George II (Greece)

. George (ios) II (* July 7 ^jul. / 19th July  1890 ^greg. In Tatoi , † 1. April 1947 in Athens ), born Prince George II House of Glücksburg , reigned from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947 as King of the Hellenes . He was the eldest son of Constantine I of Greece and his wife Sophie of Prussia .

George II of Greece.

George II of Greece. Medal for excellence at work

First term and exile

Georg's father, Konstantin, abdicated on July 12, 1917 because of his pro-German attitude; together they left the country while George's brother ascended the Greek throne as Alexandros I. Alexandros died in 1920, and after a referendum , Constantine was recalled to the throne.

On September 27, 1922 thanked Konstantin result of Plastiras - coup from, and George was enthroned as George II as King of Greece.. However, he left Greece in December 1923 and lived first in Bucharest , from 1931 in London. On March 25, 1924, the Greek National Assembly in Athens proclaimed the republic , which was confirmed by referendum on April 13. On May 1, 1924, Greece became a republic.

The parliamentary elections held under martial law in June 1935 were boycotted by the opposition parties, so that the conservative People's Party of Panagis Tsaldaris received 65% of the vote and, as a result of majority voting, took 254 of the 300 seats in parliament. Supporters of the monarchy around Ioannis Metaxas , Ioannis Rallis and Georgios Stratos pushed for the re-establishment of the king. In a referendum ( referred to as an “open farce” by historian Richard Clogg ) - George II only wanted to return from exile if the “absolute majority of the people so desired” - 98% of the votes were in favor of the restoration of the monarchy.

Second term, exile and return

On November 3, 1935, Georg returned to the throne. In order to reconcile the warring political camps, he first appointed Konstantinos Demertzis Prime Minister. After his death in April 1936, he appointed General Ioannis Metaxas as head of government and foreign minister of Greece. This set up a dictatorial regime from August; in terms of foreign policy he remained connected to the British.

On October 28, 1940, Metaxas rejected Mussolini's ultimatum to surrender with the famous "όχι" (no). This day is still a national holiday in Greece today. The attacking Italian troops were able to be driven back behind the Albanian border by the Greeks . At the beginning of April 1941, German and Bulgarian troops support the Italians. On April 21, 1941 the Greek-British armed forces surrendered, and King George II, parts of the government and the British troops initially withdrew to the island of Crete and from there to Egypt during the airborne battle of Crete at the end of May 1941. The Greek government-in-exile first established itself in Alexandria , Egypt , then in London, and from March 1943 in Cairo.

Grave of George II in Tatoi

When the German occupation ended in 1944, Great Britain campaigned for the preservation of the monarchy under George II, contrary to the opposition of the National Liberation Front EAM , which dominated Greece, and the People's Liberation Army ELAS , which called for a referendum on the form of government. The British government under Winston Churchill feared the establishment of a Greek people 's republic and therefore supported the monarchist and right-wing national forces behind George II. This led to armed conflicts and civil war-like conditions in Athens at the end of 1944. Since the return of George was rejected by broad circles in Greece, he appointed the Archbishop of Athens Damaskinos as regent on December 30, 1944 . After the military intervention of Great Britain, the Battle of Athens ended with the Varkiza Agreement in February 1945. ELAS was disarmed and demobilized. The disputes over the form of government culminated in a bloody civil war in June 1946 , which only ended in October 1949.

A referendum was held on September 28, 1946, and 68% were in favor of the monarchy. King George II returned to Athens. He died in Athens on April 1, 1947 at the age of 56 and was buried in Tatoi . His 45-year-old brother became Paul as the new King of Greece.

family

On February 27, 1921, Georg married Princess Elisabeth of Romania , daughter of King Ferdinand I of Romania . The marriage remained childless and was divorced on July 6, 1935.

literature

• Richard Clogg : History of Greece in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-929889-13-7 .
• G. Hering: Georg II. (Georgios II.) . In: Biographical Lexicon on the History of Southeast Europe . Volume 2. Munich 1976, pp. 28-32.
• Karl Prinz von Isenburg: Family tables on the history of the European states. 2 volumes, Marburg 1953.

Web links

Commons : George II.  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Georgios II zu Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, King of Greece on thepeerage.com
• George II. In the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Georg II. (Greece) , at hellenica.de
• Georgios <Hellas, Basileus, II.>; 1890–1947 , entry in the German Central Library for Economics

Individual evidence

1. ^ Richard Clogg : History of Greece in the 19th and 20th centuries . Cologne 1997. ISBN 3-929889-13-7 . P. 143.
2. ↑ See the article The events in Greece  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the December 1935 edition of the monthly Weisse Blätter .  
3. ^ Richard Clogg: History of Greece in the 19th and 20th centuries. Cologne 1997. ISBN 3-929889-13-7 . P. 265.

predecessor	Office	successor
Constantine I.	King of Greece 1922–1924 1935–1941 1946–1947	Paul