1862 Greek head of state referendum

Prelude

In October 1862, King Otto of Greece was deposed in a popular revolt, 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.

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.

Results

The results were announced to the Greek National Assembly in February 1863. Votes were rarely if ever secret, and there were no uniformly printed ballot papers. Voters could write the name of their preference for king, and votes generally took the form of signed petitions.

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. Prince Alfred was created Duke of Edinburgh by his mother in 1866, and became the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Germany in 1893.

At George's enthronement, the British government announced that they would cede the Ionian Islands to Greece as a goodwill gesture.

Notes

References

References

1. Clogg, p. 82
2. Van der Kiste, p. 5
3. Forster, p. 17
4. Lidderdale, p. 212
5. 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",Van der Kiste, p. 4
6. "Constitutional History". Hellenic Parliament.
7. 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
8. [[Dieter Nohlen. Nohlen, D]] & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p863 {{ISBN. 978-3-8329-5609-7
9. See, for example, reports of voting in ''The Times'', 8 December 1862, p. 12, col. A
10. [https://www.thetimes.com/archive/page/1863-02-16/6.html The Greek Revolution], ''The Times'', 16 February 1863, p. 6, col. B
11. 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 IX of Denmark. 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
12. {{London Gazette. (25 May 1866)
13. e.g. ''Statesman's Yearbook 1898''
14. ''[[The Times. The Times (London)]]'', 8 June 1863, p. 12, col. C