1862 Greek head of state referendum: Difference between revisions

{{Expand French|Élection au trône de Grèce (1862-1863)|date=August 2012|topic=gov}}

Despite the apparently overwhelming result, the [[Great Powers]] of [[British Empire|Britain]], [[Second French Empire|France]] and [[Russian Empire|Russia]] refused to permit any member of their respective royal families to accept the Greek throne. Eventually, [[George I of Greece|Prince William of Denmark]], who had received six votes in the referendum, was appointed as the new "King of the Hellenes", assuming the name George I.

In October 1862, King [[Otto of Greece]] was deposed in a popular revolt,<ref>Lidderdale, p. 212</ref><ref name=parl/> but while the Greek people rejected Otto, they did not seem averse to the concept of monarchy ''per se''. Many Greeks, seeking closer ties to the pre-eminent world power, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]], rallied around the idea that [[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Alfred]], the second son of [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], could become the next king. British [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]] [[Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]] believed that the Greeks were "panting for increase in territory",<ref>Van der Kiste, p. 4</ref> hoping that the election of Alfred as king would also result in the incorporation of the [[Ionian Islands]], which were then a British protectorate, into an enlarged Greek state.{{fact|date=July 2020}}

The [[London Conference of 1832]], however, had prohibited any of the Great Powers' ruling families from accepting the crown of Greece, and in any event, Queen Victoria was adamantly opposed to the idea. Nevertheless, the Greeks insisted on holding a plebiscite on the issue of the head of state in November 1862. It was the first referendum ever held in Greece.<ref name=parl>{{cite web |url=http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/en/Vouli-ton-Ellinon/To-Politevma/Syntagmatiki-Istoria/|title=Constitutional History|publisher=Hellenic Parliament|accessdateaccess-date=12 December 2011}}</ref>

The results were announced to the [[Greek National Assembly]] in February 1863.<ref name=times/> The number of votes differs slightly between reports, and the total votes reported sometimes exceeds the total in the official list. Differences arise through inaccuracies, misprints, and delays in the collection and count of votes.<ref name=tozer>[[George Finlay|Finlay, George]]; [[Henry Fanshawe Tozer|Tozer, Henry Fanshawe]] (editor) (1877), [https://archive.org/stream/historyofgreecef07finluoft/historyofgreecef07finluoft_djvu.txt A history of Greece, from its conquest by the Romans to the present time, B.C. 146 to A.D. 1864], vol. VII, Oxford: Clarendon Press</ref> Votes were rarely if ever secret, and there were no uniformly printed ballot papers. Voters could write the name of their preference for king,<ref>[[Dieter Nohlen|Nohlen, D]] & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p863 {{ISBN|978-3-8329-5609-7}}</ref> and votes generally took the form of signed petitions.<ref>See, for example, reports of voting in ''The Times'', 8 December 1862, p. 12, col. A</ref>

|<ref name=times>[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/archive/page/1863-02-16/6.html The Greek Revolution], ''The Times'', 16 February 1863, p. 6, col. AB</ref><ref name=tozer/>

|[[Nicholas Maximilianovitch, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg|Prince Leuchtenberg]]

|An [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] King

|[[Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1831–1891)|Grand Duke Nicholas]]

|[[House of Bonaparte|AnPrince Imperial Prince of France]]

Despite the apparently overwhelming support for Alfred, and the declaration by the Assembly that Alfred was elected as king, the Great Powers refused to alter their position, and Alfred declined the throne. The runner-up, Prince Leuchtenberg, as well as several of the other candidates, were also unacceptable to the Great Powers since they were members of the French and Russian royal families, also excluded from contention by the London Conference.<ref name=clogg/> The Greeks and Great Powers considered alternative candidates, and their choice eventually fell to Prince William of Denmark, who was the second son of KingPrince [[Christian IX of Denmark|Christian IXof Denmark]]. William was elected unanimously by the Greek Assembly, becoming "George I, King of the Hellenes", and reigned for the next 50 years.<ref>Woodhouse, p. 170</ref> Prince Alfred was created Duke of Edinburgh by his mother in 1866,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23119|page=3127|date=25 May 1866}}</ref> and became the reigning Duke of [[Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]] in Germany in 1893.<ref>e.g. ''Statesman's Yearbook 1898''</ref>

At George's enthronement, to the great joy of the Greeks, the British government announced that they would cede the [[United States of the Ionian Islands|Ionian Islands]] to Greece as a goodwill gesture.<ref>''[[The Times|The Times (London)]]'', 8 June 1863, p. 12, col. C</ref>

*{{cite book |last=Clogg |first=Richard |authorlinkauthor-link=Richard Clogg |title=A Short History of Modern Greece |url=https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofmo0000clog |url-access=registration |year=1979 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location= |isbn= }}

*{{cite book |last=Forster |first=Edward S. |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=A Short History of Modern Greece 1821–1956 3rd edition |year=1958 |publisher=Methuen and Co |location=London |isbn= }}

*{{cite book |last=Van der KisteMakrygiannis |first=JohnGiannis |authorlinktitle=JohnThe Vanmemoirs derof KisteGeneral |title=KingsMakriyannis of the Hellenes1797-1864 |year=19941966 |publishereditor-last=SuttonLidderdale Publishing|editor-first=H.A. |location=London |isbnpublisher=0-7509-2147-1Oxford University Press}}

*{{cite book |last=WoodhouseVan der Kiste |first=C. M.John |authorlinkauthor-link=MontagueJohn Woodhouse,Van 5thder Baron TerringtonKiste |title=The StoryKings of Modernthe GreeceHellenes |year=19681994 |publisher=FaberSutton and Faber |location=LondonPublishing |isbn=0-7509-2147-1 }}

[[Category:DecemberOtto 1862of eventsGreece]]