Christian William Adolf George Glücksburg

In October 1862, with the expulsion of King Otto, the political turmoil that ensued and the instability in the country, a three-member committee was formed to exercise all authorities, as a Provisional Government until a solution could be found. This committee consisted of Dimitrios Voulgaris, Konstantinos Kanaris and Benizelos Roufos.

Under the guidance of the Great Powers, a referendum was held to elect the new King. The results were in favor of the second-born son of Queen Victoria of England. However, due to the international treaties that had been signed for the ''neutrality'' of the Greek Throne by England, France and Russia, the young Danish Prince George was chosen instead.

THE 2nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE HELLENIC PEOPLE IN ATHENS on March 18, 1863 voted:

Article 1) Unanimously proclaims Prince Christian William Adolf George of Denmark, second son of Prince Christian of Denmark, Constitutional King of the Greeks under the name of George A, King of the Hellenes*

Article 2) His legitimate successors shall profess the Orthodox Eastern doctrine.

Article 3) A three-member committee elected by the assembly shall proceed to Copenhagen and offer the Crown in the name of Greece.

*and not of Greece as Otto was, so that the Hellenes of the occupied territories were also included.

Following a secret ballot by the National Assembly, the three-member committee for the delivery of the country's Crown was elected (Constantinos Kanaris, Thrasyvoulos Zaimis and Dimitrios Grivas), which arrived in Copenhagen on April 13. On May 23, a magnificent coronation ceremony for George took place in the Throne Room at the Christiansborg Palace.

After traveling and visiting the capitals of the Great Powers, George arrived at the port of Piraeus on October 18, 1863 on the ship HELLAS. Aristides Moraitinis as President of the National Assembly, K. Kanaris, D. Voulgaris as well as a crowd of people with cheers and applause welcomed the young King.

The first speech that King George delivered to the Greek people was the following:

'' ΕΛΛΗΝΕΣ,

Αναβαίνων τόν θρόνο, εφ' όν με εκάλεσεν η ψήφος υμών, αισθάνομαι την ανάγκην, όπως απευθύνω υμίν λόγους τινας.

Ούτε δεξιότητα ούτε νουν δεδοκιμασμένον φέρω εις υμάς, προσόντα τοιαύτα ουδέ να προσδοκάτε εδύνασθε από της ηλικίας μου. Αλλ΄όμως φέρω υμίν πεποίθησιν και αφοσίωσιν ειλικρινή, μετά βαθείας πίστεως εις την εν τω μέλλοντι ταυτότητα της τύχης εμού τε και υμών. Υπόσχομαι υμίν να αφιερώσω τήν ζωήν μου σύμπασαν υπέρ της ευτυχίας υμών. 

Ου μόνον θέλω σεβασθή και τηρήσει ευσυνειδότως τους Νόμους υμών, καί πρό πάντων το Σύνταγμα, τόν ακρογωνιαίον λίθον τού νέου ελληνικού πολιτεύματος, αλλά θέλω σεβασθή και θέλω ασκηθή όπως αγαπώ τους θεσμούς υμών, τα ήθη σας, την γλώσσαν υμών, παν ό,τι υμείς αυτοί λατρεύετε, ως ήδη αγαπώ υμάς αυτούς.

Παρακαλέσω δέ τούς άριστους και δεξιωτάτους των πας' υμίν ανδρών, ίνα συνταχθωσι περί εμέ, χωρίς να εμβλέψωσιν εις προγενεστέρας πολιτικάς διαφοράς, τη νοήμονι δέ και πεφωτισμένη συναρωγή αυτών θέλω προσπαθήσει, όπως αναπτύξω τα παντοειδή αγαθά σπέρματα και τους υλικούς πόρους, ους περιέχει η ωραία Πατρίς υμών, Πατρίς και εμού γενομένη εφεξής.

Σκοπός της φιλοδοξίας μου έσεται ούτος, να καταστήσω την Ελλάδα, εφ' όσον απ'εμού εξήρτηται, πρότυπον βασιλείου εν τη Ανατολή.

Ο Παντοδύναμος, ισχυρός εν τη ασθενεία αναδεικνύμενος, χειραγωγήσαι με εν ταις προσπαθείαις μου, είθε δέ μηδέποτε επιτρέψη, όπως λησμονήσω τάς πανδήμους υποσχέσεις, ας σήμερον έδωκα υμίν.

Επί τούτοις, ικετεύω τον Θεόν ημών, ίνα σκέπη υμάς υπό την αγίαν και σωτήριον σκέπη Αυτού.

                                                                          ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ''

Μηνί Οκτωβρίω του σωτηρίου έτους 1863.

Which translates as follows:

'' HELLENES,

Ascending the throne, since your vote has called me, I feel the need to address some words to you.

I bring you neither skill nor a proven mind, nor can you expect such qualifications from my age. However, I bring you sincere confidence and devotion, with deep faith in the future identity of my fate and yours. I promise you to dedicate my life to your happiness.

Not only will I respect and conscientiously observe your Laws, and above all the Constitution, the cornerstone of the new Greek system, but I will respect and practice how to love your institutions, your customs, your language, everything that you worship, as I already love you.

I will also ask the best and most capable of all your men to unite around me, without looking into previous political differences, and I will try to develop their intelligent and enlightened cooperation, so that I can develop all kinds of good seeds and material resources that your beautiful Homeland, which will become my Homeland as well, contains from now on.

The purpose of my ambition is this, to make Greece, as far as it depends on me, a model kingdom in the East.

May the Almighty, showing himself strong in weakness, guide me in my efforts, and may He never allow me to forget the universal promises I have made to you today.

Nevertheless, I beseech our God to shelter you under His holy and saving shelter.

                                                                                        GEORGE''

Monthly October of the saving year 1863.

Belonged to Ioannis Theofilis, secretary of the Political Bureau of Pavlos Kountouriotis

Sources:

-THE FORTYYEAR OF KING GEORGE I, GEORGE K.ASPREA 1904

-Royal History Article of the year 2014,Royal Chronicles .gr

-Chapter 22 in the Chronicles of Voulgaris - History Report .gr