George I of Greece

George I
George I, c. 1912
King of the Hellenes
Reign30 March 1863 – 18 March 1913[a]
Enthronement6 June 1863
PredecessorOtto (as King of Greece)
SuccessorConstantine I
Prime Ministers
BornPrince William of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
(1845-12-24)24 December 1845
Copenhagen, Denmark
Died18 March 1913(1913-03-18) (aged 67)[a]
Thessaloniki[b]
Burial
Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece
Spouse
(m. 1867)
Issue
Names
Christian William Ferdinand Adolph George
GreekΓεώργιος Αʹ (Geórgios I)
HouseGlücksburg
FatherChristian IX of Denmark
MotherLouise of Hesse-Kassel
SignatureGeorge I's signature

George I (Greek: Γεώργιος Α΄, romanized: Geórgios I; 24 December 1845 – 18 March 1913) was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination on 18 March 1913.

Originally a Danish prince, George was born in Copenhagen, and seemed destined for a career in the Royal Danish Navy. He was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the unpopular King Otto. His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Second French Empire and the Russian Empire. He married Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia in 1867, and became the first monarch of a new Greek dynasty. Two of his sisters, Alexandra and Dagmar, married into the British and Russian royal families. Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexander III of Russia were his brothers-in-law, and George V of the United Kingdom, Christian X of Denmark, Haakon VII of Norway, and Nicholas II of Russia were his nephews.

George's reign of almost 50 years (the longest in modern Greek history) was characterized by territorial gains as Greece established its place in pre–World War I Europe. Britain ceded the Ionian Islands peacefully in 1864, while Thessaly was annexed from the Ottoman Empire after the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). Greece was not always successful in its territorial ambitions; it was defeated in the Greco-Turkish War (1897). During the First Balkan War, after Greek troops had captured much of Greek Macedonia, George was assassinated in Thessaloniki.
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