Greece - 100th Anniversary of the Five Greek Kings
1963 Silver 30 Drachmai 34mm (18.02 grams) 0.835 Silver (0.4832 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 86
1863 1963 ΔΟΞΑ, 30 Drachma coin of 1963, commemorating the centennial of the reign of the House of Glücksburg. Clockwise from the top: Paul, George II, Alexander, Constantine I and George I.
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΝ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ 30 ΔΡ., Map.
Edge Lettering: Ι Σ Χ Υ Σ Μ Ο Υ Η Α Γ Α Π Η Τ Ο Υ Λ Α Ο Υ

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George's reign of almost 50 years (the longest in modern Greek history) was characterized by territorial gains as Greece established its place in pre-World War I Europe. During the First Balkan War, he was assassinated. In sharp contrast to his own reign, the reigns of his successors proved short and insecure.

Constantine I (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Αʹ, Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων, Konstantínos Αʹ, Vasiléfs ton Ellínon; 2 August [O.S. 21 July] 1868 - 11 January 1923) was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 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 won Thessaloniki and doubled in area and population. He succeeded to the throne of Greece on 18 March 1913, following his father's assassination.

His disagreement with Eleftherios Venizelos over whether Greece should enter World War I led to the National Schism. Constantine forced Venizelos to resign twice, but in 1917 he left Greece, after threats of 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 was succeeded by his eldest son, George II. Constantine died in exile four months later, in Sicily.

Alexander (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος, Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων, Aléxandros, Vasiléfs ton Ellínon; 1 August 1893 - 25 October 1920) reigned as King of Greece from 1917 to 1920 until his unusual death as the result of sepsis contracted by being bitten by two monkeys.

Early life

He was born on 1 August 1893 (20 July O.S.) at Tatoi near Athens, the second son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Sophia of Prussia.

Reign

In 1917, Constantine I insisted that Greece remain neutral in World War I, while Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos was determined to go to war in support of the Triple Entente. At Venizelos' invitation, French and British troops entered Greece and forced Constantine I and his first born son Crown Prince George into exile (see National Schism). Young Alexander, a proponent of the Megali Idea, was enthroned as King; in reality he had absolutely no power and was a rubber stamp for the Prime Minister, and his only real task was to visit the front frequently and rally the troops.

On one major issue, however, he did defy Venizelos: on 4 November 1919 he eloped with Aspasia Manos (1896-1972), a commoner,^[1] daughter of Colonel Petros Manos, causing a scandal and infuriating Venizelos. Aspasia was forced to flee Athens until the crisis was resolved and the wedding was legalized without Aspasia being recognised as Queen, but merely as "Madame Manos". Six months later, the young couple left for Paris, on condition that they neither travel nor appear at official functions together.

Soon after, the Treaty of Sèvres was signed in August 1920. The Treaty was extremely favourable to Greece, giving her large territories in Thrace and around Smyrna in modern-day Turkey. Alexander became King of a much-enlarged Greek state.

Death

Although history has unfairly described King Alexander as a careless pet owner who died from a bite "from his pet monkey"; the 27-year-old monarch actually died after defending his pet dog from an attack during a walk through the Royal Gardens, and he suffered wounds from two of the monkeys. The attack occurred on 2 October 1920.^[5] In the report dispatched from Europe, it was stated that the King had been walking in the park with a pet dog, when the dog was attacked by a monkey. The King fended off the monkey with a stick but in the fight the monkey bit him on the hand slightly. "Another monkey rushed to the defense of his mate, and in fending it off, the King received another bite which severely lacerated a gland. The infection which set in following the bites gradually poisoned the King's entire system ..." Both animals were found to have been diseased after they were destroyed. Within days, he developed a severe reaction to the infection, and after initial signs of improvement, became critically ill on 12 October. It is little reported but nonetheless extremely likely that the infection was caused by Monkey B virus which causes a fatal ascending myelitis in man and unremarkable oral lesions in a monkey. There is a relation to Herpes.

On 25 October 1920 King Alexander died at Athens, of sepsis. His father Constantine I was permitted to return to Greece as King. Eventually, King Constantine would lead the Greeks to engage in the Greco-Turkish War which resulted in Greece's defeat, a quarter of a million military and civilian casualties and the end of the Megali Idea. Winston Churchill would later write that "it was a monkey bite that caused the death of those 250,000 people." The territory gained on the Turkish mainland during Alexander's reign was lost.

King Alexander's only child, born after his death, was Princess Alexandra of Greece (1921-1993), who later married Peter II, King of Yugoslavia. Her mother, Madame Manos, was granted the style "Princess Alexander" by the restored King Constantine.

The city of Alexandroupolis (formerly Dedeagatch), near the river Evros on the Greco-Turkish border, was renamed after him in 1920 on the occasion of his visit there. He was the first King of Greece to visit the city since its capture by the Hellenic Army during World War I, and the official change of guard between Bulgarian and Greek officials on 14 May 1920.

Alexander is unusual among monarchs as he ruled in exception to standard primogeniture tradition. He assumed the throne upon the abdication of his father, though his older brother George still lived. In addition, his older brother would later become King of the Hellenes in his own right, providing a rare case where an older brother would succeed a younger one to the throne (though in this case not directly).

George II (Greek: Γεώργιος Βʹ, Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων, Geórgios Βʹ, Vasiléfs ton Ellínon; 20 July 1890 - 1 April 1947) reigned as King of Greece from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947.

Early life, first period of kingship and exile

George was born at the royal villa at Tatoi, near Athens, the eldest son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. George pursued a military career, training with the Prussian Guard at the age of 18, then serving in the Balkan War as a member of the 1st Greek Infantry. When his grandfather was assassinated in 1913, George became the crown prince (Diadochos) as well as the Duke of Sparta.

After a coup deposed King Constantine during the First World War, Crown Prince George, by then a Major, followed his father into exile in 1917 (see National Schism); his brother Alexander was installed as king by prime minister Eleftherios Venizelos, an avowed Republican.

When Alexander I died following an infection from a monkey bite in 1920, Venezelos was voted out of office, and a plebiscite restored Constantine to the throne. Crown Prince George served as a colonel, and later a major general in the war against Turkey. During this time he married his second cousin, on 27 February 1921 in Bucharest, Princess Elisabeth of Romania, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Romania. When the Turks defeated Greece at the Battle of Dumlupınar, the military forced the abdication of Constantine, and George succeeded to the Greek throne on 27 September 1922.

Following a failed royalist coup in October 1923, the Revolutionary Committee "asked" him to depart Greece while the National Assembly considered the question of the future form of government. He complied and, although he refused to abdicate, he left on 19 December 1923 for exile in his wife's home nation of Romania. When a republic was proclaimed on 25 March 1924, he was officially deposed, stripped of his Greek nationality and his property confiscated.

His wife stayed in Bucharest whilst he spent more and more time abroad visiting Britain, and his mother in Florence. In 1932 he left Romania permanently and moved to Britain. Elisabeth and he had no children, and were divorced on 6 July 1935.

Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a large number of islands, of which 227 are inhabited. Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres (9,573 ft). The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands.

Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization,^[a] being the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama.^[12] From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Philip of Macedon united most of the Greek mainland in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world, spreading Greek culture and science from the eastern Mediterranean to the Indus River. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine Empire, wherein the Greek language and culture were dominant. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World. Falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greece's rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe and the world.

Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the tenth member to join the European Communities (precursor to the European Union) and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. It is also a member of numerous other international institutions, including the Council of Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). Greece's unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry, prominent shipping sector and geostrategic importance^[b] classify it as a middle power. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor.