Otto of Greece
King of Greece from 1832 to 1862 (1815–1867)
Otto (Greek: Όθων, romanized: Óthon; German: Otto Friedrich Ludwig von Wittelsbach; 1 June 1815 – 26 July 1867) was King of Greece from the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece on 7 May 1832, under the Convention of London, until he was deposed in October 1862.
The second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto ascended the newly created throne of Greece at age 17. His government was initially run by a three-man regency council made up of Bavarian court officials. Upon reaching his majority, Otto removed the regents when they proved unpopular with the people, and he ruled as an absolute monarch. Eventually, his subjects' demands for a constitution proved overwhelming, and in the face of an armed (but bloodless) insurrection, Otto granted a constitution in 1843.
Throughout his reign, Otto tried to make significant reforms to modernize Greece, seeing himself as an Enlightened absolutist. He established educational institutions and several state services but was unable to resolve Greece's major poverty and prevent economic meddling from outside. Greek politics in this era were based on affiliations with the three Great Powers that had guaranteed Greece's independence, Britain, France and Russia, and Otto's ability to maintain the support of these powers was key to his remaining in power. To remain strong, Otto had to play the interests of each of the Great Powers' Greek adherents against the others, while not irritating the Great Powers. When Greece was blockaded by the British Royal Navy in 1850 and again in 1854, to stop Greece from attacking the Ottoman Empire during the Crimean War, Otto's standing amongst Greeks suffered.
The public source identifies “Otto of Greece” as king of Greece from 1832 to 1862 (1815–1867). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Otto, Greece and King.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q77067. VIAF identifies the subject as 15029079. The Library of Congress control number is n81085496. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1815, 1867, 1832 and 1862.
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This entry incorporates text from “Otto of Greece” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.