George II of Greece (Crown of the Emperor)

George II (Greek: Γεώργιος Β΄, Geórgios II; 19 July 1890 (NS) – 1 April 1947) reigned as King of the Hellenes from 1935 to 1947.

George was born at the royal villa at Tatoi, near Athens, the eldest son of Prince Constantine of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. George pursued a military career, training with the Prussian Guard at the age of 18. When his grandfather was assassinated in 1913, his father became King Constantine I and George became the crown prince. After a coup deposed King Constantine during the National Schism, Crown Prince George, by then a Major, followed his father into exile in 1917. George's younger brother, Alexander, was installed as king by prime minister Eleftherios Venizelos, an avowed Republican.

George remained in exile in France, having become broke and penniless, but he then found a job in London. General Georgios Kondylis, a former Venizelist, overthrew the government in October 1935 and appointed himself Prime Minister. He then arranged a plebiscite both to approve his government and to bring an end to the reign of Alexandra. On 3 November 1935, almost 98% of the reported votes supported restoration of the monarchy. The balloting was not secret, and participation was compulsory. As Time described it at the time, "As a voter one could drop into the ballot box a blue vote for King George and please General George Kondylis, or one could cast a red ballot for Alexandra and get roughed up." George, who had been living at Brown's Hotel in London, returned to Greek soil on November 25. Almost immediately he and Kondylis disagreed over the terms of a general amnesty the King wanted to declare, and George appointed an interim Prime Minister, Konstantinos Demertzis. New elections were held in January, which resulted in a hung parliament with the Communists (who were naturally anti-monarchist) holding the balance of power. A series of unexpected deaths amongst the better-known politicians, as well as the uncertain political situation, led to the rise to power of veteran army officer Ioannis Metaxas. On 4 August 1936, George endorsed Metaxas's establishment of dictatorship – the "4th of August Regime", signing decrees that dissolved the parliament, banned political parties, abolished the constitution, and purported to create a "Third Hellenic Civilization." The King, ruling with Prime Minister Metaxas, oversaw a right-wing regime in which political opponents were arrested and strict censorship was imposed. An Index of banned books during that period included the works of Plato, Thucydides and Xenophon.