1862 Greek head of state referendum

In October 1862, King Otto of Greece was deposed in a popular revolt,Lidderdale, p. 212 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 Secretary Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were "panting for increase in territory",Van der Kiste, p. 4 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.{{fact|date=July 2020}}

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 plebiscite on the issue of the head of state in November 1862. It was the first referendum ever held in Greece.{{cite web |url=http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/en/Vouli-ton-Ellinon/To-Politevma/Syntagmatiki-Istoria/|title=Constitutional History|publisher=Hellenic Parliament|access-date=12 December 2011}}

The results were announced to the Greek National Assembly in February 1863. The number of votes differs slightly between reports, and the total votes reported sometimes exceeds the total in the official list. Differences arise through inaccuracies, misprints, and delays in the collection and count of votes.Finlay, George; Tozer, Henry Fanshawe (editor) (1877), [https://archive.org/stream/historyofgreecef07finluoft/historyofgreecef07finluoft_djvu.txt A history of Greece, from its conquest by the Romans to the present time, B.C. 146 to A.D. 1864], vol. VII, Oxford: Clarendon Press Votes were rarely if ever secret, and there were no uniformly printed ballot papers. Voters could write the name of their preference for king,Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p863 {{ISBN|978-3-8329-5609-7}} and votes generally took the form of signed petitions.See, for example, reports of voting in The Times, 8 December 1862, p. 12, col. A

Despite the apparently overwhelming support for Alfred, and the declaration by the Assembly that Alfred was elected as king, the Great Powers refused to alter their position, and Alfred declined the throne. The runner-up, Prince Leuchtenberg, as well as several of the other candidates, were also unacceptable to the Great Powers since they were members of the French and Russian royal families, also excluded from contention by the London Conference. The Greeks and Great Powers considered alternative candidates, and their choice eventually fell to Prince William of Denmark, who was the second son of Prince Christian of Denmark. William was elected unanimously by the Greek Assembly, becoming "George I, King of the Hellenes", and reigned for the next 50 years.Woodhouse, p. 170 Prince Alfred was created Duke of Edinburgh by his mother in 1866,{{London Gazette|issue=23119|page=3127|date=25 May 1866}} and became the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Germany in 1893.e.g. Statesman's Yearbook 1898

At George's enthronement, the British government announced that they would cede the Ionian Islands to Greece as a goodwill gesture.The Times (London), 8 June 1863, p. 12, col. C

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Clogg |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Clogg |title=A Short History of Modern Greece |url=https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofmo0000clog |url-access=registration |year=1979 |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}
• {{cite book |last=Forster |first=Edward S. |title=A Short History of Modern Greece 1821–1956 3rd edition |year=1958 |publisher=Methuen and Co |location=London }}
• {{cite journal | last = Jelavich | first = Barbara | title = Russia, Bavaria and the Greek Revolution of 1862/1863 | url = https://ojs.lib.uom.gr/index.php/BalkanStudies/article/view/44/43 | journal = Balkan Studies | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | year = 1961 | pages = 125–150 | issn = 2241-1674 }}
• {{cite book |last=Makrygiannis |first=Giannis |title=The memoirs of General Makriyannis 1797-1864 |year=1966 |editor-last=Lidderdale |editor-first=H.A. |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
• {{cite book |last=Van der Kiste |first=John |author-link=John Van der Kiste |title=Kings of the Hellenes |year=1994 |publisher=Sutton Publishing |isbn=0-7509-2147-1 }}
• {{cite book |last=Woodhouse |first=C. M. |author-link=Montague Woodhouse, 5th Baron Terrington |title=The Story of Modern Greece |year=1968 |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London }}

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Category:1862 referendums

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