Following the resignation of Augustinos Kapodistrias, a series of collective governing councils were established, but their authority was often only nominal.
The London Conference of 1832 was an international conference convened to establish a stable government in Greece. Negotiations between the three Great Powers resulted in the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece under a Bavarian Prince. The decisions were ratified in the Treaty of Constantinople later that year. The convention offered the throne to the Bavarian Prince, Otto. They also established the line of succession which would pass the crown to Otto's descendants, or his younger brothers should he have no issue. It was also decided that in no case there would be a personal union of the crowns of Greece and Bavaria. Otto went on to rule Greece until he was exiled in the 23 October 1862 Revolution.
In October 1862, King Otto was deposed in a popular revolt, 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 SecretaryLord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were "panting for increase in territory", 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 referendum on the issue of the head of state in November 1862. It was the first referendum ever held in Greece. Prince Alfred turned down the Kingship and Prince William of Denmark, son of Prince Christian of Denmark, was elected by the National Assembly to become King George I of the Hellenes.
Republic">Metapolitefsi">Republic under the military junta of 1967–1974|Military Junta]] (1973–1974)
On 1 June 1973 the junta abolished the monarchy and replaced it with a presidential republic. The abolition of the monarchy was approved by a rigged referendum held on 29 July 1973.
In 1974, the military junta was overthrown and democracy restored. A second referendum, held on 8 December 1974, confirmed the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the current parliamentary republic, with the President of the Republic as the head of state. ;Status
Living former heads of state
There are three living former Greek Presidents and one living former King of the Hellenes:
