Constantine I of Greece

Constantine I
Κωνσταντίνος Αʹ
Konstantínos I
Constantine I in 1921
King of the Hellenes
First reign18 March 1913 – 11 June 1917
Swearing in21 March 1913
PredecessorGeorge I
SuccessorAlexander
Prime ministers
Second reign19 December 1920 – 27 September 1922
PredecessorAlexander
SuccessorGeorge II
Prime ministers
Born(1868-08-02)2 August 1868
Athens, Greece
Died11 January 1923(1923-01-11) (aged 54)
Palermo, Italy
Burial14 January 1923
Naples, Italy
22 November 1936
Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Athens, Greece
Spouse
(m. 1889)
Issue
HouseGlücksburg
FatherGeorge I of Greece
MotherOlga Constantinovna of Russia
Signature
Military career
Allegiance
Service/branch
RankField marshal
UnitGerman Imperial Guard
Commands held
Battles/wars

Constantine I (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Αʹ, Konstantínos I; 2 August [O.S. 21 July] 1868 – 11 January 1923) was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 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 expanded to include Thessaloniki, doubling in area and population. The eldest son of George I of Greece, he succeeded to the throne following his father's assassination in 1913.

Constantine's disagreement with Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos over whether Greece should enter World War I led to the National Schism. Under Allied duress, the country was essentially split between the pro-Venizelos North and the royalist South, ushering in a protracted civil war.[1] He forced Venizelos to resign twice, but in 1917 Constantine left Greece, after threats by the Entente forces to bombard Athens; his second son, Alexander, became king. After Alexander's death, Venizelos' defeat in the 1920 legislative elections, and a plebiscite in favor of his return, Constantine was reinstated. He abdicated the throne for the second and last time in 1922, when Greece lost the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, and this time was succeeded by his eldest son, George II. Constantine died on 11 January 1923 in exile in Sicily, Italy, from heart failure and brain haemorrhage.

  1. ^ Beaton, Roderick (16 October 2019). Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-67374-5.

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