Abolished monarchy

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Throughout history monarchies have been abolished either through legislative reforms, coups d'etat, or wars.

One example is the overthrow in 1649 of the English monarchy by the Parliament of England, led by Oliver Cromwell. The monarchy was restored in 1660. Another is the abolition of the French monarchy in 1792, during the French Revolution. The French monarchy was later restored several times until 1871. The ancient monarchy of China ceased to exist in 1912 after the revolution of Sun Yat-sen. The last emperor of Korea lost his throne in 1910 when the country was annexed by Japan. After the death of the last khagan in 1924 Mongolia became a republic.

In 1893 foreign business leaders overthrew the Queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii. They established a republic, which joined the United States in 1898. The monarchy of Portugal was overthrown in 1910, two years after the assassination of King Carlos I.

The monarchy of Russia was abolished during World War I. The monarchies of Turkey, Germany and Austria were abolished in the aftermath of the same conflict. At the time, monarchies were planned for the Grand Duchy of Finland (to have a Finnish King), and for Lithuania (Mindaugas II of Lithuania), with a protectorate-like dependency of Germany. Both kings renounced their thrones after Germany's defeat in November 1918.

The royal houses of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Albania, and Italy were toppled in the aftermath of World War II. In Greece the king was forced into exile after a coup d'état in 1967 and the republic was proclaimed in 1973 (confirmed by referendum in 1974).

The monarchies of India, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe were abolished when, or shortly after, they became independent of the United Kingdom, while remaining within the Commonwealth in the middle of the 20th century. That of Ireland was not abolished when Ireland became independent of the United Kingdom in the 1920s, but was abolished by the Republic of Ireland Act of 1948, which came into force in 1949. Pakistan became a republic in 1956. The monarchy in South Africa was abolished in 1961 with referendum. The latest country to become a Commonwealth republic was Mauritius in 1992.

That of Egypt was abolished after a coup d'état in 1952; that of Tunisia in 1957, that of Iraq in 1958, that of Libya in 1969, that of Iran was abolished by the Islamic revolution of 1979. In Ethiopia the emperor lost his throne in 1975 due to a communist takeover. Communist revolutions put to end the monarchies of Indochina after World War II: Vietnam in 1955, Laos in 1975 and Cambodia in 1970. Later the monarchy was restored in Cambodia under Norodom Sihanouk in 1993.

Brazil rejected an attempt to restore its monarchy in the 1990s[1], while efforts to restore the monarchies of some of the Balkan states in the former Eastern Bloc continue. In Bulgaria, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was deposed from the Bulgarian throne in 1946, was elected and recently served as the Prime Minister of his country from 2001 to 2005. In a 1999 referendum, the voters of Australia rejected a proposal to abolish their monarchy in favour of a specific republic model. The proposal was rejected in all states, with only the Australian Capital Territory passing the proposal.

On December 24, 2007, the Nepalese government decided in an accord to abolish the monarchy after the elections to be held in April, 2008.[1] The Nepalese monarchy was formally abolished on 28 May, 2008.

Contents

[edit] Monarchies abolished in the 20th-21st centuries

Country

Last Monarch

Year

Annotations
1900s
1910s
Portugal Manuel II 1910 revolution
Korea Sunjong native monarchy abolished; replaced by rule by Japan, a monarchy, through 1945
China Puyi 1912 Xīnhài Revolution – Emperor ousted by warlords and republicans
Albania William I 1914 monarchy restored in 1928 (Albanian Kingdom)
Russia Nikolai II 1917 February Revolution
Montenegro Nikola I 1918 referendum deposed King and united with Serbia
Germany Wilhelm II All on account of German defeat in World War I and the following German Revolution
– Prussia
– Bavaria
– Württemberg
– Saxony
– Hesse
– Baden
– Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
– Mecklenburg-Schwerin
– Mecklenburg-Strelitz
– Oldenburg
– Brunswick
– Anhalt
– Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
– Saxe-Meiningen
– Saxe-Altenburg
– Waldeck-Pyrmont
– Lippe
– Schaumburg-Lippe
– Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
– Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
– Reuss Senior Line
– Reuss Junior Line
Austria Karl I deposed and monarchy abolished
Finland Frederick Charles I (king-elect) never in effect
Lithuania Mindaugas II (king-elect)
Poland None (ruled by Regency Council)
Hungary Károly IV restored 1920, although throne remained vacant with a Regent
1920s
Bukhara (Uzbekistan) Mohammed Alim Khan 1920 —
Khiva (Uzbekistan) Abdallah Khan —
Turkey (Ottoman Empire) Mehmed VI 1923 Turkish War of Independence followed by a parliamentary decision in 1923
Greece Georgios II 1924 restored 1935 and later abolished in 1974 (see below)
Mongolia Bogd Khan —
1930s
Spain Alfonso XIII 1931 later restored (see below)
1940s
Croatia Tomislav II 1943 abdicated after withdrawal of Italian support
Iceland Christian X 1944 union with Denmark terminated
Yugoslavia Petar II 1945 communist reconstruction
Manchukuo Puyi merged into the Republic of China after abolition of the Empire
Hungary None (Miklós Horthy as regent) 1946 Decision of the parliament without a referendum.
Italy Umberto II referendum; official result: 54,3% in favour of republic
Bulgaria Simeon II referendum initiated by the Soviets; official result: 95% against monarchy
Albania Zog I deposed by Communists
Sarawak Charles Vyner Brooke White Rajahs hand over power to British crown
Romania Mihai I 1947 forced out by communists
Indian Princely States See article 1947-
1950		 became federal states of an independent India
Ireland George VI 1949 Abolished the last "King of Ireland", the King of the United Kingdom
1950s
India George VI 1950 Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
Egypt Fuad II 1953 coup d'état
Vietnam Bao Dai 1955 referendum
Pakistan Elizabeth II 1956 Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
Tunisia Muhammad VIII al-Amin 1957 coup d'état
Iraq Faisal II 1958
1960s
Ghana Elizabeth II 1960 Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
South Africa Elizabeth II 1961
Rwanda Kigeli V coup d'état
Tanganyika Elizabeth II 1962 Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
Yemen Muhammad XI coup d'état
Nigeria Elizabeth II 1963 Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
Uganda Elizabeth II
Kenya Elizabeth II 1964
Zanzibar Jamshid bin Abdullah coup d'état
Burundi Ntare V 1966
Malawi Elizabeth II Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
Maldives Muhammad Fareed Didi 1968 referendum
Libya Idris I 1969 coup d'état
1970s
Cambodia Norodom Sihanouk 1970 later restored (see below)
The Gambia Elizabeth II Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
Guyana Elizabeth II
Sierra Leone Elizabeth II 1971
Ceylon Elizabeth II 1972 Abolished Commonwealth monarchy, state name changed in to "Sri Lanka"
Afghanistan Mohammed Zahir Shah 1973 coup d'état
Ethiopia Haile Selassie I 1974
Greece Konstaninos II referendum; official result: 69% against monarchy
Malta Elizabeth II Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
Laos Savang Vatthana 1975 coup d'état
Trinidad and Tobago Elizabeth II 1976 Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi 1979 Iranian Revolution
Central Africa Bokassa I coup d'état
1980s
Fiji Elizabeth II 1987 Abolished Commonwealth monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II recognised as Paramount Chief by the Great Council of Chiefs
1990s
Mauritius Elizabeth II 1992 Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
2000s
Samoa Malietoa Tanumafili II 2007 Last non-elected ruler (O le Ao o le Malo) died, country de facto switched to parliamentary republic
Nepal Gyanendra of Nepal 2008 Monarchy abolished on 28 May 2008, replaced with secular federal republic[2]

[edit] Current monarchies that were abolished and then restored

Country

Year

Annotations

Restored
England 1649 Commonwealth of England established 1660
Spain 1873 First Spanish Republic established 1874
1931 Second Spanish Republic established, restored disputedly
1947, initially under regency of Francisco Franco		 1975
(de facto)
Ankole 1967 Abolished by government under new constitution of Milton Obote 1993
Buganda
Bunyoro
Toro
Cambodia 1970 coup d'état 1975
1976 King forced into exile once again by Khmer Rouge 1993

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC NEWS | South Asia | Nepalese monarchy to be abolished
  2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7424302.stm