Editing Constantine I of Greece (section)

==Olympics and confrontations with Trikoupis==
[[File:BASA-3K-7-422-17-1896 Summer Olympics.jpg|thumb|Constantine as member of the international committee for organization of the 1896 Summer Olympics.]]

In January 1895, Constantine caused political turmoil when he ordered army and [[Hellenic Gendarmerie|gendarmerie]] forces to break up a street protest against tax policy. Constantine had previously addressed the crowd and advised them to submit their grievances to the government. [[Prime Minister of Greece|Prime Minister]] [[Charilaos Trikoupis]] asked the King to recommend that his son avoid such interventions in politics without prior consultation with the government. King George responded that the Crown Prince was, in dispersing protesters, merely obeying military orders, and that his conduct lacked political significance. The incident caused a heated debate in [[Hellenic Parliament|Parliament]], and Trikoupis finally resigned as a result. In the following elections Trikoupis was defeated, and the new prime minister, [[Theodoros Deligiannis]], seeking to downplay hostility between government and the Palace, regarded the matter closed.{{sfn|Polykratis|1945–1955|pp=873–874}}

The organization of the first [[modern Olympics]] in Athens was another issue which caused a Constantine-Trikoupis confrontation, with Trikoupis opposed to hosting the Games.<ref>Constantine's Olympic activity began in June 1890 (Young [1996], 108).</ref> After Deligiannis's electoral victory over Trikoupis in 1895, those who favored a revival of the Olympic Games, including the Crown Prince, prevailed. Subsequently, Constantine was instrumental in the organization of the [[1896 Summer Olympics]]; according to [[Pierre de Coubertin]], in 1894 "the Crown Prince learned with great pleasure that the Games will be inaugurated in Athens." Coubertin assured that "the King and the Crown Prince will confer their patronage on the holding of these Games." Constantine later conferred more than that; he eagerly assumed the presidency of the 1896 organizing committee.{{sfn|Young|1996|p=108}} At the Crown Prince's request, wealthy businessman [[George Averoff]] agreed to pay approximately one million [[Modern drachma|drachmas]]{{sfn|Darling|2004|p=135}} to fund the restoration of the [[Panathinaiko Stadium]] in [[white marble]].