King George II of Greece

 

George II (Greek: Γεώργιος Βʹ, Geórgios II; 19 July [O.S.: 7 July] 1890 – 1 April 1947)^[2] was King of Greece from September 1922 to March 1924 and from November 1935 to his death in April 1947.

The eldest son of King Constantine I and Sophia of Prussia, George followed his father into exile in 1917 following the National Schism, while his younger brother Alexander was installed as king. Constantine was restored to the throne in 1920 but was forced to abdicate two years later in the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War. George acceded to the Greek throne, but after a failed royalist coup in October 1923 he was exiled to Romania. Greece was proclaimed a republic in March 1924 and George was formally deposed and stripped of Greek nationality. He remained in exile until the Greek monarchy was restored in 1935, upon which he resumed his royal duties. The king supported Ioannis Metaxas's 1936 self-coup, which established the authoritarian, nationalist and anti-communist 4th of August Regime.

Greece was overrun following a German invasion in April 1941, forcing George into his third exile. He left for Crete and then Egypt before settling in London, where he headed the Greek government-in-exile. George returned to Greece after the war after a 1946 plebiscite preserved the monarchy. He died of arteriosclerosis in April 1947 at the age of 56. Having no children, he was succeeded by his younger brother, Paul.