George II of Greece

Early life

Birth and childhood

George was born at the royal villa at Tatoi, near Athens, the eldest son of Crown Prince Constantine of Greece and the crown princess, Sophia of Prussia. George was a great-grandson of both King Christian IX of Denmark, the "father-in-law of Europe", and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, the "grandmother of Europe". George was born nine months after his parents married. Queen Victoria speculated that George was premature, being born a week before his due date. During George's birth, his mother struggled and George's umbilical cord was strapped around his neck. A German midwife, who was sent specially by his grandmother the German Empress Victoria, assisted in George's birth. George was named after his paternal grandfather, King George I of Greece, following traditional Greek naming practices. He was baptized on 18 August [Old Style: 5 August] 1890; his godparents included Queen Victoria.

George was the eldest of six siblings, born between 1890 and 1913, and spent most of his childhood in Athens in a villa on Kifisias Avenue. As a child, George also made numerous visits to Great Britain, where he stayed for several weeks to visit his British relatives. The Greek royals often stayed in Seaford and Eastbourne. George also made visits to Germany to see his mother's family and they stayed in Schlosshotel Kronberg with his grandmother Victoria, but also took summer holidays in Corfu and Venice, travelling on their private yacht, Amphritrite IV.

George has been described by historians John Van der Kiste and Vicente Mateos Sáinz de Medrano as the most introverted and distant of his siblings, having been aware of his role as heir from a young age. Van der Kiste presents George as a child who often misbehaved, especially during visits to Germany, but less turbulent than his younger brother, Alexander, who was described as mischievous, and less sporty than his younger sister, Helen, who was seen as a tomboy.

Goudi coup and Balkan Wars

George pursued a military career, training with the Prussian Guard at the age of 18, then serving in the Balkan Wars as a member of the 1st Infantry Regiment. George received a military education as the heir to the throne. He was trained at the Hellenic Military Academy in Athens, which allowed him to enroll in Greece's infantry as a second lieutenant on 27 May [Old Style: 14 May] 1909. However, a few months after he joined, on 15 August [Old Style: 2 August] 1909, a group of military officers organised a coup d'état against George I, the concurrent king and grandfather of George. The coup d'état became known as the Goudi coup and was led by Nikolaos Zorbas, who declared himself a monarchist, but campaigned for the dismissal of all princes from the army. Zorbas argued that dismissing princely soldiers would protect the popularity of the royal family. However, it is argued by Van der Kiste that many of the officers involved in the coup blamed the high-ranking princes for the defeat of Greece in the 1897 Greco-Turkish War. They particularly placed blame on George's father, Crown Prince Constantine, believing that the royal family was monopolising the highest army positions.

Some of the officers involved in the coup believed that the country would be better off if King George I was deposed and replaced by another neutral candidate, such as by George, his grandson. Proposed candidates included the Austrian duke Francis of Teck or a member of the German royal House of Hohenzollern. However, George was the most desirable candidate as he was more popular than his father, was an adult and was politically inexperienced, so was seen as easily more controllable. Violence sparked by the coup continued until February 1910 and members of the royal family were forced to resign from the military in order to avoid a revolution. George, his siblings and his parents evacuated Greece and moved to Germany for three years in exile. To avoid controversy, their exile was branded as a three-year "education leave", which was approved and so George continued his military training, but with the prestigious First Foot Guards Regiment of the Prussian army. This period of absence from Greece reduced his popularity as a potential replacement for his grandfather.

As Greece became more politically stable as violent protests lessened, George, his siblings and his parents returned to Greece at the end of 1910. In 1911, Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos allowed members of the royal family to be given back their former ranks in the military, but George returned to Germany to continue training with the Prussian army. When the First Balkan War commenced in October 1912, George returned to Greece to fight against the Ottoman Empire. George and his brother, Alexander, served as officers on his father's staff. George served in numerous battles, which was criticised by the media as it put the country's future monarch at risk of being killed. One such battle that George participated in was the capture of Thessaloniki on 8 November [Old Style: 26 October] 1912, which marked major progress for Greece in the war.

Crown Prince

World War I

On 18 March [Old Style: 5 March] 1913, George's grandfather and the reigning king, George I, was assassinated while taking his daily walk in Thessaloniki. Crown Prince Constantine, whose popularity had grown due to Greece's successes in the First Balkan War, acceded to the throne as King Constantine I. George thus became the Crown Prince of Greece at age 23. In the early weeks of being crown prince, George and his family moved to their new residence, where George developed a close friendship with his uncle, Prince Christopher, who was only two years older than him. On 30 June [Old Style: 17 June] 1913, the Second Balkan War broke out between Bulgaria and its former allies, which included Greece. Relations between Greece and many of its Balkan allies grew during the war, notably with Romania, which paved the way towards the marriage between George and Elisabeth, the daughter of King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie of Romania. When Greece and its allies won the war in August 1913, George and his family resumed their European trips. George accompanied his father on a state visit to Berlin and received the Order of the Red Eagle from his uncle, Wilhelm II, the German Kaiser. The following summer, George travelled to the United Kingdom with Christopher and was in London when he heard of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June 1914.

The assassination sparked the outbreak of World War I, in which Constantine wished to maintain Greece's neutrality. Constantine believed that Greece was unready to fight after its involvement in the Balkan Wars and also feared displeasing his brother-in-law, Wilhelm II. Opposition soon accused Constantine of supporting the Triple Alliance, made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and relations between him and Venizelos, who believed that Greece should side with the Triple Entente, made up of Great Britain, France and Russia, quickly deteriorated. The entire Greek government, supported by the French government, soon declared in October 1916 that siding with the Entente was their preferred option. Central Greece was occupied by the Western Allies, an extension of the Triple Entente, and a National Schism between supporters of Constantine and supporters of Venizelos broke out. Constantine refused to alter his opinion and his popularity heavily decreased. A fire in Tatoi Palace broke out on 14 July [Old Style: 1 July] 1916 and French agents were blamed for it. Multiple members of the royal family were close fatalities of it. Though George was not present at the time, his younger sister, Princess Katherine, who was only three years old, was carried into the palace woods for two kilometres to be saved. Between sixteen and eighteen people, made up of firefighters and palace staff, died.

First exile

George and his family settled in Switzerland, first in Saint Moritz and then in Zürich. Almost all members of the royal family moved with them after Venizelos returned to power as head of the Cabinet and organised Greece's entry into World War I. The family were financially strained and Constantine soon became ill. He almost died in 1918 upon also contracting the Spanish flu. At the Treaty of Sèvres and Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, part of the end of World War I, Greece made territorial gains in Thrace and Anatolia. Although initially seen as gains to the country, Greece soon fell into the Second Greco-Turkish War in 1919. Tension between Venizelos and the royal family remained high and was not helped when Alexander decided to marry aristocrat Aspasia Manos, rather than a foreign royal, which dismayed Venizelos. Venizelos saw this decision as a missed opportunity to move closer to Great Britain.

According to historian Marlene Eilers Koenig, George was in love with his cousin Anastasia de Torby, however their relationship was opposed by George's mother, Sophia, as Anastasia was the result of a morganatic marriage. George later became engaged in October 1920 to Elisabeth of Romania, who had been in touch with George since 1911. George had previously asked Elisabeth to marry in 1914, but she declined off the advice of her great-aunt, Elisabeth of Wied, who thought of George as being too small and too English. Elisabeth herself had declared that George was a prince whom God had forgotten to complete. Her feelings remain the same when the pair meet in Switzerland, however she accepted on the basis of her own imperfections. Although George's family had lost most of their wealth in exile, the Romanian royal family swiftly invited George and Elisabeth to return to Bucharest, in Romania, to announce their engagement.

Greco-Turkish war

George was in Romania when Alexander died following an infection from a monkey bite in 1920. Parliament continued to refuse the crown to either George or Constantine, so it was offered to Constantine's third son, Paul, who refused to break the legitimate line of succession. Greece was making no progress in the Greco-Turkish War and in the 1920 Greek legislative election, Venizelos was voted out of office. Dimitrios Rallis, a monarchist, was appointed prime minister and the 1920 Greek referendum restored Constantine to the throne. According to Van der Kiste, the referendum was most likely rigged by Rallis. Before Venizelos fled to Constantinople in exile, he asked George's grandmother, Olga Constantinovna, to act as regent while Constantine returned to Greece. On 19 December, George returned to Greece as the crown prince under his father's second reign. Many portraits of Venizelos were torn down in state celebrations and replaced with photos of the royal family. Upon their return, the royals made numerous balcony appearances to please the large crowd that had turned out to see them return.

A few weeks later, on 27 February [Old Style: 14 February] 1921, George married Elisabeth in Bucharest. Two weeks later, George's younger sister, Helen, married Elisabeth's brother, Crown Prince Carol of Romania, in Athens. Constantine's restoration to the Greek throne was opposed by the former Allies of World War I, and thus Greece received minimal support in the Greco-Turkish War against Mustafa Kemal's Turkey. The former Allies stated that they were not ready to provide support, and continued to hold distaste against Constantine. For example, at the wedding of Princess Helen and Crown Prince Carol, the British ambassador and his wife refused to greet Constantine and Sophia.

In response to the ongoing war, Constantine quickly assumed the role of commander-in-chief of the army and resided in Asia Minor from May to September 1921. George served as a colonel, and later a major general in the war. He travelled with his father to Smyrna and other battlefronts, where he visited wounded Greek soldiers and civilians in hospital. Greece was pushed back from the Anatolian lands granted to them in the Treaty of Sèvres to Ankara and suffered heavy defeats at the Battle of Sakarya in August and September 1921. The royal family became more criticised and Greek media turned against George and two of his uncles when they made comments critiquing Venizelos. Prince Andrew, the father of the future Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, fled from Asia Minor before Greece's defeat at Sakarya, which was mocked by Turkish forces. In the next few months, Greek forces continued to be defeated and slowly retreated towards Smyrna, while George was stationed in Ionia and Elisabeth joined the Red Cross to help Christian refugees who had escaped villages that had fallen to the Turkish army. Elisabeth's distance from George furthers her struggles of integrating into the Greek culture. Mateos Sáinz de Medrano documents that Elisabeth was jealous of the successes of her sister, Queen Maria of Yugoslavia.

First reign

To avoid more unrest, Constantine officially abdicated on 27 September [Old Style: 14 September] 1922 and moved to Italy with Sophia and his daughters in exile, while George became monarch. George left for Bucharest to retrieve his wife and the pair returned to Greece to be crowned. George officially ascended to the throne as George II, but did not receive a happy reception and faced harsh criticism. In Greece, there had been greater political instability since the 1922 Greek coup d'état, which influenced Constantine's abdication, and a large influx of refugees from Asia Minor as a result of the war. Supporters of Venizelos still maintained a high degree of influence and power in the country, with Plastiras and Gonatas leading the country. George and Elisabeth were confined to Tatoi and were highly monitored by the government, while George worried about the growing instability in Greece and criticism from the former Allies, who had previously refused to recognise Constantine's second reign.

Between 13 October and 28 November 1922, the Trial of the Six took place and saw the punishment of numerous monarchist politicians who had opposed the Venizelos administration. The verdict of the trial resulted in former prime ministers Dimitrios Gounaris, Petros Protopapadakis and Nikolaos Stratos, as well as politicians Georgios Baltatzis, Nikolaos Theotokis and Georgios Hatzanestis, being shot on 28 November. All six of them had been strong supporters of the monarchy and their executions were to the dismay of George, who had lost his right to pardon and could not intervene in the trial. Continued opposition to the royal family was occurring, such as the arrest of Prince Andrew on 26 October at the royal residence of Mon Repos on Corfu. Andrew was later transported to Athens and imprisoned for "disobeying an order" and "acting on his own initiative" during battles in Anatolia. The Greek government was criticised by George V of the United Kingdom, Alfonso XIII of Spain and Pope Pius XI, before Andrew's sentence was reduced to capital banishment in order to avoid sanctions. On 5 December [Old Style: 22 November], a British ship was sent to transport Andrew and his family, including the young Prince Philip, out of Greece and to Britain, to the dismay of George.

Constantine died in Palermo on 11 January 1923 [Old Style: 29 December 1922] without being granted a state funeral, which left George considering abdication. General Ioannis Metaxas, who was a supporter of the monarchy, encouraged George to stay in the country with the hope that instability would gradually reduce. Following a failed royalist coup d'état in October 1923, the Greek government, led by the republican prime minister, Gonatas, asked George to leave the country while the National Assembly considered the question of the future form of government. Though most likely uninvolved, George was accused of initiating the coup d'état, and Plastiras and Theodoros Pangalos openly campaigned for the abolition of the monarchy for the first time. The 1923 Greek legislative election determined that Venizelos would replace Gonatas, however before the changeover in government, Gonatas demanded that George leave the country. George complied and although he refused to abdicate, George departed on 19 December 1923 for exile in his wife's home nation of Romania. Before fleeing, George was described as a cold and aloof man, who rarely inspired love or affection from his subjects. Many commented that his moody, sullen personality seemed more appropriate for his ancestral homeland of Denmark than Greece. Furthermore, George's long years spent living abroad had caused him to struggle in identifying with the Greek culture.

Second exile

The Second Hellenic Republic was proclaimed by parliament on 25 March 1924, before being confirmed by the 1924 Greek republic referendum two and a half weeks later. George and Elisabeth were officially deposed and banished, along with all members of the royal family, who were stripped of their Greek citizenship. Royal properties were also confiscated by the government of the new republic. Rendered stateless, they were issued new passports from their cousin, Christian X of Denmark. Exiled in Romania from December 1923, George and his wife settled in Bucharest, where Elisabeth's parents, King Ferdinand and Queen Marie, put at their disposal a wing of the Cotroceni Palace for some time. After several weeks however, the couple moved and established their residence in a more modest villa on Victory Avenue. As regular guests of the Romanian sovereigns, George and Elisabeth took part in the ceremonies which punctuated the life of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen family. Despite the kindness with which his mother-in-law treated him, George felt idle in Bucharest and struggled to hide the boredom he felt from the splendors of the Romanian court.

After their exile, financial difficulties and absence of children, George and Elisabeth's marriage deteriorated. Elisabeth carried out multiple extra-marital affairs with various married men. When visiting her sick sister, Maria, in Belgrade, she reportedly flirted with her own brother-in-law, Alexander I of Yugoslavia. Later, she began an affair with her husband's banker, a Greek named Alexandros Scavani, whom she made her chamberlain to cover up the scandal. In exile, George stayed half the year in Romania with Elisabeth, and the other half living with his mother at Villa Bobolina in Tuscany, either with or without his wife. George eventually moved to the United Kingdom, where he had numerous extended family members and friends. On 16 September 1930, George was initiated into Freemasonry in London and became venerable master of the Wellwood Lodge in 1933. After the death of Sophia in 1932, George chose to permanently leave Bucharest and his wife to establish his residence in London. Accompanied by his squire, Major Dimitrios Levidis, and one of his servants, Mitso Panteleos, George rented a small suite with two rooms at Brown's Hotel in Mayfair.

George still lacked much wealth and received a mixed reception in Britain, where he was criticised for his relations with Wilhelm II. In London, George was finally reunited with Andrew and his wife. George also regularly attended hunting trips in Scotland with his companions and members of the British royal family, who he frequently went to pubs and antique dealers with. George became quite knowledgeable in old furniture and English silverware. George avoided mentioning his political views or any plans for restoring the Greek monarchy, but made himself clear that he would return as monarch if asked to and that he still considered himself Greek. George attended the wedding of his cousin, Marina, and George, Duke of Kent, in Greek army uniform. After the wedding celebrations had concluded, George left on a trip to British India for several months. Under Lord Willingdon, the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, George was treated as the sovereign of Greece and met numerous officials stationed there, while being enthusiastically interested in the Indian culture. During his stay, George fell in love with a young woman named Joyce Wallach, who was married to John Britten-Jones, the aide-de-camp to the Governor of India. Wallach filed for divorce and moved back to London with George, however would continue to have numerous affairs up until George's death in 1947. On 6 July 1935, George learned through the newspaper that Elisabeth had filed for divorce after she accused him of "desertion from the family home". A court in Bucharest processed the divorce without inviting George to attend.

Second reign

Restoration of the monarchy

After the abolition of the monarchy in 1924, leaders who opposed Venizelos, except for Metaxas, refused to recognise the new regime. This "regime issue" that arose just after the proclamation of the republic, haunted Greek politics for more than a decade and eventually led to the restoration of monarchy. In just over ten years, Greece had twenty-three governments, thirteen coup d'états and one dictatorship. On average, each Cabinet lasted six months and a coup d'état was organised every 42 weeks. Having failed to restore political stability, the republicanism movement in Greece became criticised and opposed by the public. Gradually, there were more and more protests that voiced to restore the monarchy. Although most protestors wished to have George reinstalled, there were voices to have a new monarch from a new dynasty be inducted, such as George, Duke of Kent.

On 10 October 1935, General Georgios Kondylis, a former supporter of Venizelos who had suddenly decided to support the monarchist forces, overthrew the government and appointed himself prime minister, replacing Panagis Tsaldaris and Zaimis, who were prime minister and president respectively. Aware of Kondylis' ultimate aim of restoring the monarchy, George, who had been living at Brown's Hotel, demanded a plebiscite be held in order to determine whether he would be reinstalled. Kondylis thus arranged the rigged 1935 Greek plebiscite, both to approve his government and to bring an end to the republic. On 3 November 1935, almost 98% of the reported votes supported the restoration of the monarchy. The balloting was not secret, and participation was compulsory. As Time described it at the time, "As a voter one could drop into the ballot box a blue vote for George II and please General George Kondylis ... or one could cast a red ballot for the Republic and get roughed up."

The organisation of the plebiscite discontented the Greek government. When the election results were announced, a delegation was sent to the Greek embassy in London to officially ask George and his younger brother, Paul, to return to Athens, which they accepted on 5 November 1935. Before returning to Greece, they first travelled to France and Italy. In Paris, George and Prince Andrew were greeted by French President Albert Lebrun and interviewed by French media. George and Paul then travelled to Villa Sparta, Italy, to retrieve their sisters and pay respects to their parents' graves at the Church of the Nativity of Christ and St. Nicholas, a Russian Orthodox Church in Florence. After a brief stay in Rome with Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, the Greek royals boarded the cruiser Elli in Brindisi and returned to Phalerum in Athens on 25 November.

Metaxas dictatorship

On 4 August 1936, George endorsed Metaxas's dictatorship, known as the "4th of August Regime", signing decrees that dissolved the parliament, banned political parties, abolished the constitution and purported to create a "Third Hellenic Civilization". George, ruling jointly with Metaxas, oversaw a right-wing regime in which political opponents were arrested and strict censorship was imposed. Many books, such as the works of Plato, Thucydides and Xenophon, were banned. Though not branded as a fascist regime, Metaxas's dictatorship was arguably quasi-fascist and heavily imitated that of Benito Mussolini in Italy, whom Adolf Hitler had also been inspired by in Germany. George disliked dealing with both Greek politicians and ordinary Greeks, and preferred to let Metaxas undertake tours around the country.. George retained full control of the army and he was largely responsible for foreign policy making. Metaxas's support of the monarch has been likened to that of Venizelos with Alexander. Although his reign was mostly guaranteed under the dictatorship, George was weary of Metaxas' growing power and the influence of the army. George told his cousin, Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia, that he felt so isolated that he could not trust anyone in Greece. To avoid a possible overthrow by Metaxas, George declared to the Greek ambassador to the United Kingdom that he supported Metaxas's policies, though he also voiced his concern.

The Greeks are orientals. They consider moderation in the exercise of power as a weakness. They are the most democratic people in the world, but once they take power, they automatically become tyrannical. Everyone knows it and accepts it.

Most of the royal family's possessions had been either ransacked, lost or sold during the republic. For example, the Presidential Palace in Athens had been almost completely emptied, its furniture sold by the republican Greek government. When the monarchy was restored, George nor any member of the royal family requested compensation for their lost property. Lacking wealth, George took charge of the restoration and redecoration works of his residencies, which he refurnished by gaining items from auctions and markets. George continued his relationship with Wallach, but it was kept secret from the public and any possible marriage between the pair would not be allowed due to Wallach's commoner status. When engagements required a first lady to be present, George would call his sister Katherine or his sister Irene, who were both single at the time. George made very frequent visits back to London, at least once every year, typically at the end of the year, to reunite with his extended family and friends. He was weary of Metaxas when taking these trips and would never be away from Greece for too long. His trips though allowed for the acquisition by Greece of more military equipment and vehicles from Britain. One of George's priorities was to retrieve the bodies of his mother and father from Italy. In November 1936, he sent Paul to Florence to recover the bodies of their parents, Constantine and Sophie, and of their grandmother, Olga. They were transferred to Greece by the ship Averof and exhibited for the public for six days in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. On 23 November, a small ceremony was held at the Church of the Resurrection at Tatoi. It was attended by members of the royal family and foreign European royals and nobles. George would go on, in 1940, to retrieve the remains of his aunt, Alexandra, who had died in Russia in 1891, from the Soviet Union. This satisfied the wishes of his grandmother.

World War II

On 2 June 1940 Frederica gave birth to the future Constantine II. Simultaneously, World War II began to spread across Europe and France collapsed to Nazi Germany under Blitzkrieg. Fascist Italy soon joined on 10 June as an Axis Power. Mussolini commenced a violent propaganda campaign against Greece and accused George, who had declared Greece's neutrality, of harbouring British ships in Greek waters. On 15 August an Italian submarine sunk the Elli, which was escorting a ship of pilgrims off Tinos. The Nazi government in Germany proposed mediation between Italy and Greece. Hitler promised that if George, who he saw as an anglophile, abdicated from the throne, Germany would guarantee no Italian invasion of Greece and grant Greece territories off the coast of the Balkans. George was outraged at this proposition and stated, "[The Nazis] would do better to not stick their noses in the affairs of this country if they know what is good for them!" On 28 October 1940 Metaxas rejected an Italian ultimatum demanding the stationing of Italian troops on Greek soil, sparking the Greco-Italian War. Plastiras, head of the opposition-in-exile, proclaimed their support of George and Metaxas. George consequentially took charge of Greek armed forces and established contact with the Allies, while conducting daily war council meetings at the Hotel Grande Bretagne. George travelled up north to support soldiers as well. Greece successfully repelled the Italian invasion and launched a successful counter-attack, eventually occupying the southern half of Italian Albania.

Metaxas died on 29 January 1941 and George refused to set up a government of national unity, despite calls from both wings of politics to do so. George appointed Alexandros Koryzis as the new prime minister and he retained the dictatorial power that Metaxas did. The Invasion of the Balkans by the Axis Powers ensued and the Luftwaffe conducted Operation Punishment on 6 April, in which Belgrade was bombed when the government denounced the Tripartite Pact. On 9 April the Metaxas Line was penetrated by German troops from Bulgaria and Thessaloniki was occupied. Greek forces had to retreat further south as the Axis Powers continued to make progress within Greek borders. On 20 April a squadron of the Greek army surrendered for the first time. Koryzis told George to accept capitulation, but George reportedly burst into anger and gave his intentions of never surrendering. Following Koryzis' suicide on 18 April 1941 in the face of the rapid German advance, George unable to find a speedy successor, found himself as the de facto head of government as well as head of the armed services.

George had thus a unique opportunity to form a broader government of national consensus, and abolish the hated dictatorial regime—whose sole bastion of support he now was. Though urged to this step by the influential British ambassador, Michael Palairet, George refused. Instead, several names were put forward to head a government. George initially proposed Konstantinos Kotzias, one of Metaxas's ministers, but his ties to the regime made him an unfeasible choice. Instead, veteran Venizelist general Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian was given the mandate to form a government, but returned it on 20 April, partly due to his refusal to collaborate with Metaxas's hated Security Minister Konstantinos Maniadakis. Other figures, such as the former dictator Pangalos, were also rejected. Finally, Emmanouil Tsouderos, former governor of the Bank of Greece, was chosen, chiefly on account of his known Anglophile sentiments, Venizelist past, and Cretan origin—with mainland Greece being overrun, the government was preparing to evacuate to Crete. Most Cretans supported Venizelos but were generally seen as anti-monarchical; this appointment was seen as a sop to local sentiment.

Return to Greece

Though World War II was over, political instability in Greece remained very high. There was tension and violence between communists and British forces, commanded by General Ronald Scobie. On 31 March 1946, under the surveillance of the American, British and French governments, the 1946 Greek legislative election was held and the United Alignment of Nationalists, a royalist party, won a strong majority of seats, aided by the abstention of the communists, and the 1946 Greek referendum on the monarchy was set for 1 September. Between then and the referendum, the electoral registers were revised under Allied supervision. The announced results claimed 68.4% in favour of George's return on an 86.6% turnout. However, even Allied observers acknowledged that the official results were marked by significant fraud by monarchist supporters. The official Allied observation report recorded, "There is no doubt in our minds that the party representing the government view exercised undue influence in securing votes in support of the return of the King."

The new prime minister, Konstantinos Tsaldaris, went to London to invite George II back to Greece. On 27 September, George returned to Elefsina, Greece, and met with Paul and Frederica. From there, they and other members of the royal family travelled to Athens and were greeted by a large crowd and a Te Deum, celebrated by Damaskinos. Despite democracy being restored, the Greek population were still heavily suffering from the war. Van der Kiste estimates that 77% of the naval fleet was destroyed, 95% of railways destroyed and over 300 villages ransacked. George returned to find Tatoi Palace looted, the surrounding woods chopped down for fuel and corpses buried in shallow graves outside. His country also faced economic collapse.

With his residencies having been badly damaged, George moved into a cottage built for his father. His sister, Catherine, lived with him there as well with her staff. George attempted to depict his lifestyle as modest during a time of high rationing, and spent most of his time working in his office and opening letters addressed to him. While the Greek Civil War began raging in the north, the Paris Peace Treaties on 10 February 1947 allows Greece to annex the Dodecanese islands, which had been Italian territories since the Italo-Turkish War between 1911 and 1912. George proclaimed Admiral Perikles Ioannidis, the second husband of his aunt, Maria, as the first governor of the Dodecanese. George also aimed to annex Northern Epirus and a resolution vote by the American Senate approved this, but he was ultimately unsuccessful.

Death

From the announcement of Princess Katherine's engagement to British Major Richard Brandram, George's health began declining without his doctors being concerned. On 31 March 1947, George attended a performance of Laurence Olivier's Henry V at the British embassy in Athens as part of a charity gala. At lunch the following day, George told a servant that he felt tired. He was then discovered unconscious in his office in the New Royal Palace in Athens on 1 April 1947. At 4:00 pm, George's death was announced on the radio and his cause of death was given as arteriosclerosis. When the news was announced some thought it to be an April Fool's Day joke. His funeral was held on 6 April at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens and he was buried at Tatoi Palace. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Paul. George's nephew, Constantine, thus became the crown prince.

In popular culture

War propaganda

During World War II, the Allies used the figure of George II as an instrument of propaganda to reinforce Greek patriotic sentiment. Several short films centred on the sovereign and his government were thus shot, such as Heroic Greece! by the American Frank Norton (1941).

Television and literature

The romantic relationship of King George II and his mistress, nicknamed "Mrs. Brown", is briefly mentioned in the third episode ("The New King") of the British mini-series Edward & Mrs. Simpson, which features the king's cruise with Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson in the Greek Islands, in 1936. In addition, George is depicted in the English detective novel, A Royal Affair (1920), by Allisan Montclair.

Music

On the occasion of the restoration of George II as monarch in 1935, the rebetiko singer Markos Vamvakaris wrote a song titled "We welcome you, King" (Greek: Καλώς μας ήρθες Bασιλιά, romanized: Kalós mas írthes Vasiliá).

Philately

Various stamps bearing the effigy of George II have been issued by Greek Post during his reign:

A series of four stamps depicting the sovereign was thus issued, shortly after his restoration to the throne, on 1 November 1937, with face values of ₯1, ₯3, ₯8 and ₯100.

A series of four stamps were issued in 1947 upon George's return to Greece after World War II.

A commemorative stamp depicting George above Crete was issued in 1950 in memoriam the Battle of Crete.

Two stamps were released in 1956 and 1957 that showcased each Greek monarch.

A series of five stamps were released in 1963 to mark the centenary of the Greek monarchy. Each Greek monarch was depicted.

Numismatics

Various Greek coins bearing the image of George II have been issued by the Bank of Greece. Among these are:

A series of commemorative coins minted in 1940 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the king's restoration (₯20 and ₯100 coins struck in copper, silver and gold bearing the date of 25 November 1935).

A ₯30 silver coin put into circulation in 1963 on the occasion of the centenary of the Greek monarchy and showing the portraits of kings George I, Constantine I, Alexander I and George II and Paul I.

Honours

Kingdom of Greece:

Founder of the Order of St. George and St. Constantine, January 1936

Founder of the Order of Saints Olga and Sophia, January 1936

Commander's cross of the Cross of Valour, 28 October 1946

Denmark:

Knight of the Elephant, with Collar, 15 August 1909

Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog, 15 August 1909

France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, 10 December 1892

House of Savoy: Knight of the Annunciation, with Collar and Star

Monaco : Grand Cross of the Order of Saint-Charles, 11 April 1940

Poland: Knight of the White Eagle

Norway: War Cross Medal

Romania: Collar of the Order of Carol I

Sweden: Knight of the Seraphim, 20 May 1919

United Kingdom:

Honorary Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 20 July 1909

Stranger Knight Companion of the Garter, 7 November 1938

Associate Bailiff Grand Cross of St. John

Companion of the Distinguished Service Order