Alexander of Greece

Alexander Of Greece

Alexander (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος, Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων, Aléxandros, Vasiléfs ton Ellínon; 1 August 1893 – 25 October 1920) was King of Greece from 10 June 1917 until his death.

The second son of Constantine I of Greece, Alexander was born in the summer palace of Tatoi, in the outskirts of Athens. He succeeded his father in 1917, during the First World War, after the Entente Powers pressured Constantine I, and his elder son Crown Prince George, into exile in Switzerland. Having no real political experience, the new king was stripped of his powers by the Venizelist faction and effectively imprisoned in his own palace. His prime minister, the Cretan Eleftherios Venizelos, was the effective ruler with the support of the Entente. Though reduced to the status of a puppet king, Alexander supported Greek troops in the war against Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. Under his reign the territorial extent of Greece considerably increased, following the victory of the Entente and the start of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922.

Alexander controversially married the commoner Aspasia Manos in 1919, provoking a major scandal that forced the couple to leave Greece for several months. Soon after reuniting with his wife, Alexander was bitten by a domestic monkey and died of septicemia. The sudden death of the sovereign caused significant difficulties for Greece and raised the question of the monarchy's survival as part of the Venizelist regime.