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{{Short description|1862 Greek election for a new king}}
{{Expand French|Élection au trône de Grèce (1862-1863)|date=August 2012|topic=gov}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
From 19 November 1862 (1 December [[Old Style and New Style dates|New Style]]), a [[Referendum|plebiscite]] in Greece was held in support of adopting [[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Alfred of the United Kingdom]], later [[Duke of Edinburgh]], as king. The results were announced in February
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.
==Prelude==
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|
==Results==
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>
{|class="wikitable"
Line 17 ⟶ 19:
|[[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Alfred]]
|align="right" |230,016
|<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.
|-
|[[Nicholas Maximilianovitch, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg|Prince Leuchtenberg]]
|align="right" |2,400
|<ref name=times/><ref name=tozer/>
|-
|An [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] King
|align="right" |1,917
|<ref name=times/><ref name=tozer/>
Line 31 ⟶ 33:
|<ref name=times/><ref name=tozer/>
|-
|[[Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1831–1891)|Grand Duke Nicholas]]
|align="right" |1,821
|<ref name=times/>
Line 55 ⟶ 57:
|<ref name=times/><ref name=tozer/>
|-
|[[House of Bonaparte|
|align="right" |246
|<ref name=times/><ref name=tozer/>
Line 62 ⟶ 64:
|align="right" |93
|<ref name=times/><ref name=tozer/>
|-▼
|[[Amadeo of Spain|Prince Amadeo of Italy]]▼
|<ref name=tozer/>▼
|-
|A Russian Prince
|align="right" |14
|<ref name=times/>
▲|-
▲|[[Amadeo of Spain|Prince Amadeo of Italy]]
▲|align="right" |13
▲|<ref name=tozer/>
|-
|An Imperial Prince of Russia
Line 130 ⟶ 132:
==Aftermath==
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
At George's enthronement
==Notes==
Line 138 ⟶ 140:
==References==
*{{cite book |last=Clogg |first=Richard |
*{{cite book |last=Forster |first=Edward S.
*
*{{cite book |last=
*{{cite book |last=Van der Kiste |first=John |
*{{cite book |last=Woodhouse |first=C. M. |
{{Greek elections}}
[[Category:Referendums in Greece]]▼
[[Category:Monarchism in Greece]]▼
[[Category:1862 referendums]]
[[Category:1862 in Greece]]
[[Category:Monarchy referendums]]▼
[[Category:December 1862 events]]
[[Category:1860s in Greek politics]]
▲[[Category:Referendums in Greece]]
▲[[Category:Monarchism in Greece]]
▲[[Category:Monarchy referendums]]
[[Category:Otto of Greece]]
[[Category:Alexander II of Russia]]
[[Category:Giuseppe Garibaldi]]
[[Category:Napoleon III]]
[[Category:George I of Greece]]
[[Category:Amadeo I of Spain]]
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