George II, King of the Hellenes ruled
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947.
Early life, first period of kingship and exile
George was born at the royal villa at
TatoiTatoi, located 15 km north of Athens, was the summer palace and estate of the former Greek Royal Family, and the site of George II of the Hellenes's birth...
, near
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
, the eldest son of
Constantine I, King of the HellenesConstantine I, King of the Hellenes was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, in which Greece captured...
and his wife, Princess
Sophia of PrussiaPrincess Sophie of Prussia , was a Queen consort of Greece.-Princess of Prussia:...
. He was a great-grandson of Queen Victoria and grandson of
George I of GreeceGeorge I, King of the Hellenes was King of Greece from 1863 to 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was only 17 years old when he was elected King by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the former King Otto...
, the Danish prince of Glucksburg who had been selected as King in 1863. He was a direct descendant of five Greek imperial (Byzantine) dynasties (Monomachos, Comnenos, Laskaris, Angelos, and Paleologos). George pursued a military career, training with the Prussian Guard at the age of 18, then serving in the Balkan War as a member of the 1st Greek Infantry. When his grandfather was assassinated in 1913, George became the crown prince (Diadochos) as well as the Duke of Sparta.
After a coup deposed King Constantine during the First World War, Crown Prince George, by then a Major, followed his father into exile in 1917 (see National Schism); his brother
AlexanderAlexander, King of the Hellenes ruled Greece from 1917 to 1920 until his unusual death as the result of sepsis contracted by being bitten by two monkeys.-Early life:...
was installed as king by prime minister
Eleftherios VenizelosEleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century...
, an avowed Republican.
When Alexander I died following an infection from a monkey bite in 1920, Venezelos was voted out of office, and a plebiscite restored Constantine to the throne. Crown Prince George served as a colonel, and later a major general in the war against
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
. During this time he married, on 27 February 1921 in
BucharestBucharest is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River....
, Princess Elisabeth of Romania, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Romania. When the Turks defeated Greece at the
Battle of SmyrnaThe Occupation of İzmir established between 21 May 1918 to 8 September 1922 by Greek forces under the High Commissioner Aristidis Stergiadis in the İzmir district aligned with the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. There was no military hostilities between Greece and the Ottoman Empire...
, the military forced the abdication of Constantine, and George succeeded to the Greek throne on 27 September 1922.
Following a failed royalist coup (by
Ioannis MetaxasIoannis Metaxas was a Greek General, appointed Prime Minister of Greece between April-August 1936 and dictator during the 4th of August Regime, from 1936 until his death in 1941.- Military career :...
) in October 1923, the Revolutionary Committee "asked" him to depart Greece while the National Assembly considered the question of the future form of government. He complied and, although he refused to abdicate, he left on 19 December 1923 for exile in his wife's home nation of
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
. When a
republicThe Second Hellenic Republic is the term used to describe the political regime of Greece from 1924 to 1935. It followed from the period of "crowned republic" under the monarchs of the Glücksburg dynasty, and lasted until its overthrow in a military coup d'état which restored the monarchy...
was proclaimed on 25 March 1924, he was officially deposed, stripped of his Greek nationality and his property confiscated.
His wife stayed in
BucharestBucharest is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River....
whilst he spent more and more time abroad visiting
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, and his mother in
FlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence...
. In 1932 he left Romania permanently and moved to Britain. Elisabeth and he had no children, and were divorced on 6 July 1935.
Restoration of monarchy and the Metaxas regime
In Greece between 1924 and 1935 there were 23 changes of government, a dictatorship and 13 coups. General
Georgios KondylisGeorgios Kondylis was a general of the Greek army and Prime Minister of Greece. He was nicknamed Keravnos, Greek for "Thunder" or "Thunderbolt".- Military career :...
, a former
VenizelistVenizelism was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid 1970s.- Ideology :Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were:*Opposition to Monarchy...
, overthrew the government in October 1935 and appointed himself Prime Minister. He then arranged a
plebisciteThe Greek plebiscite of 1935 was held to decide whether the monarchy should be 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...
both to approve his government and to bring an end to the Republic. On 3 November 1935, over 95% of the reported votes supported restoration of the monarchy. The balloting was not secret, and participation was compulsory. As
Time magazineTime is an American newsmagazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition...
described it at the time, "A voter one could drop into the ballot box a blue vote for George II and please General George Kondylis... or one could cast a red ballot for the Republic and get roughed up."
George, who had been living at Brown's Hotel in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, returned to Greek soil on November 25. Almost immediately he and Kondylis disagreed over the terms of a general amnesty the King wanted to declare, and George appointed an interim Prime Minister, Professor
Konstantinos DemertzisKonstantinos Demertzis was a Greek politician born in 1876. He was a Prime Minister of Greece from November 1935 to April 1936. Demertzis died during his mandate, of a heart attack, April 13, 1936....
. New elections were held in January, which resulted in a hung parliament with the Communists (who were anti-monarchist) holding the balance of power. A series of unexpected deaths amongst the better-known politicians (including Kondylis and Demertzis) as well as the uncertain political situation, led to the rise to power of
Ioannis MetaxasIoannis Metaxas was a Greek General, appointed Prime Minister of Greece between April-August 1936 and dictator during the 4th of August Regime, from 1936 until his death in 1941.- Military career :...
. On 4 August 1936, George endorsed Metaxas's establishment of dictatorship - the "
4th of August RegimeThe 4th of August Regime was an authoritarian regime under the leadership of General Ioannis Metaxas that ruled Greece from 1936 to 1941. There is some debate over how the regime relates to other authoritarian regimes of the era: those of Franco's Spain, Italian Fascism, and German Nazism...
", signing decrees that dissolved the parliament, banned political parties, abolished the constitution, and created a "Third Hellenic Civilization. The King, ruling with Prime Minister Metaxas, oversaw a fascist regime in which political opponents were arrested and strict censorship was imposed. An Index of banned books during that period included the works of
PlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world...
,
ThucydidesThucydides was a Greek historian and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century B.C. war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 B.C...
and
XenophonXenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens and Xenophon of Thebes, was a soldier, mercenary, and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...
.
World War II
Despite the regime's quasi-fascist tendencies and strong economic ties to
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
, King George was known to have pro-British feelings at the start of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. On 28 October 1940 Metaxas rejected an Italian ultimatum demanding the stationing of Italian troops in Greece, and Italy invaded, starting the
Greco-Italian WarThe Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...
. The Greeks mounted a successful defense and eventually occupied the southern half of
AlbaniaAlbania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south-east...
, but when the Germans invaded from
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
on 6 April 1941 the Greeks and the British Expeditionary Force were overrun, and mainland Greece occupied.
On April 23 the King and the government left the Greek mainland for
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
but after the
German airborne attackThe Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. The battle began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur Greek and Allied forces along with Cretan civilians defended the...
on the island he was evacuated to
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
. Once again he went into exile to Great Britain, seemingly at the behest of King
Farouk of EgyptFarouk I of Egypt , was the tenth ruler from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936. He was considered the first native Egyptian monarch for millennia despite his mixed roots...
and Farouk's pro-Italian ministers.
During the war he remained the internationally recognized head of state, backed by the exiled government and Greek forces serving in the Middle East. In occupied Greece, however, the leftist partisans of the
National Liberation Front (EAM)The National Liberation Front was the main movement of the Greek Resistance during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. Its main driving force was the Communist Party of Greece , but its membership throughout the Occupation period included several other leftist and republican groups...
and
National Popular Liberation Army (ELAS)ELAS may refer to:* The Greek People's Liberation Army, World War II Greek Resistance group* The Equitable Life Assurance Society , a life insurance company in the United Kingdom* located in Romania...
, now unfettered by Metaxas' oppression, had become the largest
Greek ResistanceThe Greek Resistance is the blanket term for a number of armed and unarmed groups from across the political spectrum that resisted the Axis Occupation of Greece in the period 1941-1944, during the Second World War.-Origins:...
movement, enjoying considerable popular support. As liberation drew nearer, however, the prospect of the King's return caused dissensions both inside Greece and among the Greeks abroad. Although the King effectively renounced the Metaxas regime in a radio broadcast, a large section of the people and many politicians rejected his return on account of his support of the dictatorship. In November 1943 George wrote to the Prime Minister-in-exile
Emmanouil TsouderosEmmanouil Tsouderos was a political and financial figure of modern Greece, serving as Prime Minister-in-exile during World War II.-Early life:...
, "I shall examine anew the question of the date of my return to Greece in agreement with the Government". Either deliberately or accidentally, the version released for publication omitted the words "of the date", creating the impression that George had agreed to a further plebiscite on the monarchy, even though a retraction was issued.
After two changes of Prime Minister, the establishment of a rival
Communist-led governmentThe Political Committee of National Liberation was a communist-dominated government established in Greece in 1944 in opposition to both the collaborationist German-controlled government at Athens and to the royal government-in-exile in Cairo. It is commonly known as the "Mountain Government"...
in occupied Greece and a pro-EAM mutiny among the armed forces in the Middle East, it was agreed in the May 1944 Lebanon conference that the fate of the monarchy would be decided in a national referendum. Bowing to Allied pressure, George was forced to appoint
Archbishop DamaskinosArchbishop Damaskinos Papandreou was the archbishop of Athens and All Greece from 1941 until his death. He was also the regent of Greece between the pull-out of the German occupation force in 1944 and the return of King Georgios II to Greece in 1946...
of Athens as
RegentA regent, from the Latin regens "reigning", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Thus, the common use is for an acting deputy governor....
in January 1945. Damaskinos immediately appointed a republican-dominated government. Being ill, exhausted and powerless, George bought a lease on a house in
Chester SquareChester Square is a small, residential garden square located in London's Belgravia district and part of the area originally developed by the Grosvenor family. Along with its sister squares Belgrave Square and Eaton Square.- Famous Residents :...
,
BelgraviaBelgravia is a district of central London in the City of Westminster, situated to the south-west of Buckingham Palace. Belgravia is approximately bounded by Knightsbridge to the north , Grosvenor Place and Buckingham Palace Road to the east, Pimlico Road to the south, and Sloane Street to the west...
and made a home there with his long-time mistress.
Return to Greece and death
In
electionsThese elections were marked by:* The marked abstention of voters, caused by the abstention of Communist Party of Greece, and the effects of the civil war , because of which many citizens either could not or chose not to vote....
held on 31 March 1946 the monarchist parties won a clear majority of the parliamentary seats, aided by the abstention of the Communists, and the
referendum on the monarchyIn 1946, a new plebiscite took place about the form of Greece's regime and the Greeks were asked again to decide whether they wanted a king or not. For the third time the office of George II was at stake. Nonetheless, the final result constituted an expected triumph for him, a triumph that cannot...
was set for September 1. Between then and the plebiscite, the electoral registers were revised under Allied supervision. The announced results claimed 69% in favour of the King's return on a 90% turnout. The result fueled Civil War between the communists and the royalists (see
Greek Civil WarThe Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom, United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
).
On 26 September George returned to Greece to find the Royal Palace looted, the woods at
TatoiTatoi, located 15 km north of Athens, was the summer palace and estate of the former Greek Royal Family, and the site of George II of the Hellenes's birth...
chopped down for fuel and corpses buried in shallow graves outside. His country faced economic collapse and political instability.
On 31 March 1947 he was discovered unconscious in his room at the Royal Palace in Athens, and died the following day of
arteriosclerosisArteriosclerosis refers to a stiffening of arteries.Arteriosclerosis is a general term describing any hardening of medium or large arteries...
. When the news was announced some thought it to be an April Fool's joke.
His funeral was held at the Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Athens.
He was succeeded by his brother,
PaulPaul, King of the Hellenes was King of Greece from 1947 to 1964.Paul was born in Athens, the third son of Constantine I, King of the Hellenes and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia...
. On account of his many exiles, he is said to have remarked that "the most important tool for a King of Greece is a suitcase."
Honours, styles and arms
- In 1909, he was awarded the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
's Knight of Royal Victorian OrderThe Royal Victorian Order
is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognizing distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms,
any members of her family, or any of her...
, Grand Cross.
- In 1941, he was awarded the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
's Distinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.The DSO was instituted on 6 September 1886 by...
for courage under enemy fire; the only time a reigning Monarch has received this decoration.
- In 1942, he was awarded the Norwegian
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
War CrossKrigskorset med Sverd or the War Cross with Sword is the highest ranking Norwegian gallantry decoration. It is awarded for extraordinary brave actions or extraordinary leadership during combat. If a recipient is deemed worthy of additional citations up to three swords will be added...
.
Ancestry
External links