George I of Greece

The reign of King Otto has included the installation of a wide variety of Western institutions, many of which are ill suited to Greek society and political tradition.

The factionalism of the revolutionary period continues and erodes the king's authority.

Corruption flourishes, and Otto's inability to fulfill the Megali Idea is a major cause of his downfall.

A military revolt in 1862 is only partially suppressed.

Finally, in another bloodless coup later this year, Otto is forced to abdicate the throne.

Ambassadors of the Great Powers urge King Otto not to resist, and the king and queen take refuge on a British warship and returned to Bavaria aboard (the same way they had come to Greece) taking with them the Greek royal regalia which they had brought from Bavaria in 1832.

It will be suggested that had Otto and Amalia borne an heir, then the King would not have been overthrown, as succession is also a major unresolved question at the time.

It is also true, however, that the Constitution of 1843 made provision for his succession by his two younger brothers and their descendants.

Otto's successor must be uniquely non-controversial.

Prince Albert, son of Queen Victoria of Britain, is selected by ninety-five percent of Greeks voting in an 1862 referendum, but France and Russia reject this outcome because it would give Britain direct control of the Greek throne.

Prince William, the second son of the future King Christian IX of Denmark and brother of the future queen consort Alexandra of Britain, is the eventual choice; he will reign as George I until his assassination in 1913.

Prince Wilhelm George of Denmark, seventeen, elected by the Hellenic Parliament as George, King of the Hellenes, on March 30, 1863; arrives in Athens on October 30 to take the throne.

He will reign in Greece for fifty years.

A Greek constituent assembly, convened in 1863 at the urging of Britain and the newly installed King George, adopts a much more democratic constitution in 1864.

The Constitution of 1864 had been drafted following the models of the Constitutions of Belgium of 1831 and of Denmark of 1849, and establishes in clear terms the principle of popular sovereignty, since the only legislative body with reversionary powers is now the Parliament.

Amplifying the democratic freedoms of the 1844 constitution, it vests sovereignty in the Greek people, although the sovereign retains substantial, if vaguely defined, powers in foreign policy.

A single-chamber parliament with full legislative powers is to be elected by direct, secret ballot.

The powers of the King are reduced and the Senate is abolished, and the franchise is extended to all adult males.

Because the king retains substantial powers, however, the choice of a new monarch remains an extremely important issue.

Greek politics remains heavily dynastic, as it has always been.

Family names such as Zaimis, Rallis and Trikoupis will occur repeatedly as Prime Ministers.

Although parties are centered around the individual leaders, often bearing their names, two broad political tendencies exist: the liberals, led first by Charilaos Trikoupis, and the conservatives, led initially by Theodoros Deligiannis.

Trikoupis and Deligiannis will dominate Greek politics in the later 19th century, alternating in office.

Trikoupis favors cooperation with Great Britain in foreign affairs, the creation of infrastructure and an indigenous industry, raising protective tariffs and progressive social legislation, while the more populist Deligiannis depends on the promotion of the irredentist concept of Greek nationalism known as the Megali Idea.

The British depart the Ionian Islands on May 2, 1864, under terms of the Treaty of London, and the islands become three provinces of the Kingdom of Greece, though Britain retains the use of the port of Corfu.

The British had defeated the French fleet in Zakynthos on October 2, 1809, had captured Kefallonia, Kythera and Zakynthos, and had taken Lefkada in 1810.

The French had held out in Kerkyra until 1814.

The Treaty of Paris in 1815 had turned the islands into the "United States of the Ionian Islands" under British protection (November 5, 1815).

In January 1817, the British had ranted the islands a new constitution.

The islanders had elected an Assembly of 40 members, who advised the British High Commissioner.

The British had greatly improved the islands' communications, and introduced modern education and justice systems.

The islanders had welcomed most of these reforms, and had taken up afternoon tea, cricket and other English pastimes.

Once Greek independence was established after 1830, however, the islanders had begun to resent foreign rule and to press for enosis—union with Greece.

The British statesman William Ewart Gladstone had toured the islands and recommended that they be given to Greece.

The British government had resisted, since, like the Venetians, they had found the islands made useful naval bases.

They had also regarded the German-born king of Greece, King Otto, as unfriendly to Britain.

However, in 1862, Otto had been deposed and a pro-British king, George I, had been installed.

In 1862, Britain had decided to transfer the islands to Greece, as a gesture of support intended to bolster the popularity of the new king.

Omission of the strategically crucial island of Crete in the formation of the Kingdom of Greece remains a sore point, and the island's status has become more problematic as the fate of the Ottoman Empire assumes a greater role in Great Power relations.

In the early 1860s, the Great Powers had agree to the unification of Italy and the transfer by Britain of the Ionian Islands to Greece.

As the Orthodox population and nationalist sentiments grows on Crete and King George openly supports the Cretan reunification factions, these changes also reinforce Greek advocacy of claims to Crete.

The result is a guerrilla rebellion on Crete that receives wide support from the Greek government and people.

The small Greek state contains within its borders scarcely one-third of the Greek populations of the Near and Middle East, and the struggle to expand the nation's borders is to dominate the first century of independent statehood.

In spite of the new constitution of 1864, the Greek political system remains deeply flawed.

Seven general elections will be held From 1865 to 1875, and eighteen different administrations hold office.

King George can and does create and dismiss governments if legislation or a budget fails to pass, so political leaders constantly juggle competing interests to keep fragile ruling coalitions together.

Often the king asks leaders of minority parties to form governments while more significant legislative figures are overlooked, actions that are a recipe for political gridlock as well as a mockery of the democratic process.

Charilaos Trikoupis had written a newspaper article identifying King George's toleration of minority governments in 1874.

After the writer's arrest for treason, the king, in a decisive step toward political modernization, concedes in 1875 that he will henceforth entrust the government to the political leader enjoying the confidence of a majority of the deputies in parliament.

However, if no party can obtain the pledged support of a plurality, then the king will dissolve parliament and call for a general election. (The result of this reform will be a relatively stable twenty-five-year period at the end of the century, in which only seven general elections will be held.)

Theodoros Deligiannis is asked to resign by George I of Greece over continuing disagreements between the Prime Minister and Crown over economic policy, despite the fact that the Prime Minister maintains the confidence of the Parliament.

The king, in dismissing the Prime Minister calls for new elections and asks Konstantinos Konstantopoulos, a fellow member of Deligiannis' Nationalist Party, to form a government on February 18, 1892.

During the reign of King Otto, Konstantopoulos was a Mayor of Patras and later leader of the Prefectures of Achaia and Elis.

He was successful in averting bloodshed in a feud in that area.

Konstantopoulos leads his party in the May 3 election, but Charilaos Trikoupis' New Party wins the election and on June 10, 1892, Konstantopoulos is replaced by Trikoupis.