriage Issue | Death | Succession right | Title |
| George II 3 November 1935 – 1 April 1947 | ' | 19 July 1890 Athens, Kingdom of Greece Son of Constantine I of Greece and Sophia of Prussia | Divorced 6 July 1935 | 1 April 1947 Athens, Kingdom of Greece aged 56 | Son of Constantine I | King of the Hellenes | ||
| Paul 1 April 1947 – 6 March 1964 | ' | 14 December 1901 Athens, Kingdom of Greece Son of Constantine I of Greece and Sophia of Prussia | Frederica of Hanover 9 January 1938 3 children | 6 March 1964 Athens, Kingdom of Greece aged 62 | Son of Constantine I | King of the Hellenes | ||
| Constantine II 6 March 1964 – 1 June 1973 | 2 June 1940 Athens, Kingdom of Greece Son of Paul of Greece and Frederica of Hanover | Anne-Marie of Denmark 18 September 1964 5 children | Living; | Son of Paul | King of the Hellenes |
Timeline of kings of Greece
ImageSize = width:1250 height:auto barincrement:25
PlotArea = top:10 bottom:30 right:130 left:20
AlignBars = justify
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1832 till:1973
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:1832
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:10 start:1832
Colors =
id:canvas value:rgb
id:eon value:Blue
id:w value:green
id:rg value:orange
id:g value:rgb
id:rp value:rgb
Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas
BarData =
barset:Rulers
bar:eon
PlotData=
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark: width:25 shift:
bar:eon color:eon
from: start till: 1862 color:w text:Wittelsbach
from: 1862 till: 1863 color:rg text:Regency
from: 1863 till: 1924 color:g text:Glücksburg
from: 1924 till: 1935 color:rp text:Republic
from: 1935 till: end color:g text:Glücksburg
width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift: anchor:till
barset:Rulers
from: start till: 1862 color:w text:"Otto"
from: 1863 till: 1913 color:g text:"George I"
from: 1913 till: 1917 color:g text:"Constantine I"
from: 1917 till: 1920 color:g text:"Alexander"
from: 1920 till: 1922 color:g text:"Constantine I"
from: 1922 till: 1924 color:g text:"George II"
from: 1935 till: 1947 color:g text:"George II"
from: 1947 till: 1964 color:g text:"Paul"
from: 1964 till: end color:g text:"Constantine II"
barset:skip