Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1916-09-07
CAREER OF
CONSTANTINE
OF GREECE
Brief Reign With Shifting
Popularity.

The abdicatlon of the throne O.
Greece, by King Constantine ! anc
the succession of Crown Prince Seal
mis-, is another move in the wal
plans OF European nations. One re-
port states that the Crown Prince
Will be at the head of the govern
ment and another that Venzelos
who has long favored the Allies
would be the power behind the
throne. Constantine, who is report.
ed to have fled the country, has been
favorable to the Central Powers as
far as his influence extended. His
career has been an interesting one
as the following sketch shows:
The reign of Constantine |, as
king Of the Hellenes was brief, dat
ing only from March IS, 1913, when
his father, George |, was assassinat-
ed in Saloniki
Brief as the reign was, Constan-
tine had enjoyed a period of remark
able popularity and increased the
territory of the Greek monarchy by
over SO per cent.
Born on August 3, 1868, he was
educated largely by private tutors
from Leipsic, which was said to
have stamped upon him a perma-
nent German influence. His mill
tary education was furthered by at
tendance at manoevures in Germany.
He became a brother-in-law of the
German Emperor by marrying the
latter's sister, Princess Sophia, in
1889.
His alleged pro-German leanings,
thus indicated, were not always pop
ular with his people, and during the
European war strong party antag-
onistic to his desire to have Greece
preserve neutrality and in favor of
joining the Allies, precipitated a
cabinet crisis which was weathered
with difficulty.
The most interesting chapter of
COnstantine's life is the way in
which he became the peoples idol
Like his father, he had his ups and
downs in favor, the Greeks having
been quick-changing in their likes
and dislikes. In 1896 when he saw
his country drifting into war with
Turkey, he sounded warning that
the Greek army was utterly unpre-
pared for campaign. The infantry
was armed with condemned French
rifles, which had cost 50 each; the
cartridges were Is years old; there
was no cavalry; the artillery was
obsolete, and it's officers few. Never
theless, the country decided upon
war The result was disastrOus-a
humiliating defeat for Greece. I'M
mediately the popular tide turned
against it's rulers, whom it denounc-
ed as foreigners who could have lit
tie in common with the Greeks. The
King and Queen were hooted in the
streets, and the officers turned their
backs upon the Crown Prince.
A similar spirit was reused
against the royal house when, in
1909, King George tried to oppose
the popular clamor for the annexa-
tion of Crete, knowing that Turkey
was eagerly awaiting such an excuse
to bring a second crushing defeat
upon Greece. This time the clamor
almost became a revolt, and the
King was Obliged to yield to the
demand of the military league, both
for a reorganization of the army and
for the dismissal of the Crown
Prince as Generalissimo. He there
upon decided to accept a command
in the Russian army, but the oppo-
sition to him was smoothed out and
he was restored to his former digni-
ties.
He finally became national hero
in the Balkan war of 1912. when he
led an army of 10000 Greeks to the
capture Of Saloniki, causing 10000
Turks to lay down their arms. His
popularity was such, as a result OF
this feat, that Greeks in America
raised several thousand dollars with
which to purchase a gift sword, in
scribed: "To Constantine, the Lib
orator"
When Constantine came to the
throne it was said he aimed to re-
store the former grandeur of the an
cient Hellenic Empire, and that he
was a believer in the old national
prophecy that under the reign of a
Constantine and Sophia the East
ern Empire would be called into
life again and the cross restored on
St. Sophia at Constantinople In
place of the crescent.
BY the peace treaties signed after
the Balkan wars, Greece added a
considerable stretch of Turkish ter
ritory to her domain and In Decem-