Paul, King of the Greeks (14 December 1901 – 6 March 1964)

Paul, King of the Greeks (14 December 1901 – 6 March 1964)

Paul (Athens, 14 December 1901 – 6 March 1964) was King of Greece.
    He was the fourth child of Kings Constantine I and Sophia. He studied at the Naval Cadet School. He followed his father into exile in 1917 and returned with him from Switzerland to Greece in 1920, having previously been offered the Crown, after the death of his brother, Alexander, and having refused it, declaring that it belonged to his father.

He served as ensign on the cruiser "Elli". In 1923, shortly before the proclamation of the monarchy-free democracy in Greece, he left for abroad with his brother, George II.
    In 1935, with the restoration of the monarchy, he returned to Greece as heir to the throne.
    On January 9, 1938, he married the ambitious and dynamic Princess Frederick of Hanover in Athens. From his marriage he had 3 children:
Queen Sofia of Spain in 1938, 
King Constantine II of the Greeks in 1940, 
Princess Irene of Greece in 1942, 
    In the Greco-Italian War, he served in the General Headquarters and after the German invasion, he followed King George II to Crete and, after its occupation by the Germans, to Egypt, finally settling with his family in Cape Town, South Africa.
    On September 27, 1946, he returned to Greece with his childless brother, after whose death on April 1, 1947, he became king.
    It played a leading role in the gang war, as the royal couple engaged in unprecedented activity in the establishment of foundations and charitable institutions, increasing the prestige of the Dynasty to an incredible extent.
    By effectively controlling the Armed Forces and Security Forces and maintaining a contradictory role during the period of controlled parliamentarism, as well as cultivating excellent relations with Washington, while supporting the American choices for the appointment of Konstantinos Karamanlis as prime minister, Pavlos consolidated his power. At the same time, the mild or weak-willed nature of his character earned him the nickname “Paul the Good.”
    At the beginning of his reign, under the influence of the Venizelian General Ventiris, he was strongly opposed to the prospect of Marshal Alexandros Papagos becoming a politician. He was in favor of a government of the Liberal, Venizelian parties because he and his wife Queen Frederica feared that Papagos could develop into a dictator like Francisco Franco. Papagos was eventually elected Prime Minister but died in 1955.
    According to the 1952 Constitution, the King could choose anyone he wanted as Prime Minister, as long as the latter received a vote of confidence from Parliament within fifteen days. Having this option, he chose the then Minister of Public Works, Konstantinos Karamanlis, as Prime Minister-designate, after the death of Papagos, and not one of the deputy prime ministers and candidates for the leadership of their party, Stefanos Stefanopoulos and Panagiotis Kanellopoulos. Karamanlis was not elected leader of his party, but he received the vote of confidence from Parliament and founded a new party.
    After the 1961 elections, which the opposition considered to be violent and fraudulent, and the assassination of Lambrakis in 1963, his relations with Karamanlis soured. Since 1961, the opposition had considered the Karamanlis government illegitimate, and had declared the Unyielding Struggle. Finally, due to the disagreement over the royal couple's trip to London, Karamanlis resigned.
    This time he worked better with George Papandreou from the autumn of 1963 until his death in March 1964, because Papandreou was more conciliatory and Pavlos was seriously ill. His health was very shaky, and the Papandreou Government was the third and last, in Greek history, to be sworn in at the summer residence of the royal family, the Tatoiou estate.

 He was succeeded on the throne by his son Constantine.