The Press Junior THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1935. Greece

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21416, 7 March 1935, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Press Junior THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1935. Greece

Since Princess Marina of Greece married Prince George, Duke of Kent, English-speaking people all over the British Empire have taken more interest in the mainland and islands of Greece than they have taken for more than a hundred years—since the early 1820*8, when Lord Byron and William Wordsworth stirred the English to sympathise with the Greeks in their struggle for independence from Turkey. During these hundred years Greece has suffered many political changes; since the earliest efforts of her people to shake off the yoke of Turkey a kingdom has fallen and a republic has taken its place; and now the republic is torn and troubled by revolts as serious as those which shook the kingdom from time to time from 1833 until 1923. It was in 1829 that the combined forces of Greece, England, France, and Russia forced Turkey to give up the power she had had over Greece since the fifteenth century. On February 3, 1830, a document was signed in London by Great Britain, France and Russia guaranteeing the kingdom of Greece her independence. By January 25, 1833, the young Prince Otto, of Bavaria, had ascended the throne. But he was expelled from the kingdom in 1862 and was followed on the throne by King George 1., who was elected by the Grecian people. He was formerly Prince William, son of Christian IX., King of Denmark. The unfortunate George I. was assassinated on March 18, 1913, and was succeeded by his son, Constantine, expelled by the allied forces between June 11, 1917, and December 19, 1920, his second son, Alexandres, reigning during this time. When Constantine returned in 1920 he found himself faced with grave difficulties; he had spent his life working for Greece and her people, and it was with a broken heart that he abdicated on September 27, 1922, to die in exile on January 11, 1923. King Constantine, who was Princess Marina's grandfather, was followed on the throne by his eldest son, George II.; for barely 15 months this king reigned over Greece; then he and other members of the Greek Royal family—including Prince Nicholas and his daughter, Marina—were forced into exile when Greece ceased to be a kingdom on December 18, 1923. The new republic—known as the Hellenic Republic—was established by vote on April 13, 1924 ; In two years a new contitutfon or set of governing laws was drawn up, providing the country with a Chamber of Deputies (or House of Representatives) of 200 members elected every four years by the people, a Senate of 120 men elected every nine years, and a President elected every Ave years by the Chamber and the Senate.