Editing History of modern Greece (section)

==Reign of King Otto, 1833–1863==
{{Main|Otto of Greece}}
[[File:Prinz Otto von Bayern Koenig von Griechenland 1833.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Otto of Greece|Otto]], the first King of modern Greece.]]

Otto's reign would prove troubled, but he managed to hang on for 30 years before he and his wife, [[Queen Amalia of Greece|Queen Amalia]], left the same way they came, aboard a British warship. During the early years of his reign, a group of [[Bavaria]]n [[Regency council of Otto of Greece|regents ruled in his name]], and they made themselves very unpopular by trying to impose German ideas of rigid hierarchical government on the Greeks, while keeping most significant state offices away from them. Nevertheless, they laid the foundations of a Greek administration, army, justice system and education system. Otto was sincere in his desire to give Greece good government, but he suffered from two great handicaps: his Roman Catholic faith and his childless marriage to [[Queen Amalia of Greece|Queen Amalia]]. This meant he could neither be crowned as King of Greece under the Orthodox rite nor establish a dynasty.<ref>Leonard Bower, and Gordon Bolitho. ''Otho I, King of Greece: A Biography'' (1939).</ref>

Otto came of age in 1835 and assumed the reins of government, but Bavarians remained as heads of the government until 1837.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=28}} Otto thereafter appointed Greek ministers, although Bavarian officials still ran much of the army. At this time, Greece still had no legislature and no constitution. Discontent at the continued "Bavarocracy" grew until the [[3 September 1843 Revolution]] broke out in Athens. Otto agreed to grant a constitution and convened a National Assembly that met in November of the same year. The [[Greek Constitution of 1844]] then created a [[Bicameralism|bicameral parliament]] consisting of an Assembly (''Vouli'') and a Senate (''Gerousia''). Power then passed into the hands of a group of Greek politicians, most of whom who had been commanders in the War of Independence against the Ottomans.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=36}}

Greek politics in the 19th century was dominated by the "national question". The majority of Greeks continued to live under Ottoman rule, and Greeks dreamed of liberating them all and reconstituting a state embracing all the Greek lands, with [[Constantinople]] as its capital. This was called the Great Idea (''[[Megali Idea]]''), and it was sustained by almost continuous rebellions against Ottoman rule in Greek-speaking territories, particularly [[Crete]], [[Thessaly]] and [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Analysis of historical events in Greek occupied Macedonia: An interview with Risto Stefov |date=2016 |location=Toronto, Canada |pages=107–108 |language=en}}</ref>

When the [[Crimean War]] broke out in 1854, Greece saw an opportunity to gain Ottoman-controlled territory that had large Greek populations.  Greece, an Orthodox nation, had considerable support in Russia, but the Russian government decided it was too dangerous to help Greece expand its holdings.<ref>Orlando Figes, ''The Crimean War''(2010) pp 32–40, 139</ref> When the Russians attacked the Ottoman forces, Greece invaded Thessaly and Epirus. To block further Greek moves, the British and French occupied the main Greek port at [[Piraeus]] from April 1854 to February 1857.  The Greeks, gambling on a Russian victory, incited the large-scale [[Epirus Revolt of 1854]] as well as uprisings in Crete. The revolts failed and Greece made no gains during the Crimean War, which Russia lost.<ref>{{cite book|author=Candan Badem|title="The" Ottoman Crimean War: (1853 - 1856)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DXoYJikZ7ygC&pg=PA183|year=2010|publisher=BRILL|page=183|isbn=978-9004182059}}</ref>

A new generation of Greek politicians was growing increasingly intolerant of King Otto's continuing interference in government. In 1862, the King dismissed his prime minister, the former admiral [[Konstantinos Kanaris]], the most prominent politician of the period. This provoked a military rebellion, forcing Otto to accept the inevitable and leave the country.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|pp=42–43}}

The Greeks then asked Britain to send Queen Victoria's son [[Duke Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Alfred]] as their new king, but this was vetoed by the other Powers. Instead, a young Danish Prince became [[George I of Greece|King George I]]. George was a very popular choice as a constitutional monarch, and he agreed that his sons would be raised in the Greek Orthodox faith. As a reward to the Greeks for adopting a pro-British King, Britain ceded the [[Ionian Islands]] to Greece.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|pp=44–45}}