George II of Greece

George II Γεώργιος Βʹ
George II, c. 1942
King of the Hellenes
First reign	27 September 1922 – 25 March 1924[a]
Predecessor	Constantine I
Successor	Monarchy abolished; Pavlos Kountouriotis as President of Greece
Prime ministers	See list Anastasios Charalambis Sotirios Krokidas Stylianos Gonatas Eleftherios Venizelos Georgios Kafantaris
Second reign	25 November 1935 – 1 April 1947
Predecessor	Monarchy re-established; Georgios Kondylis as President of Greece
Successor	Paul
Prime ministers	See list Georgios Kondylis Konstantinos Demertzis Ioannis Metaxas Alexandros Koryzis Emmanouil Tsouderos Sophoklis Venizelos Georgios Papandreou Nikolaos Plastiras Petros Voulgaris Archbishop Damaskinos Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Themistoklis Sofoulis Panagiotis Poulitsas Konstantinos Tsaldaris Dimitrios Maximos
Born	19 July 1890 (O.S.: 7 July 1890) Tatoi Palace, Athens, Greece
Died	1 April 1947(1947-04-01) (aged 56) Athens, Greece
Burial	6 April 1947 Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece
Spouse	Elisabeth of Romania ​ ​ (m. 1921; div. 1935)​
House	Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Father	Constantine I of Greece
Mother	Sophia of Prussia
Signature
Military career
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece[b]
Service/branch	Royal Hellenic Navy Royal Hellenic Army Royal Hellenic Air Force
Years of service	1909–1922[c]
Rank	Second Lieutenant

George II (Greek: Γεώργιος Β', romanized: Geórgios II; 19 July [Old Style: 7 July] 1890 – 1 April 1947)^[a] was King of Greece from 27 September 1922 until 25 March 1924, and again from 25 November 1935 until his death on 1 April 1947.

The eldest son of King Constantine I of Greece and Princess Sophia of Prussia, George followed his father into exile in 1917 following the National Schism, while his younger brother Alexander was installed as king. Constantine was restored to the throne in 1920 after Alexander's death, but was forced to abdicate two years later in the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War. George acceded to the Greek throne, but after a failed royalist coup in October 1923 he was exiled to Romania. Greece was proclaimed a republic in March 1924 and George was formally deposed and stripped of Greek nationality. He remained in exile until the Greek monarchy was restored in 1935, following a rigged referendum, upon which he resumed his royal duties. The king supported Ioannis Metaxas' 1936 self-coup, which established an authoritarian, nationalist and anti-communist dictatorship known as 4th of August Regime.

Greece was overrun following a German invasion in April 1941, forcing George into his third exile. He left for Crete and then Egypt before settling in London, where he headed the Greek government-in-exile. George returned to Greece after a 1946 plebiscite preserved the monarchy following the end of the war. He died of arteriosclerosis in April 1947 at the age of 56. Having no children, he was succeeded by his younger brother, Paul.
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