Kingdom of Greece | ||||||
Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος (Greek) Vasíleion tīs Elládos |
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Motto Elefthería ī́ Thánatos Ἐλευθερία ἢ Θάνατος "Freedom or Death" |
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Anthem Ýmnos eis tīn Eleftherían Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν "Hymn to Freedom" |
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The Kingdom of Greece in 1973.
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Capital |
Nafplio (1832–1834) Athens (1834–1973) |
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Languages | Greek (Katharevousa officially, Demotic Greek popularly) | |||||
Religion | Greek Orthodox | |||||
Government |
Absolute monarchy (1832–1843) Parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1843–1924, 1944–1967) Authoritarian state (1936–1941) |
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King | ||||||
• | 1832–1862 | Otto (first) | ||||
• | 1964–1973 | Constantine II (last) | ||||
Prime Minister | ||||||
• | 1833 | Spyridon Trikoupis (first) | ||||
• | 1967–1973 | Georgios Papadopoulos (last) | ||||
Historical era | Modern | |||||
• | London Protocol | 30 August 1832 | ||||
• | Constitution granted | 3 September 1843 | ||||
• | Second Republic | 25 March 1924 | ||||
• | Monarchy restored | 3 November 1935 | ||||
• | Axis occupation | April 1941 October 1944 | ||||
• | Admitted to the United Nations | 25 October 1945 | ||||
• | Military Junta | April 21, 1967 July 23, 1974 | ||||
• | abolishment by Papadopoulos, 1973 | 1 July 1973 | ||||
Area | ||||||
• | 1920 | 173,779 km² (67,096 sq mi) | ||||
• | 1973 | 131,990 km² (50,962 sq mi) | ||||
Population | ||||||
• | 1920 est. | 7,156,000 | ||||
• | 1971 est. | 8,768,372 | ||||
Currency | Greek drachma (₯) | |||||
Today part of | Greece |
The Kingdom of Greece (Greek: Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος, Vasíleion tīs Elládos) was a state established in 1832 at the Convention of London by the Great Powers (the United Kingdom, France and the Russian Empire). It was internationally recognized by the Treaty of Constantinople, where it also secured full independence from the Ottoman Empire. This event also marked the birth of the first, fully independent, Greek state since the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottomans in the mid-15th century.
The Kingdom succeeded from the Greek provisional governments after the Greek War of Independence, and lasted until 1924. In 1924 the monarchy was abolished, and the Second Hellenic Republic was established. The restored Kingdom of Greece lasted from 1935 to 1973. The Kingdom was again dissolved in the aftermath of the seven-year military dictatorship, and the Third Republic, the current Greek government, came to be.
Most of Greece gradually became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. The Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, the direct continuation to the ancient Roman Empire who ruled most of the Greek-speaking world for over 1100 years, had been fatally weakened since the sacking of Constantinople by the Latin Crusaders in 1204.