Editing George II of Greece (section)

==Early life==
===Birth and childhood===
[[File:Constantine Crown Prince of Greece with his family.jpg|thumb|left|180px|George (''lower right'') with his parents and younger brother, 1894]]
George was born at the royal villa at [[Tatoi]], near [[Athens]], the eldest son of [[Constantine I of Greece|Crown Prince Constantine]] of Greece and his wife, [[Sophia of Prussia]].{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=50}} George was a great-grandson of both [[Christian IX of Denmark]], the "[[father-in-law of Europe]]", and of [[Queen Victoria]], the "[[grandmother of Europe]]". George was born nine months after his parents married.{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|p=182}} Queen Victoria speculated that George was premature, being born a week before his due date. During George's birth, his mother struggled and George's [[umbilical cord]] was strapped around his neck. A German midwife, who was sent specially by his grandmother, [[Victoria, Princess Royal]], assisted in George's birth.{{sfn|Gelardi|2006|p=25}} George was named after his paternal grandfather, [[George I of Greece|King George I of Greece]], following traditional [[Greek name|Greek naming practices]]. He was baptized on 18 August [Old Style: 5 August] 1890 by multiple Godparents, including Queen Victoria.{{sfn|Gelardi|2006|pp=24–25}}{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=51}}{{sfn|Palmer|Greece|1990|p=35}}

George was the eldest of six siblings, born between 1890 and 1913,{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pages=61–62, 81}} and spent most of his childhood in Athens in a villa on Kifisias Avenue in the former [[Presidential Mansion, Athens|Presidential Mansion]], which was the residence of the Crown Prince. The mansion is now the official residence of the [[President of Greece]].<ref>{{cite web|language=el|title=Αρχείο Νεωτέρων Μνημείων – Νέα Ανάκτορα (Προεδρικό Μέγαρο)|url=http://archaeologia.eie.gr/archaeologia/gr/arxeio_more.aspx?id=117|website=archaeologia.eie.gr|access-date=3 March 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|p=95}} As a child, George also made numerous visits to Great Britain, where he stayed for several weeks to visit his British relatives. The Greek royals often stayed in [[Seaford, East Sussex|Seaford]] and [[Eastbourne]]. George also made visits to Germany to see his mother's family and they stayed in [[Schlosshotel Kronberg]] with his grandmother, Victoria, but also took summer holidays in [[Corfu]] and [[Venice]], travelling on their private yacht, ''Amphritrite IV''.{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|p=83}}

George has been described by historians [[John Van der Kiste]] and Vicente Mateos Sáinz de Medrano as the most introverted and distant of his siblings, having been aware of his role as heir from a young age.{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|pages=182–83}}{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=113}} Van der Kiste presents George as a child who often misbehaved, especially during visits to Germany, but less turbulent than his younger brother, [[Alexander of Greece|Alexander]], who was described as mischievous, and less sporty his younger sister, [[Helen of Greece and Denmark|Helen]], who was seen as a tomboy.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=62}}

===Goudi coup and Balkan Wars===
{{Further|Goudi coup|Greece in the Balkan Wars}}
[[File:Greek Crown Prince George.jpg|thumb|180px|George in [[Prussia]]n uniform, 1914|right]]
George pursued a military career, training with the [[Prussian Guard]] at the age of 18, then serving in the [[Balkan Wars]] as a member of the [[1st Infantry Regiment (Greece)|1st Infantry Regiment]].{{sfn|Mavrogordatos|2016|p=111}} George received a military education as the heir to the throne. He was trained at the [[Hellenic Military Academy]] in Athens,{{sfn|Dimitrakis|2009|p=17}} which allowed him to enroll in Greece's infantry as a [[second lieutenant]] on 27 May [<nowiki/>Old Style: 14 May] 1909.{{sfn|Vickers|2000|p=84}} However, a few months after he joined, on 15 August [<nowiki/>Old Style: 2 August] 1909, a group of military officers organised a coup d'état against [[George I of Greece|George I]], the concurrent king and grandfather of George. The coup d'état became known as the [[Goudi coup]] and was led by [[Nikolaos Zorbas]], who declared himself a monarchist, but campaigned for the dismissal of all princes from the army. Zorbas argued that dismissing princely soldiers would protect the popularity of the royal family. However, it is argued by Van der Kiste that many of the officers involved in the coup blamed the high-ranking princes for the defeat of Greece in the [[1897 Greco-Turkish War]].{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pp=68–69}} They particularly placed blame on George's father, Crown Prince Constantine, believing that the royal family was monopolising the highest army positions.{{sfn|Vickers|2000|p=84}}

Some of the officers involved in the coup believed that the country would be better off if King George I was deposed and replaced by another neutral candidate, such as by George, his grandson. Proposed candidates included the Austrian duke [[Francis of Teck]] or a member of the German royal [[House of Hohenzollern]].{{sfn|Driault|Lhéritier|1926|p=33}}{{sfn|Papacosma|1977|p=85}} However, George was the most desirable candidate as he was more popular than his father, was an adult and was politically inexperienced, so was seen as easily more controllable. Violence sparked by the coup continued until February 1910 and members of the royal family were forced to resign from the military in order to avoid a revolution. George, his siblings and his parents evacuated Greece and moved to Germany for three years in exile.{{sfn|Bertin|1982|p=178}} To avoid controversy, their exile was branded as a three-year "education leave", which was approved and so George continued his military training, but with the prestigious [[1st Foot Guards (German Empire)|First Foot Guards Regiment]] of the Prussian army. This period of absence from Greece reduced his popularity as a potential replacement for his grandfather.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=83}}{{sfn|Vickers|2000|p=85}}{{sfn|Papacosma|1977|p=74}}

As Greece became more politically stable as violent protests lessened, George, his siblings and his parents returned to Greece at the end of 1910.{{sfn|Clogg|1992|p=100}} In 1911, Prime Minister [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] allowed members of the royal family to be given back their former ranks in the military, but George returned to Germany to continue training with the Prussian army.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=70}}{{sfn|Driault|Lhéritier|1926|p=49}} When the [[First Balkan War]] commenced in October 1912, George returned to Greece to fight against the [[Ottoman Empire]]. George and his brother, Alexander, served as officers on his father's staff.{{sfn|Cassavetti|1914|p=125}}{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=72}} George served in numerous battles, which was criticised by the media as it put the country's future monarch as risk of being killed. One such battle that George participated in was the capture of [[Thessaloniki]] on 8 November [<nowiki/>Old Style: 26 October] 1912, which marked major progress for Greece in the war.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=72}}{{sfn|Palmer|Greece|1990|p=43}}