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The Constitution of 1864
Otto's successor had to be uniquely non-controversial.
Prince Albert, son of Queen Victoria of Britain, was selected by 95
percent of Greeks voting in a 1862 referendum, but France and Russia
rejected this outcome because it would give Britain direct control of
the Greek throne. The eventual choice was Prince William, second son
of the future King Christian IX of Denmark and brother of the future
queen consort Alexandra of Britain. The prince would reign as George I
until his assassination in 1913.
Greece's constitutional reforms seemed
to yield little political change. Powerful personalities maintained
their fiefdoms through patronage networks, although issues such as
industrialization and government planning opened a new split between
the growing liberal urban middle class and conservatives of the old tzakia
elite.
The most significant element of Greek
political culture in the second half of the nineteenth century was the
political clubs that proliferated. Such clubs of professional men and
landowners fostered coherent political discourse and linked members of
parliament with local power brokers. They also mobilized support for
parliamentary candidates representing the political views of the
clubs' members. Large landowners, for example, guaranteed the votes of
their laborers on behalf of local patrons. Artisan associations and
mercantile guilds such as the Athens-based Guild of Greengrocers, also
provided vehicles for political acculturation and mobilized electoral
support. This patchwork of clubs and guilds was the starting point of
political factions and other fluid political groupings that lay at the
base of Greek parliamentary democracy as it was practiced under the
1864 constitution.
In spite of the new constitution, the
political system was deeply flawed. From 1865 to 1875, seven general
elections were held, and eighteen different administrations held
office. King George could and did create and dismiss governments if
legislation or a budget failed to pass, so political leaders
constantly juggled competing interests to keep fragile ruling
coalitions together. Often the king asked leaders of minority parties
to form governments while more significant legislative figures were
overlooked, actions that were a recipe for political gridlock as well
as a mockery of the democratic process.
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