Editing George II of Greece (section)

==Crown Prince==
===World War I===
{{See also|Greece in World War I}}
On 18 March [<nowiki/>Old Style: 5 March] 1913, George's grandfather and the reigning king, George I, was assassinated while taking his daily walk in Thessaloniki. Crown Prince Constantine, whose popularity had grown due to Greece's successes in the First Balkan War, acceded to the throne as King Constantine I.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pages=74–75}} George thus became the [[Crown Prince of Greece]] at age 23. In the early weeks of being crown prince, George and his family moved to their new residence, where George developed a close friendship with his uncle, [[Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark|Prince Christopher]], who was only two years older than him.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=81}} On 30 June [<nowiki/>Old Style: 17 June] 1913, the [[Second Balkan War]] broke out between Bulgaria and its former allies, which included Greece. Relations between Greece and many of its Balkan allies grew during the war, notably with Romania, which paved the way towards the marriage between George and his future wife, [[Elisabeth of Romania]], the daughter of [[King Ferdinand I of Romania|King Ferdinand I]] and [[Queen Marie of Romania]].{{sfn|Driault|Lhéritier|1926|p=152}}{{sfn|Regina Maria a Romaniei|2006|p=61}} When Greece and its allies won the war in August 1913, George and his family resumed their European trips. George accompanied his father on a state visit to Berlin and received the [[Order of the Red Eagle]] from his uncle, [[Wilhelm II]], the German Kaiser. The following summer, George travelled to the United Kingdom with Christopher and was in London when he heard of the [[assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] of Austria on 28 June 1914.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=87}}

The assassination sparked the outbreak of [[World War I]], in which Constantine wished to maintain Greece's neutrality. Constantine believed that Greece was unready to fight after its involvement in the Balkan Wars and also feared displeasing his brother-in-law, Wilhelm II. Opposition soon accused Constantine of supporting the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]], made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, and relations between him and Venizelos, who believed that Greece should side with the [[Triple Entente]], made up of Great Britain, France and Russia, quickly deteriorated. The entire Greek government, supported by the French government, soon declared in October 1916 that siding with the Entente was their preferred option. Central Greece was occupied by the [[Allies of World War I|Western Allies]], an extension of the Triple Entente, and a [[National Schism]] between supporters of Constantine and supporters of Venizelos broke out.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pages=89–101}} Constantine refused to alter his opinion and his popularity heavily decreased. A fire in Tatoi Palace broke out on 14 July [<nowiki/>Old Style: 1 July] 1916 and French agents were blamed for it. Multiple members of the royal family were close fatalities of it. Though George was not present at the time, his younger sister, [[Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark|Princess Katherine]], who was only three years old, was carried into the palace woods for two kilometres to be saved. Between sixteen and eighteen people, made up of firefighters and palace staff, died.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pages=96–98}}{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|p=88}}

On 19 June [<nowiki/>Old Style: 6 June] 1917, French politician and leader of the Entente [[Charles Jonnart]] ordered George's father, Constantine, to abdicate.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=106}} Due to worry of the impending Allied invasion at [[Piraeus]], Constantine agreed to be placed in exile without having to abdicate. The Allies were against establishing a republic in Greece and thus looked for a replacement. George's name was put forward, but the Allies perceived him as a [[germanophile]], like his father, due to his links to the Prussian army and German imperial family.{{sfn|Mavrogordatos|2016|p=111}} George's uncle, [[Prince George of Greece and Denmark|Prince George]], was offered the position, but he refused out of loyalty to Constantine.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=107}}{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|p=183}}{{sfn|Vickers|2000|pages=122, 148}} Ultimately, George's younger brother, Alexander, was chosen by Venizelos and the Entente to replace Constantine.{{sfn|Bertin|1982|p=220}}{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=107}}

On 10 June [<nowiki/>Old Style: 28 May] 1917, Alexander officially ascended to the throne in a small ceremony that was only attended by George and former prime minister [[Alexandros Zaimis]]. In addition, {{Interlanguage link|Theocletus I of Athens{{!}}Theocletus I|el|3=Αρχιεπίσκοπος Θεόκλητος Α΄}}, the [[Archbishop of Athens and All Greece]], did not attend. The ceremony is kept secret from the public and there are no state celebrations that occur. Alexander, who was only 23 years old, was described as having a "broken voice" and teary eyes when he took the oath of loyalty to the constitution. Historians, such as Van der Kiste, argue that he was fearful of dealing with his opponents and the fact that his reign was illegitimate according to succession laws. Neither Constantine nor George had renounced their rights to the throne, and Constantine told Alexander that he viewed him as the country's regent, not monarch.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pages=107–08}} On the evening of the ceremony, Alexander moved from the future presidential mansion in inner Athens to Tatoi. George and all other members of the royal family had planned to leave for exile, however crowds of people protested outside the mansion to prevent them from leaving, so they had to escape in secret the following day. They reached the port of [[Oropos]] and fled the country due to the war.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pp=110–11}} This was the final time that George had contact with his brother, Alexander.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=117}}

===First exile===
George and his family settled in Switzerland, first in [[Saint Moritz]] and then in [[Zürich]].{{sfn|Bertin|1982|p=218}}{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|p=90}} Almost all members of the royal family moved with them after Venizelos returned to power as head of the Cabinet and organised Greece's entry into World War I. The family were financially strained and Constantine soon became ill.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pages=1115–16}} He almost died in 1918 upon also contracting the [[Spanish flu]]. At the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] and [[Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine]], part of the end of World War I, Greece made territorial gains in Thrace and Anatolia. Although initially seen as gains to the country, Greece soon fell into the [[Second Greco-Turkish War]] in 1919.{{sfn|Driault|Lhéritier|1926|p=386}} Tension between Venizelos and the royal family remained high and was not helped when Alexander decided to marry aristocrat [[Aspasia Manos]], rather than a foreign royal, which dismayed Venizelos. Venizelos saw this decision as a missed opportunity to move closer to Great Britain.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=118}}

According to historian Marlene Eilers Koenig, George was in love with his cousin [[Anastasia de Torby]], however their relationship was opposed by George's mother, Sophia, as Anastasia was the result of a [[morganatic marriage]]. George later became engaged in October 1920 to Elisabeth of Romania, who had been in touch with George since 1911. George had previously asked Elisabeth to marry in 1914, but she declined off the advice of her great-aunt, [[Elisabeth of Wied]], who thought of George as being two small and too English. Elisabeth herself had declared that George was a prince whom God had forgotten to complete.{{sfn|Regina Maria a Romaniei|2006|p=61}}{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=121}} Her feelings remain the same when the pair meet in Switzerland, however she accepted on the basis of her own imperfections.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=122}} Although George's family had lost most of their wealth in exile, the [[Romanian royal family]] swiftly invited George and Elisabeth to return to [[Bucharest]], in Romania, to announce their engagement.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=122}}{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=130}}

===Greco-Turkish war===
[[File:Greek occupation troops landing on Smyrna.jpg|thumb|200px|Arrival of Crown Prince George in Smyrna (İzmir), 1921]]
George was in Romania when Alexander died following an infection from a monkey bite in 1920. Parliament continued to refuse the crown to either George or Constantine, so it was offered to Constantine's third son, [[Paul of Greece|Paul]], who refused to break the legitimate line of succession.{{sfn|Vickers|2000|p=148}}{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pages=125–26}}{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|pages=91, 95}} Greece was making no progress in the Greco-Turkish War and in the [[1920 Greek legislative election]], Venizelos was voted out of office. [[Dimitrios Rallis]], a monarchist, was appointed prime minister and the [[1920 Greek referendum]] restored Constantine to the throne. According to Van der Kiste, the referendum was most likely rigged by Rallis.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=126}} Before Venizelos fled to [[Constantinople]] in exile, he asked George's grandmother, [[Olga Constantinovna of Russia|Olga Constantinovna]], to act as regent while Constantine returned to Greece.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=126}} On 19 December, George returned to Greece as the crown prince under his father's second reign. Many portraits of Venizelos were torn down in state celebrations and replaced with photos of the royal family.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=126}} Upon their return, the royals made numerous balcony appearances to please the large crowd that had turned out to see them return.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pages=128–29}}{{sfn|Gelardi|2006|pages=295–96}}

A few weeks later, on 27 February [<nowiki/>Old Style: 14 February] 1921, George married Elisabeth in Bucharest. Two weeks later, George's younger sister, Helen, married Elisabeth's brother, [[Carol II of Romania|Crown Prince Carol of Romania]], in Athens.{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|p=183}}{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=130}}{{sfn|Palmer|Greece|1990|p=63}} Constantine's restoration to the Greek throne was opposed by the former Allies of World War I, and thus Greece received minimal support in the Greco-Turkish War against [[Mustafa Kemal]]'s Turkey. The former Allies stated that they were not ready to provide support, and continued to hold distaste against Constantine.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pages=129–130}} For example, at the wedding of Princess Helen and Crown Prince Carol, the British ambassador and his wife refused to greet Constantine and Sophia.{{sfn|Gelardi|2006|p=298}}

In response to the ongoing war, Constantine quickly assumed the role of commander-in-chief of the army and resided in [[Asia Minor]] from May to September 1921. George served as a colonel, and later a major general in the war. He travelled with his father to [[Smyrna]] and other battlefronts, where he visited wounded Greek soldiers and civilians in hospital. Greece was pushed back from the Anatolian lands granted to them in the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] to [[Ankara]] and suffered heavy defeats at the [[Battle of Sakarya]] in August and September 1921.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pages=132–35}} The royal family became more criticised and Greek media turned against George and two of his uncles when they made comments critiquing Venizelos.{{sfn|Vickers|2000|p=157}} [[Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark|Prince Andrew]], the father of the future [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]], fled from Asia Minor before Greece's defeat at Sakarya, which was mocked by Turkish forces.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=135}}{{sfn|Vickers|2000|pages=156–57}} In the next few months, Greek forces continued to be defeated and slowly retreated towards Smyrna,{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|pages=135–136}}{{sfn|Gelardi|2006|p=300}} while George was stationed in [[Ionia]] and Elisabeth joined the [[Red Cross]] to help Christian refugees who had escaped villages that had fallen to the Turkish army.{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|p=184}} Elisabeth's distance from George furthers her struggles of integrating into the Greek culture. Mateos Sáinz de Medrano documents that Elisabeth was jealous of the successes of her sister, [[Queen Maria of Yugoslavia]].{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|p=185}}

Elisabeth had been pregnant since her and George's marriage, but suffered a miscarriage while travelling to Smyrna. Some historians argue that her miscarriage was actually the abortion of an illegitimate child that was the result of an affair between her and British diplomat Frank Rattigan, the father of [[Terence Rattigan]].{{sfn|Wansell|2012}} Elisabeth soon contracted [[typhoid]], [[pleurisy]] and depression, before returning to Bucharest. Though George and Elisabeth's mother were attempting to convince her to return to Greece, her health never fully recovered after her miscarriage.{{sfn|Palmer|Greece|1990|p=65}}{{sfn|Mateos Sáinz de Medrano|2004|pages=185–86}}{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=138}} Simultaneously, Turkish forces had organised an [[Turkish capture of Smyrna|invasion of Smyrna]], which fell on 9 September [<nowiki/>Old Style: 27 August] 1922. Around two weeks later, the city [[Burning of Smyrna|was ransacked and burned]]. An estimated tens of thousands of Greeks and Armenians were killed,{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=21}} which influenced a greater degree of republicanism in Athens.{{sfn|Clogg|1992|p=98}} When the Turks again defeated Greece at the [[Battle of Dumlupınar]], a sector of the military, led by colonels [[Nikolaos Plastiras]] and [[Stylianos Gonatas]], demanded the abdication of Constantine and the dissolution of the parliament.{{sfn|Van der Kiste|1994|p=137}}{{sfn|Vickers|2000|p=162}}