George II (Greek: Γεώργιος Βʹ, Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων, Geórgios Βʹ, Vasiléfs ton Ellínon; 20 July 1890 – 1 April 1947) reigned as King of Greece from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947.
George was born at the royal villa at Tatoi, near Athens, the eldest son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. George pursued a military career, training with the Prussian Guard at the age of 18, then serving in the Balkan War as ...
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George II (Greek: Γεώργιος Βʹ, Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων, Geórgios Βʹ, Vasiléfs ton Ellínon; 20 July 1890 – 1 April 1947) reigned as King of Greece from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947.
George was born at the royal villa at Tatoi, near Athens, the eldest son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. George pursued a military career, training with the Prussian Guard at the age of 18, then serving in the Balkan War as a member of the 1st Greek Infantry. When his grandfather was assassinated in 1913, George became the crown prince (Diadochos) as well as the Duke of Sparta.
After a coup deposed King Constantine during the First World War, Crown Prince George, by then a Major, followed his father into exile in 1917 (see National Schism); his brother Alexander was installed as king by prime minister Eleftherios Venizelos, an avowed Republican.
When Alexander I died following an infection from a monkey bite in 1920, Venezelos was voted out of office, and a...
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