Constantine II of Greece: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

[[File:Prins Constatijn en prinses Anne-Marie, Bestanddeelnr 254-7439.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.98|Constantine with [[Queen Anne-Marie of Greece]] in 1964]]▼

[[File:Jamboree 1963 te Marathon Griekenland Close-up prins, Bestanddeelnr 915-4232.jpg|thumb|upright=0.92|Constantine II in 1963]]

▲[[File:Prins Constatijn en prinses Anne-Marie, Bestanddeelnr 254-7439.jpg|thumb|upright=0.98|Constantine with [[Queen Anne-Marie of Greece]] in 1964]]

In 1964, Paul I's health deteriorated rapidly. He was diagnosed with [[stomach cancer]] and underwent surgery for an [[ulcer]] in February. Prior to this, Constantine had already been appointed [[regent]] for his ailing father while waiting for his recovery.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ailing Greek King Names Son Regent|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/21/ailing-greek-king-names-son-regent.html|access-date=29 April 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=21 February 1964|archive-date=24 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160724083556/http://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/21/ailing-greek-king-names-son-regent.html|url-status=live}}</ref> During this regency, Constantine limited himself to signing decrees and appointing members of the government, as well as accepting their resignations.<ref name="euronews">{{cite news|title=Απεβίωσε ο τέως βασιλιάς Κωνσταντίνος – Μητσοτάκης: «Η Ιστορία θα τον κρίνει δίκαια και αυστηρά» |url= https://gr.euronews.com/2023/01/10/ellada-apeviose-o-teos-vasilias-konstantinos|work=[[Euronews]]|date=11 January 2023|language=el}}</ref> However, as the king's condition worsened, the crown prince went to [[Tinos]] to get an icon considered miraculous by the [[Greek Orthodox Church]]. The holy image, however, was not enough to cure the sovereign, and on 6 March 1964, King Paul died and the 23-year-old Constantine succeeded him as King of the Hellenes.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=184}}{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|p=135-136}}{{sfn|Tantzos|1990|p=102-104}} The new king ascended the throne as Constantine II, although some of his supporters preferred to call him Constantine XIII to emphasize the continuity between the former [[Byzantine Empire]] and the [[Kingdom of Greece]].{{sfn|Dimitrakis|2009|p=107}} On 23 March he was sworn in before the [[Hellenic Parliament|Parliament]] and was invested as chief of the armed forces with the highest ranks in each branch.<ref name="kathi" /><ref name="sansi">{{cite news|title=Κωνσταντίνος Β': Ο τελευταίος Βασιλιάς της Ελλάδας|url=https://www.sansimera.gr/biographies/2333|work=Sansimera|language=el}}</ref>

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[[File:Koninklijk huis, prinsen, koningen, koninginnen, huwelijken, vliegvelden, Anne-M, Bestanddeelnr 017-1377.jpg|thumb|Anne-Marie and Constantine with [[Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld|Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands]] at [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol|Schiphol]], 1966]]

Constantine took the reins of the Kingdom at a time when Greek society was experiencing economic and employment growth, but political crises and violent social protests.<ref name=jason /> Political instability worsened in 1965. At the meeting with the Prime Minister George Papandreou that took place on 11 July 1965 in [[Korfu]], Constantine requested that those implicated in the ASPIDA scandal, in which several officers, captains and majors tried to thwart and pre-empt attempts by the extreme right-wing military to seize power, be referred to a military tribunal.<ref name=kathi /><ref>{{cite book |language=en|first=Keith R. |last=Legg|title=Politics in Modern Greece|publisher=Stanford UP|date=1969|isbn=0804707057}}</ref> Papandreou agreed, and raised with him his intention to dismiss the then [[Minister for National Defence (Greece)| minister of defence]] [[Petros Garoufalias]] so that he could take charge himself of the ministry.<ref name=kathi /> Constantine refused, as the scandal wrongly implicated the prime minister's son, [[Andreas Papandreou]].<ref name=kathi /> After several clashes by letter between the monarch and the prime minister, Papandreou resigned on 15 July.<ref name="ingr">{{cite news|first=Dimitris N.|last=Maniatis|title=Ο Κωνσταντίνος, τα Ιουλιανά του 1965 και ο δρόμος προς τη χούντα|journal=In.gr|date=14 January 2023|url=https://www.in.gr/2023/01/14/life/stories/o-konstantinos-ta-iouliana-tou-1965-kai-o-dromos-pros-ti-xounta/|language=el}}</ref><ref name="lifo">{{cite news|first=Yannis|last=Pantazopoulos|title=Οι σκοτεινές σελίδες της ιστορίας του τέως βασιλιά Κωνσταντίνου|journal=[[Lifo (magazine)|Lifo]]|date=13 January 2023|url=https://www.lifo.gr/culture/arxaiologia/oi-skoteines-selides-tis-istorias-toy-teos-basilia-konstantinoy|language=el}}</ref> Following the resignation, at least 39 members of Parliament left Center Union.<ref name="jason">{{cite web|title=The July apostasy of 1965 in Greece; a royal coup to the regime of the colonels|url=https://jasoninstitute.com/the-july-apostasy-of-1965-in-greece-a-royal-coup-leading-to-the-regime-of-the-colonels/|first=Panos|last=Kontogiannis|date=18 June 2017|website=Jason Institute for Peace and Security Studies}}</ref>

[[File:Koning Constantijn en Koningin Anne Marie bij aankomst, Bestanddeelnr 919-0425.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.07|Constantine II in 1966]]

[[File:Koning Constantijn en koningin Anne-Marie van Griekenland in de kerk, Bestanddeelnr 919-0443 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Constantine at the wedding of Prince Karl of Hesse and Countess Yvonne Szapáry von Muraszombath, Széchysziget und Szapár in [[The Hague]], 1966]]

Constantine appointed a new government led by [[Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas]], Speaker of the Parliament, and formed by defectors disaffected with the Papandreous (the 'Apostates').<ref name=ingr /><ref name=lifo /> Soon thousands of citizens took to the streets to protest against Constantine's decision, unprecedented protests that led to clashes with the [[Cities Police]].<ref name=jason /><ref name=ingr /> On 21 July the protests in the centre of Athens came to a head, and in one of these clashes a policeman killed the 25-year-old student [[Sotiris Petroulas]], leader of the student movement and of the "Lambrakis Youth". His assassination became a symbol of the protests and his funeral was massive.<ref name=lifo /><ref name=jason /> Nova's government did not receive a vote of confidence from Parliament and resigned on 5 August. The two big parties, [[National Radical Union]] and Center Union, asked Constantine to call elections, but he asked [[Stefanos Stefanopoulos]] to form a government but finally ordered [[Ilias Tsirimokos]] to form a government on 18 August but he did not receive the vote of confidence of the Parliament on 28 August either. Constantine finally ordered Stefanopoulos to form a government and obtained the parliamentary confidence on 17 December 1965. An end to the crisis seemed in sight when on 20 December 1966, Papandreou, ERE leader [[Panagiotis Kanellopoulos]] and the king reached a resolution: elections would be held under a straightforward system of proportional representation where all parties participating agreed to compete, and that, in any outcome, the command structure of the army would not be altered.<ref>Clogg, 1987, pp. 52</ref> The third "apostate" government fell on 22 December 1966, and was succeeded by [[Ioannis Paraskevopoulos]], who was to govern until the [[1967 Greek legislative election|parliamentary elections of 28 May 1967]] which were expected to favor a victory for Georgios Papandreou's Centre Union.<ref>{{cite news|title=Τα «Ιουλιανά» του 1965 και η «Αποστασία»|journal=Sansimera|url=https://www.sansimera.gr/articles/947|language=el}}.</ref><ref name="sansi2">{{cite news |last1=Σήμερα .gr |first1=Σαν |title=Το Πραξικόπημα της 21ης Απριλίου 1967 |url=https://www.sansimera.gr/articles/250 |accessdate=14 January 2023 |work=Σαν Σήμερα .gr |language=el}}</ref> Paraskevopoulos resigned and Kanellopoulos stepped in to fill the role of the Prime Minister on 3 April 1967 until the election.<ref name="Clogg53">Clogg, 1987, pp. 53</ref>