List of kings of Greece

The Royal coat of arms of Greece under the Glücksburg dynasty, created after the restoration of King George II to the throne in 1935, to the exile of King Constantine II in 1967 and finally until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973.

This is a list of kings of the modern state 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 permanently abolished and replaced by the Hellenic Republic.

Only the first king, Otto I, was actually styled King of Greece (Greek: Βασιλεὺς τῆς Ἑλλάδος). His successor, George I, was styled King of the Hellenes (Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων), 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.

Kingdom of Greece (1832–1974)

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 (United Kingdom, France and Russia) 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.

Portrait	Coat of Arms	Name	Reign		Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
		Otto I (Ὄθων Α΄)	27 May 1832[1]	23 October 1862	• None	King of Greece (Βασιλεὺς τῆς Ἑλλάδος)

House of 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.

Portrait	Coat of Arms	Name	Reign		Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
		George I (Γεώργιος Α΄)	30 March 1863	18 March 1913	• Seventh cousin once removed through William the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Elected King	King of the Hellenes (Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων)
		Constantine I (Κωνσταντῖνος Α΄)	18 March 1913	11 June 1917	• Son of George I	King of the Hellenes (Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων)
		Alexander I (Ἀλέξανδρος Α΄)	11 June 1917	25 October 1920	• Son of Constantine I	King of the Hellenes (Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων)
		Constantine I (Κωνσταντῖνος Α΄)	19 December 1920	27 September 1922	• Son of George I; father of Alexander I	King of the Hellenes (Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων)
		George II (Γεώργιος Β΄)	27 September 1922	25 March 1924	• Son of Constantine I; brother of Alexander I	King of the Hellenes (Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων)
• Second Hellenic Republic (1924–1935) •
		George II (Γεώργιος Β΄)	3 November 1935	1 April 1947	• Son of Constantine I; brother of Alexander I	King of the Hellenes (Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων)
		Paul I (Παῦλος A΄)	1 April 1947	6 March 1964	• Son of Constantine I	King of the Hellenes (Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων)
		Constantine II (Κωνσταντῖνος Β΄)	6 March 1964	13 December 1967 (exiled) 1 June 1973 (deposed)	• Son of Paul I	King of the Hellenes (Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων)

Timeline of kings of Greece

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monarchs of Greece.

• Greek Crown Jewels
• Greek Royal Family
• List of Greek regents
• List of Greek royal consorts
• List of heads of state of Greece

Kingdom of Greece
Kings	House of Wittelsbach: Otto House of Glücksburg: George I Constantine I Alexander George II Paul Constantine II
History	3 September 1843 Revolution Greek Constitution of 1844 1862 head of state referendum Greek Constitution of 1864 1896 Summer Olympics Greco-Turkish War (1897) Macedonian Struggle Goudi coup Greek Constitution of 1911 Balkan Wars National Schism Greece in WWI Asia Minor Campaign 1920 referendum Great Fire of Smyrna 11 September 1922 Revolution Republic referendum 1924 Monarchy referendum 1935 4th of August Regime Greece in WWII Monarchy referendum 1946 Greek Civil War 1967 Greek coup d'état Greek military junta of 1967–1974 Republic referendum 1973 Republic referendum 1974
Notable PM	Josef Ludwig von Armansperg Ioannis Kolettis Alexandros Koumoundouros Epameinondas Deligeorgis Charilaos Trikoupis Theodoros Diligiannis Eleftherios Venizelos Dimitrios Gounaris Ioannis Metaxas Georgios Papandreou Nikolaos Plastiras Alexandros Papagos Konstantinos Karamanlis Georgios Papadopoulos (coup d'état)
Orders	Order of the Redeemer Order of St. George & Constantine Order of St. Olga & Sophia Order of George I Order of the Phoenix Order of Beneficence
Related	Basileus Kings Regents Coat of arms Crown Jewels Crown Prince Duke of Sparta Royal family

References