1862 Greek head of state referendum

1862 Greek election for a new king Élection au trône de Grèce (1862-1863) August 2012 gov July 2020 From 19 November 1862 (1 December New Style), a plebiscite was held in Greece in support of adopting Prince Alfred of the United Kingdom, later Duke of Edinburgh, as king. The results were announced in February 1863. Of the 240,000 votes reported, over 95% were in favour of the appointment.Clogg, p. 82 The previous king, Otto, who had been deposed in a popular revolt, received one vote.Van der Kiste, p. 5 There were six votes for a Greek candidate and 93 for a republic.Forster, p. 17 Despite the apparently overwhelming result, the Great Powers of Britain, France and Russia refused to permit any member of their respective royal families to accept the Greek throne. Eventually, 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,Lidderdale, p. 212 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, Great Britain, rallied around the idea that Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, could become the next king. British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were "panting for increase in territory",Van der Kiste, p. 4 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.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.http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/en/Vouli-ton-Ellinon/To-Politevma/Syntagmatiki-Istoria/ Constitutional History Hellenic Parliament 12 December 2011 Results The results were announced to the Greek National Assembly in February 1863. 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.Finlay, George; Tozer, Henry Fanshawe (editor) (1877), 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 Votes were rarely if ever secret, and there were no uniformly printed ballot papers. Voters could write the name of their preference for king,Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p863 978-3-8329-5609-7 and votes generally took the form of signed petitions.See, for example, reports of voting in The Times, 8 December 1862, p. 12, col. A Summary of the November 1862 Greek plebisciteVotesSourcePrince Alfred230,016The Greek Revolution, The Times, 16 February 1863, p. 6, col. BPrince Leuchtenberg2,400An Eastern Orthodox King1,917The Emperor of Russia1,841Grand Duke Nicholas1,821A King1,763Prince Nicholas of Russia1,741Long Live the Three Powers482Grand Duke Constantine478Prince Napoleon345Prince Imperial of France246A Republic93Prince Amadeo of Italy15A Russian Prince14An Imperial Prince of Russia9Romanoff8Comte de Flandre7Prince William of Denmark6Prince Ypsilantis6General Garibaldi3The Duke of Aumale3The Emperor Napoleon2A Prince of Sweden2Prince Joinville1General M'Mahon1Eynard the Philhellene1Otto1 Total number of voters241,202 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. The Greeks and Great Powers considered alternative candidates, and their choice eventually fell to Prince William of Denmark, who was the second son of Prince Christian of Denmark. William was elected unanimously by the Greek Assembly, becoming "George I, King of the Hellenes", and reigned for the next 50 years.Woodhouse, p. 170 Prince Alfred was created Duke of Edinburgh by his mother in 1866,23119 3127 25 May 1866 and became the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Germany in 1893.e.g. Statesman's Yearbook 1898 At George's enthronement, the British government announced that they would cede the Ionian Islands to Greece as a goodwill gesture.The Times (London), 8 June 1863, p. 12, col. C Notes References Clogg Richard Richard Clogg A Short History of Modern Greece https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofmo0000clog registration 1979 Cambridge University Press Forster Edward S. A Short History of Modern Greece 1821–1956 3rd edition 1958 Methuen and Co London Jelavich Barbara Russia, Bavaria and the Greek Revolution of 1862/1863 https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/article/view/44/43 Balkan Studies 2 1 1961 125–150 2241-1674 Makrygiannis Giannis The memoirs of General Makriyannis 1797-1864 1966 Lidderdale H.A. London Oxford University Press Van der Kiste John John Van der Kiste Kings of the Hellenes 1994 Sutton Publishing 0-7509-2147-1 Woodhouse C. M. Montague Woodhouse, 5th Baron Terrington The Story of Modern Greece 1968 Faber and Faber London Category:1862 referendums Category:1862 in Greece Category:December 1862 in Europe Category:1860s in Greek politics Category:Referendums in Greece Category:Monarchism in Greece Category:Monarchy referendums in Greece 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 Category:Elective monarchy