King Otto of Greece – Reign 1832-1862
Uprising, Constitution and Greek Political Parties, 1843-1862
Apr 21, 2009
Following the assassination of Governor I. Capodistrias in 1831 and the ensuing period of anarchy, Greece was made a “monarchical and independent state” under the guarantee of Britain, Russia and France. The young King Otto, son of King Ludwig of Bavaria, arrived in Greece in February 1833 at the age of 17 to find a country ravaged by ten years of war and civil strife and virtually non-existent institutional structures.
Uprising of 1843
The political groupings or “parties” that have formed in the 1830s evolved around the policies of the Great Powers, Britain, France and Russia, and were named accordingly “English”, “French” and “Russian”. Membership of and alliances within these parties were fluid. The parties had neither program nor a consistent ideology but the English and French party agreed in that they favoured constitutional rule. However, King Otto was not inclined to granting a constitution.
Various issues contributed to widespread discontent that led to the uprising of 1843, or what is sometimes called the "3 September 1843 revolution". The Regency that ruled in Otto’s name until he became of age had made itself unpopular and there was resentment against both Bavarians and wealthy foreign-born Greeks (“heterochthons”) who held high offices and commanded handsome salaries. Otto’s Catholic faith and his childlessness were also thorny issues.
On 3 September 1843, troops of the Athenian garrison led by Kallergis and large crowds assembled outside the Palace asking King Otto to grant a constitution. Although Queen Amalia urged Otto not to give in, the King understood that his position had become untenable and agreed to appoint a provisional government and convene a national assembly with aim to drafting a constitution.
Greek Constitution and Political Parties
The Constitution which was viewed as a contract between King Otto and the people was basically a conservative document. It provided for an assembly with two chambers: the members of the lower house or vouli were to be elected by wide franchise while the members of the senate (gerousia) were to be appointed for life by the king. The king had the power to appoint and dismiss ministers and judges and to dissolve parliament.
King Otto was intent to manipulate government regardless of the constitution. He attempted to manoeuvre around the different regional and factional power holders with the aim to create a power base for himself. In a precarious balancing act, Otto tried sharing offices among the Greek political parties in an effort to reduce their power. This caused both instability and discontent.
As “the large gap between constitutional theory and the arbitrary and corrupt practice of the Ottonian system of government” (Clogg) seemed to widen teamed with manipulation of the 1859 election, a second uprising erupted in 1862 in Athens. King Otto and his queen who were at the time touring the south of Greece were advised not to return.
King Otto boarded a British ship and went back to his native Bavaria where he died seven years later.
Sources:
Richard Clogg, A Concise History of Modern Greece, Cambridge University Press 1979
Ioannis Petropoulos & Aikaterini Koumarianou, "Otto's Reign, 1833-1862" in History of the Greek Nation (Istoria tou Ellenikou Ethnous), vol. 13, Athens 1977, pp. 33-94.
Nikiforos Diamantouros, "The era of constitutional monarchy", in History of the Greek Nation (Istoria tou Ellenikou Ethnous), vol. 13, Athens 1977, pp.106-113.
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