Constantine I, King of Greece

Constantine I (August 2, 1868 - January 11, 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 1912-13, in which Greece won Thessaloniki and doubled in area and population. He succeeded to the throne of Greece on March 18, 1913, following his father's assassination. Constantine rebuffed Kaiser Wilhelm who in 1914 pressed him to bring Greece into the war on the side of Austria and Germany. He offended British and French interests by blocking efforts by Prime Minister Venizelos to bring Greece into the war on the side of the Allies, and led to the National Schism. His insistence on neutrality was based on his judgement that it was the best policy for Greece. 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 1919-22, and was succeeded by his eldest son, George II. He died in exile four months later, in Sicily. His queen, Sophie of Prussia, was never allowed back in Greece. Bain News Service photograph, circa 1910-15

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Abdicated Bain Commander In Chief Commander-in-chief Constantine Hellenic Neutrality

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