1.
Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
2.
Monte Carlo
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Monte Carlo /ˈmɒnti ˈkɑːrloʊ/ officially refers to an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. The permanent population of the ward of Monte Carlo is about 3,500, from west to east they are, Fontvieille, Monaco-Ville, La Condamine, and Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo is situated on a prominent escarpment at the base of the Maritime Alps along the French Riviera and it is also the location of the Hôtel de Paris, the Café de Paris, and the Salle Garnier. The eastern part of the quarter includes the community of Larvotto with Monacos only public beach, as well as its new center. At the quarters eastern border, one crosses into the French town of Beausoleil, at the time, a number of small towns in Europe were growing prosperous from the establishment of casinos, notably in German towns such as Baden-Baden and Homburg. The success of the casino grew slowly, largely due to the areas inaccessibility from much of Europe, the installation of the railway in 1868, however, brought with it an influx of people into Monte Carlo and saw it grow in wealth. Saint-Charles Church on Monte Carlos Avenue Sainte-Charles was completed in 1883 and it was restored in its centenary year. The municipalities were merged into one in 1917, after accusations that the government was acting according to the divide and conquer. Today, Monaco is divided into 10 wards, with an eleventh ward planned to land reclaimed from the sea. The quarter of Monte Carlo was served by tramways from 1900 to 1953, in 2003 a new cruise ship pier was completed in the harbour at Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo is host to most of the Circuit de Monaco and it also hosts world championship boxing bouts, the European Poker Tour Grand Final and the World Backgammon Championship as well as the Monaco International Auto Show, fashion shows and other events. Although the Monte Carlo Masters tennis tournament is billed as taking place in the community, Monte Carlo has been visited by royalty as well as the general public and movie stars for decades. The rally, however, takes place outside the Monte Carlo quarter and is run mostly on French roads, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo or Salle Garnier was built to designs of the architect Charles Garnier, who also designed the Paris opera house now known as the Palais Garnier. Although much smaller, the Salle Garnier is very similar in style with decorations in red and gold and it was inaugurated on 25 January 1879 with a performance by Sarah Bernhardt dressed as a nymph. The first opera performed there was Robert Planquettes Le Chevalier Gaston on 8 February 1879, gunsbourg had remained for sixty years. This production formed part of an association between the company and Massenet and his operas, two of which were presented there posthumously. Other famous twentieth-century singers to appear at Monte Carlo included Titta Ruffo, Geraldine Farrar, Mary Garden, Tito Schipa, Beniamino Gigli, Claudia Muzio, Georges Thill, and Lily Pons. Apart from Massenet, composers whose works had their first performances at Monte Carlo included, Saint-Saëns, Mascagni, indeed, since its inauguration, the theatre has hosted 45 world premiere productions of operas
3.
Monaco
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Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. France borders the country on three sides while the other side borders the Mediterranean Sea, Monaco has an area of 2.02 km2 and a population of about 38,400 according to the last census of 2015. With 19,009 inhabitants per km², it is the second smallest, Monaco has a land border of 5.47 km, a coastline of 3.83 km, and a width that varies between 1,700 and 349 m. The highest point in the country is a pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires Ward. Monacos most populous Quartier is Monte Carlo and the most populous Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins, through land reclamation, Monacos land mass has expanded by twenty percent, in 2005, it had an area of only 1.974 km2. Monaco is known as a playground for the rich and famous, in 2014, it was noted about 30% of the population was made up of millionaires, more than in Zürich or Geneva. Monaco is a principality governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, although Prince Albert II is a constitutional monarch, he wields immense political power. The House of Grimaldi have ruled Monaco, with brief interruptions, the official language is French, but Monégasque, Italian, and English are widely spoken and understood. The states sovereignty was recognized by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861. Despite Monacos independence and separate foreign policy, its defense is the responsibility of France, however, Monaco does maintain two small military units. Economic development was spurred in the late 19th century with the opening of the countrys first casino, Monte Carlo, since then, Monacos mild climate, scenery, and gambling facilities have contributed to the principalitys status as a tourist destination and recreation center for the rich. In more recent years, Monaco has become a major banking center and has sought to diversify its economy into services and small, high-value-added, the state has no income tax, low business taxes, and is well known for being a tax haven. It is also the host of the street circuit motor race Monaco Grand Prix. Monaco is not formally a part of the European Union, but it participates in certain EU policies, including customs, through its relationship with France, Monaco uses the euro as its sole currency. Monaco joined the Council of Europe in 2004 and it is a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. Monacos name comes from the nearby 6th-century BC Phocaean Greek colony, according to an ancient myth, Hercules passed through the Monaco area and turned away the previous gods. As a result, a temple was constructed there, the temple of Hercules Monoikos, because the only temple of this area was the House of Hercules, the city was called Monoikos. It ended up in the hands of the Holy Roman Empire, an ousted branch of a Genoese family, the Grimaldi, contested it for a hundred years before actually gaining control
4.
Tatoi Palace
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Tatoi was the summer palace and 10,000 acre estate of the former Greek Royal Family, and the birthplace of King George II of Greece. The area is a densely wooded southeast-facing slope of Mount Parnitha and it is located 27 km from the city centre of Athens, King George I of the Hellenes obtained the estate during the 1870s purchasing it with private funds he had brought from Denmark. In the 1920s most of the estate was stolen from its owners, King George II regained possession of the estate in 1946. It passed down as private property to King Constantine until 1994 when the states were confiscated by the government of Andreas Papandreou. The government paid his compensation from the Greek Natural Disasters fund trying to embarrass Constantine by claiming by paying out money to him he was harming the Greek people in need. Constantine outwitted the government by setting up the Anna Maria Foundation to provide grants to needy Greeks in time of hardship caused by natural disasters, the fund is named after Queen Anne-Marie. In June 2007, the Greek Government said it intended to turn the former palace, however it was reported in September 2012 that the Government now intended to sell the palace and its estate in the face of mounting financial pressure. In 2015 ten cars which are kept in the royal estate of Tatoi, were designated as cultural monuments by the Central Council for Modern Monuments of Greece. However the cars and also the carriages remain in the ruins, in the year 2016 some parts of the roofs have fallen on the cars. Currently the Greek Government has planned no efforts for preservation of the Tatoi Palace, neighbouring buildings, theft, vandalism and illegal water abstraction occur almost every month, as political corruption allows this. In the case of a fire, the buildings, the flora, damage caused by time and weather are extensive. The security service has been abolished, in a case of antiroyal Historical revisionism respectively Pseudohistory the Greek state has renamed the area as Metropolitan area. Nevertheless this proposal was criticised by private persons and organisations, who would like to open Tatoi as a museum for the public, the former royal estate of Polydendri is also completely abandoned, the buildings decay. Tatoi Royal Cemetery is a cemetery located on the south end of the estate in a large wooded area. The remaining members are buried in tombs with crosses near the Royal Chapel, Tatoi Palace Picture Gallery by photographer Christos Gorezis http, //www. pbase. com/dead_poet/tatoi_estate Tatoi Friends Association
5.
Princess Alice of Battenberg
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Princess Alice of Battenberg, later Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II. A great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, she grew up in Germany, England, after marrying Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark in 1903, she lived in Greece until the exile of most of the Greek royal family in 1917. In 1930, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed to a sanatorium in Switzerland, thereafter, after her recovery, she devoted most of her remaining years to charity work in Greece. She stayed in Athens during the Second World War, sheltering Jewish refugees, for which she is recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Israels Holocaust memorial institution, Yad Vashem. After the war, she stayed in Greece and founded an Orthodox nursing order of nuns known as the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and her remains were transferred to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem in 1988. Alice was born in the Tapestry Room at Windsor Castle in Berkshire in the presence of her great-grandmother and she was the eldest child of Prince Louis of Battenberg and his wife Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. Her mother was the eldest daughter of Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and her father was the eldest son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine through his morganatic marriage to Julia von Hauke, Princess of Battenberg. Her three younger siblings, Louise, George, and Louis, later became Queen of Sweden, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven and she was christened Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Marie in Darmstadt on 25 April 1885. Alice spent her childhood between Darmstadt, London, Jugenheim, and Malta and her mother noticed that she was slow in learning to talk, and became concerned by her indistinct pronunciation. Eventually, she was diagnosed with congenital deafness after her grandmother identified the problem, with encouragement from her mother, Alice learned to both lip-read and speak in English and German. Educated privately, she studied French, and later, after her engagement and her early years were spent in the company of her royal relatives, and she was a bridesmaid at the marriage of George, Duke of York and Mary of Teck in 1893. A few weeks before her birthday she attended the funeral of Queen Victoria in St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle. Princess Alice met and fell in love with Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and they married in a civil ceremony on 6 October 1903 at Darmstadt. The following day, there were two religious marriage ceremonies, one Lutheran in the Evangelical Castle Church, and one Greek Orthodox in the Russian Chapel on the Mathildenhöhe and she adopted the style of her husband, becoming Princess Andrew. All of Prince and Princess Andrews children later had children of their own, after their marriage, Prince Andrew continued his career in the military and Princess Andrew became involved in charity work. In 1908, she visited Russia for the wedding of Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, while there, she talked with her aunt, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, who was formulating plans for the foundation of a religious order of nurses. Princess Andrew attended the laying of the stone for her aunts new church. Later in the year, the Grand Duchess began giving away all her possessions in preparation for a spiritual life
6.
Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark
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Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark was the eldest child and daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. She was the first great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria, and the eldest sister of Prince Philip, Princess Margarita was born on 18 April 1905 at the Royal Palace in Athens. She was the sister of Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark and she also had three sisters, Theodora, Margravine of Baden, Cecilie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, and Sophie, later Princess George of Hanover. Margarita married Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe-Langenburg on 20 April 1931 in Langenburg, in descent from Queen Victoria, Prince Gottfried was a second cousin once removed of Princess Margarita and in descent from Nicholas I, they were third cousins. Gottfried succeeded his father as Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg on 11 December 1950 and they have two daughters, Princess Katharina Clementine Beatrix of Hohenlohe-Langenburg married Prince Nikolaus of Waldeck and Pyrmont on 29 September 2002. They have two daughters, Princess Laetitia of Waldeck and Pyrmont Princess Alexia of Waldeck and Pyrmont Princess Tatiana Luise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg married Hubertus Stephan on 10 September 2010. They have one son, Prince Ludwig of Hohenlohe-Langenburg Their four elder children were all born at Schwäbisch Hall, Princess Margarita died on 24 April 1981 in Langenburg, Germany. She survived her husband by 21 years
7.
Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark
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Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark was the wife of Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus of Hesse and third eldest sister to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Cecilie was the child and daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. She was born on 22 June 1911 at the estate of the Greek Royal Family at Tatoi. Although her given name was Cecilie, she was known to her family as Cécile, Cecilie was baptised at Tatoi on 2 July 1911. Her godparents were King George V of the United Kingdom, Grand Duke Ernst Louis of Hesse, Prince Nicholas of Greece, through her father Cecilie was a grandchild of King George I of Greece and his wife Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinova of Russia. Through her mother she was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Cecilie had three sisters, Margarita, Theodora and Sophie and her brother Philip, later Duke of Edinburgh, is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1922 Cecilie and her sisters were bridesmaids at the wedding of their maternal uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten to Edwina Ashley, on 2 February 1931 at Darmstadt, Cecilie married her maternal first cousin once-removed Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. They had four children, On 1 May 1937 Cecilie and her husband joined the Nazi Party. In October 1937, Cecilies father-in-law Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse died, a few weeks after the funeral, her brother-in-law Prince Ludwig was due to be married to the Hon. Margaret Campbell-Geddes in London. On 16 November 1937, Georg Donatus, Cecilie, their two sons and Georgs mother Grand Duchess Eleonore left Darmstadt for London, where they planned to attend the wedding. The aircraft in which they were travelling struck a chimney in bad weather near Ostend, Belgium. Cecilie was eight months pregnant with her child at the time of the crash. Cecilie was buried with her husband, two sons and the child in Darmstadt at the Rosenhöhe, the traditional burial place of the Hesse family. Cecilies daughter Johanna was adopted by Prince Ludwig and Princess Margaret, however, Johanna died two years later from meningitis and is buried with her parents and siblings. Cecilie was the first of Prince Andrew and Princess Alices children to die. The crash figures in the plot of A Matter of Honour by Jeffrey Archer, where Grand Duke Georg has in his possession the jewels of his aunt, the last Tsaritsa of Russia, there is no evidence in reality that this was the case
8.
Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark
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Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark was the fourth child and youngest daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. The Duke of Edinburgh is her younger brother, Sophie was born at Villa Mon Repos on the island of Corfu in Greece. Sophies father was the son of King George I of the Hellenes. Through King George, she was a great-granddaughter of King Christian IX of Denmark, through Queen Olga, she was a great-great-granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. Sophie was also a great-great-granddaughter of Queen-Empress Victoria, through descent from Victorias second daughter, Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, Sophie was the closest sister in age of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort of Elizabeth II. Her three sisters were Margarita, Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Theodora, Margravine of Baden and Cecile, banished with King George in 1924, the dynasty would not again be reinstated on Greeces throne until 1935, by which time Sophie had married and was raising a family in Germany. Meanwhile, Sophies father remained in contact with his children, but lived apart from them, Sophie and her sisters lived under the care and at the expense of relatives, all four princesses marrying German princes between December 1930 and August 1931. Their brother Philip, not yet 10 years old, was sent to boarding schools and, later. Although the youngest of four sisters, Sophie was the first to wed, marrying her second cousin-once-removed Prince Christoph of Hesse on 15 December 1930 in Kronberg, Berlin, she was 16. A director in the Third Reichs Ministry of Air Forces and a commander in the German Air Reserves, on 7 October 1943, he was killed in an airplane accident in a war zone of the Apennine mountains near Forlì, Italy. His body was found two days later and they had two children and two granddaughters. She remarried Robert Floris van Eyck on 3 December 1962 and had two children and two granddaughters. Princess Marina Margarita Sofia Leontina Christina of Windisch-Grätz married Gyula Lajos Jakabffy on 8 May 1988 and they have two daughters, Réka Dorothea Sita Jakabffy Sophia Magdolna Jakabffy Princess Clarissa Elisabeth Fiore of Windisch-Grätz married Eric De Waele on 16 November 1985. They have four children and two grandchildren, Michel Jean Henri de Waele married Caroline Libbrecht in 2011, Princess Clarissa Alice of Hesse married Jean-Claude Derrien on 20 July 1971 and were divorced in 1976. She has a daughter, Johanna von Hesse Sophies second marriage was to her cousin Prince George William of Hanover on 23 April 1946 in Salem. George was a son of Ernest Augustus III, Duke of Brunswick, who lost his duchy in 1918, and his consort, Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia. George VI then sought to arrange to have the Hanovers informally advised that the exigencies of war, rather than personal disapproval, but after internal consultation the British government blocked the endeavour on the grounds that any such communication could be subsequently misconstrued. The latter act does not confer legitimacy upon the children of a marriage which formerly required approval under the Royal Marriage Act, if such approval was sought but not obtained
9.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
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Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Philip was born into the Greek and he was born in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was an infant. After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the Royal Navy in 1939, from July 1939, he began corresponding with the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth, whom he had first met in 1934. During the Second World War he served with the Mediterranean and Pacific fleets, after the war, Philip was granted permission by King George VI to marry Elizabeth. After an engagement of five months, he married Elizabeth on 20 November 1947, just before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh. Philip left active service when Elizabeth became Queen in 1952. He was formally made a Prince of the United Kingdom in 1957, Philip has four children with Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. He has eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, a keen sports enthusiast, Philip helped develop the equestrian event of carriage driving. He is a patron of over 800 organisations and serves as chairman of the Duke of Edinburghs Award scheme for people aged 14 to 24 and he is the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch and the oldest-ever male member of the British royal family. Philips four elder sisters were Margarita, Theodora, Cecilie, and he was baptised into the Greek Orthodox Church. His godparents were Queen Olga of Greece and the Mayor of Corfu, shortly after Philips birth, his maternal grandfather, Prince Louis of Battenberg, then known as Louis Mountbatten, Marquess of Milford Haven, died in London. Louis was a naturalised British citizen, who, after a career in the Royal Navy, had renounced his German titles and adopted the surname Mountbatten during the First World War. After visiting London for the memorial, Philip and his mother returned to Greece where Prince Andrew had remained behind to command an army division embroiled in the Greco-Turkish War, the war went badly for Greece and the Turks made large gains. On 22 September 1922, Philips uncle, King Constantine I, was forced to abdicate, the commander of the army, General Georgios Hatzianestis, and five senior politicians were executed. Prince Andrews life was believed to be in danger, and Alice was under surveillance, in December, a revolutionary court banished Prince Andrew from Greece for life. The British naval vessel HMS Calypso evacuated Prince Andrews family, with Philip carried to safety in a cot made from a fruit box. Philips family went to France, where settled in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud in a house lent to them by his wealthy aunt, Princess George of Greece. Because Philip left Greece as a baby, he not have a strong grasp of Greek
10.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
11.
George I of Greece
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George I was King of Greece from 1863 until his assassination in 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was born in Copenhagen, and he was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the unpopular former king Otto. His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Second French Empire and he married the Russian grand duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, and became the first monarch of a new Greek dynasty. Two of his sisters, Alexandra and Dagmar, married into the British, King Edward VII and Tsar Alexander III were his brothers-in-law and King George V and Tsar Nicholas II were his nephews. Georges reign of almost 50 years was characterized by territorial gains as Greece established its place in pre-World War I Europe, Britain ceded the Ionian Islands peacefully, while Thessaly was annexed from the Ottoman Empire after the Russo-Turkish War. Greece was not always successful in its ambitions, it was defeated in the Greco-Turkish War. During the First Balkan War, after Greek troops had captured much of Greek Macedonia, compared to his own long tenure, the reigns of his successors Constantine, Alexander, and George II proved short and insecure. George was born at the Yellow Palace, an 18th-century town house at 18 Amaliegade and he was the second son of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. Although he was of blood, his family was relatively obscure. In 1852, however, Georges father was designated the heir presumptive to the childless King Frederick VII of Denmark, Georges siblings were Frederick, Alexandra, Dagmar, Thyra and Valdemar. Georges mother tongue was Danish, with English as a second language and he was also taught French and German. He embarked on a career in the Royal Danish Navy, while Frederick was described as quiet and extremely well-behaved, George was lively and full of pranks. Many Greeks, seeking closer ties to the pre-eminent world power, Great Britain, rallied around Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. British prime minister Lord Palmerston believed that the Greeks were panting for increase in territory, hoping for a gift of the Ionian Islands, which were then a British protectorate. The London Conference of 1832, however, prohibited any of the Great Powers ruling families from accepting the crown, the Greeks nevertheless insisted on holding a plebiscite in which Prince Alfred received over 95% of the 240,000 votes. There were 93 votes for a Republic and 6 for a Greek, with Prince Alfreds exclusion, the search began for an alternative candidate. Eventually, the Greeks and Great Powers winnowed their choice to Prince William of Denmark, aged only 17, he was elected King of the Hellenes on 30 March 1863 by the Greek National Assembly under the regnal name of George I. Paradoxically, he ascended a royal throne before his father, who became King of Denmark on 15 November the same year, there were two significant differences between Georges elevation and that of his predecessor, Otto
12.
Olga Constantinovna of Russia
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Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia, later Queen Olga of the Hellenes, was the wife of King George I of Greece and, briefly in 1920, regent of Greece. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is her grandson, a member of the Romanov dynasty, she was the daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich and his wife, Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg. She spent her childhood in Saint Petersburg, Poland and the Crimea, at first, she felt ill at ease in the Kingdom of Greece, but she quickly became involved in social and charitable work. She founded hospitals and help centers, but her attempt to promote a new, more accessible, on the assassination of her husband in 1913, Olga returned to Russia. When the First World War broke out, she set up a hospital in Pavlovsk Palace. She was trapped in the palace after the Russian Revolution of 1917, until the Danish embassy intervened, Olga could not return to Greece as her son, King Constantine I, had been deposed. In October 1920, she returned to Athens on the illness of her grandson. After his death, she was appointed regent until the restoration of Constantine I the following month. After the defeat of the Greeks in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–22 the Greek royal family were exiled and Olga spent the last years of her life in the United Kingdom, France. Olga was born at Pavlovsk Palace near Saint Petersburg on 3 September 1851 and she was the second child and elder daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich and his wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra, a former princess of Saxe-Altenburg. Through her father, Olga was a granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I and her childhood was spent at her fathers homes, including Pavlovsk Palace and estates in the Crimea. Her father was a brother of Alexander II, and her mother was considered one of the most intelligent and elegant women of the court. Olga was particularly close to her brother, Nicholas, and was one of the few members of the imperial family to keep in touch with him after he was banished to Tashkent. As a child, Olga was described as a simple and chubby little girl with a broad face, unlike her younger sister, Vera, she had a calm temperament, but she was also extremely shy. For example, when interrogated by her tutors during lessons, she burst into tears, in 1862, Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich was appointed viceroy of Russian Poland by his brother and moved to Warsaw with his wife and children. The stay in Poland proved difficult for the Grand Duke, who was the victim of a nationalist assassination attempt the day after his arrival in the Polish capital. Although Constantine embarked on a program of liberalization and re-instated Polish as an official language, finally, an uprising in January 1863 and the radicalization of the separatists pushed the Tsar to recall his brother in August. Olgas difficult experiences in Poland marked her profoundly, the young King George I of Greece visited Russia in 1863 to thank Olgas uncle Tsar Alexander II for his support during Georges election to the throne of Greece
13.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
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Kingdom of Greece
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The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 at the Convention of London by the Great Powers. It was internationally recognized by the Treaty of Constantinople, where it also secured full independence from the Ottoman Empire and this event also marked the birth of the first, fully independent, Greek state since the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottomans in the mid-15th century. The Kingdom succeeded from the Greek provisional governments after the Greek War of Independence, in 1924 the monarchy was abolished, and the Second Hellenic Republic was established. The restored Kingdom of Greece lasted from 1935 to 1973, the Kingdom was again dissolved in the aftermath of the seven-year military dictatorship, and the Third Republic, the current Greek government, came to be. Most of Greece gradually became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, the Ottoman advance into Greece was preceded by victory over the Serbs to its north. This was followed by a draw in the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, with no further threat by the Serbs and the subsequent Byzantine civil wars, the Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453 and advanced southwards into Greece, capturing Athens in 1458. The Greeks held out in the Peloponnese until 1460, and the Venetians and Genoese clung to some of the islands, the mountains of Greece were largely untouched, and were a refuge for Greeks to flee foreign rule and engage in guerrilla warfare. Cyprus fell in 1571, and the Venetians retained Crete until 1670, the Ionian Islands were only briefly ruled by the Ottomans, and remained primarily under the rule of Venice. In 1821, the Greeks rose up against the Ottoman Empire, following a protracted struggle, the autonomy of Greece was first recognized by the Great Powers in 1828, full independence was recognized in 1830. Count Ioannis Kapodistrias became Governor of Greece in 1827, but was assassinated in 1831, at the insistence of the Powers, the 1832 Treaty of London made Greece a monarchy. Pedro of Braganza, Prince Royal of Portugal, Brazil, Otto of Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria was chosen as its first King. Otto arrived at the capital, Nafplion, in 1833 aboard a British warship. Ottos reign would prove troubled, but managed to last for 30 years before he and his wife, Queen Amalia, left the way they came, nevertheless, they laid the foundations of a Greek administration, army, justice system and education system. Otto was sincere in his desire to give Greece good government, in addition, the new Kingdom tried to eliminate the traditional banditry, something that in many cases meant conflict with some old revolutionary fighters who continued to exercise this practice. But Greece still had no legislature and no constitution, Greek discontent grew until a revolt broke out in Athens in September 1843. Otto agreed to grant a constitution, and convened a National Assembly which met in November, the new constitution created a bicameral parliament, consisting of an Assembly and a Senate. Power then passed into the hands of a group of politicians, Greek politics in the 19th century was dominated by the national question. Greeks dreamed of liberating them all and reconstituting a state embracing all the Greek lands and this was called the Great Idea, and it was sustained by almost continuous rebellions against Ottoman rule in Greek-speaking territories, particularly Crete, Thessaly and Macedonia
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Hellenic Army
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The Hellenic Army, formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. Along with the Hellenic Air Force and the Hellenic Navy, it makes up the Hellenic Armed Forces and it is currently the largest branch of the three. The army is headed by the chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, the motto of the Hellenic Army is Ἐλεύθερον τὸ Εὔψυχον, Freedom Stems from Valour, from Thucydidess History of the Peloponnesian War. The Hellenic Army Emblem is the eagle with a Greek Cross escutcheon in the centre. The Hellenic Army is also the main contributor to, and lead nation of, the Balkan Battle Group, the contribution to international security and peace. The contribution to activities of social aid and the support of services for the confrontation of emergency situations. The Hellenic Army traces its origin to the regular units established by the Greek provisional government during the Greek War of Independence, the first of these, an infantry regiment and a small artillery battery, were established in April 1822, and were commanded by European Philhellenes. Lack of funds however forced its disbandment soon after, and it was not until July 1824 that regular units were reformed, in May 1825, the first law on conscription was passed, and the command of the entire regular forces entrusted to the French Colonel Charles Fabvier. Under Fabvier, the corps expanded, and for the first time came to include cavalry, military music detachments. After Kapodistrias assassination in 1831 and in the subsequent internal turmoil over the two years, however, the regular army all but ceased to exist. The first king of the newly independent Greek kingdom, the Bavarian prince Otto, initially relied on a 4, the royal government re-established the regular army and dissolved the irregular forces that had largely fought the War of Independence. Following the ousting of Otto in 1862, the Army continued relying on the Army Organization Statute of 1833, the first major reforms were undertaken in 1877, in response to the Balkan Crisis that eventually led to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Among other measures, for the first time the Hellenic Army was briefly subdivided into divisions and brigades. The Army also underwent its first mobilizations, in July 1880 – April 1882 due to the Greek annexation of Thessaly, and again in September 1885 – May 1886, when Bulgaria annexed Eastern Rumelia. The great financial burden of long periods of mobilization, however, exhausted the public treasury. As a result, the superior, better organized, equipped and led Ottoman forces pushed the Greek forces south out of Thessaly. The dismal performance of the Hellenic Army in the war of 1897 led to a major reform programme under the administration of Georgios Theotokis. A new Army Organization Statute was issued in 1904, purchases of new material and of the Mannlicher–Schönauer rifle were made
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Kingdom of Greece Army Ranks
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Adopted for the khaki field uniform and the blue service/dress uniform in 1908, replaced in 1936–1937 by British-style ranks. 1 Created in 1913 for King Constantine I for his leadership during the Balkan Wars,2 Rank only held by the kings of Greece. In 1937, the old uniform and rank insignia for officers, based on French. 1 Field marshal rank was re-introduced for King George II in 1939 and it was only awarded once to a career officer, Alexandros Papagos in 1949. The version illustrated here is that of Paul, with the cypher of his brother. 2 During this period, only members of the family held the rank of full general. Again, only Papagos was awarded the rank among career officers,3 Rank officially adopted in 1946. 1 Field marshal rank was used by the reigning King of Greece
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II Army Corps (Greece)
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The IΙ Army Corps was an army corps of the Hellenic Army. Established in 1913, it took part in all subsequent wars of Greece, since 1998 the corps functioned as a strategic reserve force, and comprised the Armys special forces and army aviation units, as well as mechanized infantry. It was disbanded on 29 November 2013, the II Army Corps was founded after the Balkan Wars, on 17 August 1913. Initially headquartered at Athens, it was transferred to Patras in December of the same year, during World War I it fought in the Macedonian front, and then participated in the Asia Minor Campaign. Following the Greek defeat in August 1922, the Corps was reconstituted on 7 September 1922 in eastern Macedonia, as part of the Army of Evros. The Corps took part in the Greco-Italian War of 1940–41 from the beginning, after liberation from the German occupation, II Army Corps was re-established in 1946 at Larissa and took part in the Greek Civil War. After the end of the Civil War in 1949, the Corps was moved to Kozani, where it remained until July 1962, during this period, the Corps provided the bulk of the Greek Expeditionary Force in Korea. On 1 July 2002, the Corps became a combined arms headquarters, on 19 July 2005, it reverted to a purely Army command, and returned to its former name. The Corps was dissolved on 29 November 2013 and it symbolizes strength, militancy and determination of the ancients. The motto of the II Army Corps is Either With It, spartan mothers would utter the phrase to their sons before they went to war, reminding them to return victorious with the shield, or be brought back dead upon it. Returning home without a shield meant the soldier deserted
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Balkan Wars
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The Balkan Wars consisted of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan Peninsula in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913. Four Balkan states defeated the Ottoman Empire in the first war, one of the four, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire lost the bulk of its territory in Europe. Austria-Hungary, although not a combatant, became relatively weaker as a much enlarged Serbia pushed for union of the South Slavic peoples, the war set the stage for the Balkan crisis of 1914 and thus served as a prelude to the First World War. By the early 20th century, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia had achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire, in 1912 these countries formed the Balkan League. The First Balkan War had three main causes, The Ottoman Empire was unable to reform itself, govern satisfactorily, or deal with the rising nationalism of its diverse peoples. The Great Powers quarreled amongst themselves and failed to ensure that the Ottomans would carry out the needed reforms and this led the Balkan states to impose their own solution. Most importantly, the Balkan League had been formed, and its members were confident that it could defeat the Turks. The Ottoman Empire lost all its European territories to the west of the River Maritsa as a result of the two Balkan Wars, which thus delineated present-day Turkeys western border, a large influx of Turks started to flee into the Ottoman heartland from the lost lands. By 1914, the core region of the Ottoman Empire had experienced a population increase of around 2.5 million because of the flood of immigration from the Balkans. Citizens of Turkey regard the Balkan Wars as a disaster in the nations history. Nazım Pasha, Chief of Staff of the Ottoman Army, was responsible for the failure and was assassinated on 23 January 1913 during the 1913 Ottoman coup détat carried out by the Young Turks. The First Balkan War began when the League member states attacked the Ottoman Empire on 8 October 1912, the Second Balkan War was begun on 16 June 1913. Seeing the treaty as trampled, Bulgaria was dissatisfied over the division of the spoils in Macedonia, the more numerous combined Serbian and Greek armies repelled the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked into Bulgaria. Romania, who having taken no part in the conflict, had intact armies to strike with, the Ottoman Empire also attacked Bulgaria and advanced in Thrace regaining Adrianople. The background to the lies in the incomplete emergence of nation-states on the European territory of the Ottoman Empire during the second half of the 19th century. Serbia had gained territory during the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878, while Greece acquired Thessaly in 1881. All three countries, as well as Montenegro, sought additional territories within the large Ottoman-ruled region known as Rumelia, comprising Eastern Rumelia, Albania, Macedonia, throughout the 19th century, the Great Powers shared different aims over the Eastern Question and the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. Russia wanted access to the waters of the Mediterranean from the Black Sea, it pursued a pan-Slavic foreign policy
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Battle of Sakarya
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The Battle of Sakarya, also known as the Battle of the Sangarios, was an important engagement in the Greco-Turkish War, the western front of the Turkish War of Independence. The battle went on for 21 days from August 23 to September 13,1921, close to the banks of the Sakarya River in the vicinity of Polatlı. The battle line stretched over 62 miles and it is also known as the Officers’ Battle in Turkey because of the unusually high casualty rate among the officers. The Battle of Sakarya is considered as the point of the Turkish War of Independence. The Greek offensive under King Constantine as Supreme Commander of the Greek Forces in Asia was committed on July 16, a feint towards the Turkish right flank at Eskişehir distracted Ismet Pasha just as the major assault fell on the left at Kara Hisar. The Greeks then wheeled their axis to the north and swept towards Eskişehir, Eskişehir fell on July 17, despite a vigorous counter-attack by Ismet Pasha who was determined to fight to the finish. The river banks are awkward and steep, and bridges were few, east of the loop, the landscape rises before an invader in rocky, barren ridges and hills towards Ankara. It was here in these hills, east of the river that the Turks dug in their defensive positions and it was an excellent defensive ground. The present front that gave the Greeks the control of the strategic railway was tactically most favourable. But because the Army of the Grand National Assembly had escaped encirclement at Kütahya, nothing had been settled, on August 10, Constantine finally committed his forces to an assault against the Sakarya Line. The Greeks marched hard for nine days before making contact with the enemy, on August 23, battle was finally joined when Greeks made contact with advanced Turkish positions south of the Gök River. The Turkish Staff had made their headquarters at Polatlı on the railway a few miles east of the coast of the Sakarya River, on August 26, the Greeks attacked all along the line. Crossing the shallow Gök, the infantry fought its way step up onto the heights where every ridge and hill top had to be stormed against strong entrenchments and withering fire. The Greeks launched their main effort in the centre, pushing forward some 10 miles in 10 days, some Greek units came as close as 31 miles to the city of Ankara. This was the summit of their achievement in the Asia Minor Campaign, for days during the battle neither ammunition nor food had reached the front, owing to successful harassment of the Greek lines of communications and raids behind the Greek lines by Turkish cavalry. All the Greek troops were committed to the battle, while fresh Turkish drafts were still arriving throughout the campaign in response to the Nationals mobilization, for all these reasons the impetus of the Greek attack was gone. For a few days there was a lull in the fighting in which neither exhausted army could press an attack, the Greek king Constantine I, who commanded the battle personally, was almost taken prisoner by a Turkish patrol. Astute as ever at the moment, Mustafa Kemal assumed personal command and led a small counter-attack against the Greek left
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Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
21.
Christian IX of Denmark
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Christian IX was King of Denmark from 1863 to 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, however, in 1852, Christian was chosen as heir to the Danish monarchy in light of the expected extinction of the senior line of the House of Oldenburg. Upon the death of King Frederick VII of Denmark in 1863, Christian married his second cousin, Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel, in 1842. Their six children married into royal families across Europe, earning him the sobriquet the father-in-law of Europe. The British consort Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is also a descendant of Christian IX, as are Michael I of Romania and Constantine II of Greece. Also, the queens consort Anne of Romania, Anne-Marie of Greece and he was named after Prince Christian of Denmark, the later King Christian VIII, who was also his godfather. Christians father was the head of the house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck. As such, Christian was eligible to succeed in the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein. Initially, Christian lived with his parents and many siblings at Gottorf Castle, however, on 6 June 1825, Duke Friedrich Wilhelm was appointed Duke of Glücksburg by his brother-in-law Frederick VI of Denmark, as the elder Glücksburg line had become extinct in 1779. He subsequently changed his title to Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and founded the younger Glücksburg line, subsequently, the family moved to Glücksburg Castle, where Christian was raised with his siblings under their fathers supervision. Following the early death of the father in 1831, Christian grew up in Denmark and was educated in the Military Academy of Copenhagen, as a young man, Christian unsuccessfully sought the hand of his third cousin, Queen Victoria, in marriage. At the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen on 26 May 1842, he married his cousin, Louise of Hesse-Kassel. A justification for this choice was his marriage to Louise of Hesse-Kassel, Frederick VIIs childlessness had presented a thorny dilemma and the question of succession to the Danish throne proved problematic. Denmarks adherence to the Salic Law and a burgeoning nationalism within the German-speaking parts of Schleswig-Holstein hindered all hopes of a peaceful solution, proposed resolutions to keep the two Duchies together and part of Denmark proved unsatisfactory to both Danish and German interests. While Denmark had adopted the Salic Law, this affected the descendants of Frederick III of Denmark. Agnatic descent from Frederick III would end with the death of the childless King Frederick VII and his childless uncle. At that point, the law of succession promulgated by Frederick III provided for a Semi-Salic succession, as the nations of Europe looked on, the numerous descendants of Helvig of Schauenburg began to vie for the Danish throne. Frederick VII belonged to the branch of Helvigs descendants
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Constantine I of Greece
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Constantine I was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He succeeded to the throne of Greece on 18 March 1913 and his disagreement with Eleftherios Venizelos over whether Greece should enter World War I led to the National Schism. Constantine forced Venizelos to resign twice, but in 1917 he left Greece, after threats of the Entente forces to bombard Athens, his son, Alexander. After Alexanders death, Venizelos defeat in the 1920 legislative elections, and he abdicated the throne for the second and last time in 1922, when Greece lost the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, and was succeeded by his eldest son, George II. Constantine died in four months later, in Sicily. Born on 2 August 1868 in Athens, Constantine was the eldest son of King George I and his birth was met with an immense wave of enthusiasm, the new heir apparent to the throne was the first Greek-born member of the family. As the ceremonial cannon on Lycabettus Hill fired the salute, huge crowds gathered outside the Palace shouting what they thought should rightfully be the newborn princes name. He was inevitably christened Constantine on 12 August, and his style was the Diádochos. An additional nickname adopted mainly by the royalists for Constantine was the son of the eagle, on 30 October 1882 he enrolled in the Hellenic Military Academy. After graduation he was sent to Berlin for further military education, Constantine also studied political science and business in Heidelberg and Leipzig. In 1890 he became a Major General, and assumed command of the 3rd Army Headquarters in Athens, in January 1895, Constantine caused political turmoil when he ordered army and gendarmerie forces to break up a street protest against tax policy. Constantine had previously addressed the crowd and advised them to submit their grievances to the government, Prime Minister Charilaos Trikoupis asked the King to recommend that his son avoid such interventions in politics without prior consultation with the government. King George responded that the Crown Prince was, in dispersing protesters, merely obeying orders. The incident caused a debate in Parliament, and Trikoupis finally resigned as a result. In the following elections Trikoupis was defeated, and the new Prime Minister, Theodoros Deligiannis, the organization of the first modern Olympics in Athens was another issue which caused a Constantine-Trikoupis confrontation, with Trikoupis opposed to hosting the Games. After Deligiannis electoral victory over Trikoupis in 1895, those who favored a revival of the Olympic Games, including the Crown Prince, coubertin assured that the King and the Crown Prince will confer their patronage on the holding of these Games. Constantine later conferred more than that, he assumed the presidency of the 1896 organizing committee. At the Crown Princes request, wealthy businessman George Averoff agreed to pay one million drachmas to fund the restoration of the Panathinaiko Stadium in white marble
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World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
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World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
25.
Nazi Germany
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Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
26.
Panagiotis Danglis
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Panagiotis Danglis was a Greek Army general and politician. Panagiotis Danglis was born in Agrinio in 1853, the son of Major General Georgios Danglis and he entered the Hellenic Army Academy and graduated on 8 February 1878 top of his class, being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Artillery. Danglis subsequently served in a regiment and taught at the Army Academy as Artillery instructor. He was promoted to Major in 1892, and in the next year invented the Schneider-Danglis mountain gun, during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 he served as chief of staff of I Brigade in the Army of Epirus, and fought at the Battle of Gribovo. A Lieutenant Colonel since 1902, he was transferred to the newly founded General Staff Corps in 1904, in March 1913 he was placed in command of Epirus Army Corps, and later promoted to Lieutenant General. In late 1914, he left the army and went into politics, joining the Liberal Party of Eleftherios Venizelos in 1915 and he served as Minister for Military Affairs in Venizelos short-lived cabinet in 1915, and supported Venizelos during his struggle against King Constantine in 1915–16. In August 1916, along with Venizelos and admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis, he formed the triumvirate of the Provisional Government of National Defence. In 1917, Greece formally joined the Entente Powers in the First World War, Danglis was appointed nominal commander-in-chief of the Greek Army, a position he retained until near the wars end, when he returned to his parliamentary office. He was formally discharged from the Army on 7 October 1920, in 1921, Danglis succeeded the self-exiled Venizelos as president of the Liberal Party. He died in Athens on 9 March 1924
27.
Theodoros Pangalos (general)
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Lieutenant General Theodoros Pangalos was a Greek soldier, politician and dictator. In June 1925 Pangalos staged a coup, and his assumption of power was recognized by the National Assembly which named him Prime Minister. As a constitutional dictator he ruled the country until his overthrow in August 1926, from April 1926 until his deposition, he also occupied the office of President of the Republic. Pangalos withdrew from life for a while, but remained active in the Venizelist military circles. Cleared by a court, he ran unsuccessfully for political office. Pangalos was born on the island of Salamis on 11/23 January 1878 and his mother was descendant of the local Arvanite fighter of the Greek Revolution, Giannakis Meletis, while his paternal side came from an aristocratic family of Kea island. He graduated from the Greek Army Academy on 16/29 July 1900 as an Infantry Second Lieutenant, during the Balkan Wars of 1912–13 he served as a staff officer in the 6th Infantry Division. In 1916 he joined Eleftherios Venizelos Provisional Government of National Defence against King Constantine I, in early 1918 he went to the front as Chief of Infantry of the 1st Infantry Division in the Strymon sector of the Macedonian Front. His first job was to prosecute a number of prominent pro-monarchist government leaders by court in what became known as the Trial of the Six. The military threat posed by Pangalos army helped the Turks back down, a staunch nationalist, Pangalos objected to the terms of the treaty, and declared that his troops would attack Turkey nonetheless in order to block the deal. He was forced to resign, but his stance made him popular with the segments of Greek society that objected to the treaty. During the period of instability that followed, Pangalos jumped into the fray, gaining and losing a number of ministerial positions as governments came. He assisted in the suppression of the failed Leonardopoulos–Gargalidis coup détat attempt in October 1923, Pangalos immediately abolished the young republic and began to prosecute anyone who could possibly challenge his authority, including his old chief, Plastiras. Freedom of the press was abolished, and a number of laws were enacted. Pangalos declared a state of emergency on 3 January 1926 and assumed dictatorial powers, in April 1926, he had himself elected president as well in a rigged election. On the economic front Pangalos attempted to devalue the currency by ordering paper notes cut in half and his political and diplomatic inability however became soon apparent. Soon, many of the officers that had helped him come to power decided that he had to be removed. On 29 August 1926, a counter-coup led by General Georgios Kondylis deposed him, in 1930, Pangalos was sent to prison for a building scandal
28.
Alexandra of Denmark
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Alexandra of Denmark was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India as the wife of King-Emperor Edward VII. At the age of sixteen, she was chosen as the wife of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. They married eighteen months later in 1863, the year her father became king of Denmark as Christian IX. She was Princess of Wales from 1863 to 1901, the longest anyone has held that title. Largely excluded from wielding any political power, she attempted to sway the opinion of British ministers and her husbands family to favour Greek. Her public duties were restricted to uncontroversial involvement in charitable work, on the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, Albert Edward became king-emperor as Edward VII, with Alexandra as queen-empress. She held the status until Edwards death in 1910 and she greatly distrusted her nephew, German Emperor Wilhelm II, and supported her son during World War I, in which Britain and its allies fought Germany. Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel, although she was of royal blood, her family lived a comparatively normal life. They did not possess great wealth, her fathers income from a commission was about £800 per year and their house was a rent-free grace. Occasionally, Hans Christian Andersen was invited to call and tell the stories before bedtime. In 1848, King Christian VIII of Denmark died and his only son, Frederick was childless, had been through two unsuccessful marriages, and was assumed to be infertile. A succession crisis arose as Frederick ruled in both Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein, and the rules of each territory differed. In Holstein, the Salic law prevented inheritance through the female line, Holstein, being predominantly German, proclaimed independence and called in the aid of Prussia. In 1852, the great powers called a conference in London to discuss the Danish succession, Prince Christian was given the title Prince of Denmark and his family moved into a new official residence, Bernstorff Palace. Alexandra shared a draughty attic bedroom with her sister, Dagmar, made her own clothes, Alexandra and Dagmar were given swimming lessons by the Swedish pioneer of womens swimming, Nancy Edberg. At Bernstorff, Alexandra grew into a woman, she was taught English by the English chaplain at Copenhagen and was confirmed in Christiansborg Palace. She was devout throughout her life, and followed High Church practice, Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, were already concerned with finding a bride for their son and heir, Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales. They enlisted the aid of their daughter, Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia, Alexandra was not their first choice, since the Danes were at loggerheads with the Prussians over the Schleswig-Holstein Question and most of the British royal familys relations were German
29.
Edward VII
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Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, before his accession to the throne, he served as heir apparent and held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long reign of his mother, he was excluded from political power. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and the Indian subcontinent in 1875 were popular successes, as king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War. He reinstituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised and he died in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. Edward was born at 10,48 in the morning on 9 November 1841 in Buckingham Palace and he was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle and he was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the family throughout his life. As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall, as a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 8 December 1841, Earl of Dublin on 17 January 1850, a Knight of the Garter on 9 November 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on 24 May 1867. In 1863, he renounced his rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should have an education that would prepare him to be a constitutional monarch. At age seven, Edward embarked on an educational programme devised by Prince Albert. Unlike his elder sister Victoria, Edward did not excel in his studies and he tried to meet the expectations of his parents, but to no avail. Although Edward was not a diligent student—his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact—Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed, intelligent, after the completion of his secondary-level studies, his tutor was replaced by a personal governor, Robert Bruce. After an educational trip to Rome, undertaken in the first few months of 1859, he spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under, among others, in October, he matriculated as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. Now released from the strictures imposed by his parents, he enjoyed studying for the first time
30.
Prince Louis of Battenberg
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Although born in Austria, and brought up in Italy and Germany, he enrolled in the United Kingdoms Royal Navy at the age of fourteen. However, Louis welcomed assignments that provided opportunities for him to acquire the skills of war, posts on royal yachts and tours arranged by the Queen and Edward actually impeded his progress, as his promotions were perceived as royal favours rather than deserved. After a naval career lasting more than forty years, in 1912 he was appointed First Sea Lord and he changed his name and relinquished his German titles, at the behest of King George V, in 1917. He married a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and was the father of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Queen Elizabeth II, is his grandson. Louis was born as Ludwig Alexander von Battenberg in Graz, Styria, shortly after Louiss birth, his father was stationed with the Austro-Hungarian Army of occupation in Northern Italy during the Second Italian War of Independence. Louiss early years were spent either in the north of Italy or at Prince Alexanders two houses in Hesse, the castle of Heiligenberg in Jugenheim, and the Alexander Palace in Darmstadt. Because his mother spoke French to him and he had an English governess, among the visitors entertained at Heiligenberg were Prince Alexanders relations, the Russian imperial family, and his cousin, Prince Louis of Hesse. He was admitted by the Board of Admiralty without the production of a medical certificate and he was enlisted as a naval cadet aboard HMS Victory, Nelsons old flagship, then used as a permanently moored training ship. As part of the tour, Louis accompanied them on a visit to Egypt. As was traditional, the Khedive bestowed honours on the party, in April, he received the Osmanie from the Ottoman Sultan. Louis returned to Britain in May 1869, in June he joined HMS Royal Alfred, the flagship of the North America and West Indies Station, becoming a midshipman in October. In 1875, again at the invitation of the Prince of Wales, he joined HMS Serapis, Louis sketched some of the events of the tour and his drawings were published in the Illustrated London News. He was promoted to lieutenant on 15 May 1876, in addition to acting as the Dukes equerry, Louis continued his naval duties. He did not enjoy the position, as the Duke was rather touchy and Louiss cabin was infested with rats, the Sultan toured the Mediterranean from July 1876. In late February–early March 1878, Louis was still serving on the Sultan as it lay in the Bosphorus during the Russo-Turkish War. On 24 August 1880, Louis was posted to HMS Inconstant, the flagship of the Flying Squadron, which included HMS Bacchante on which Princes Albert Victor and George were serving. The ship sailed to South America, South Africa, Australia, Fiji, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, seven months after Louis left Britain on the voyage, actress Lillie Langtry allegedly bore him an illegitimate daughter, Jeanne Marie. Langtry was also a mistress of the Prince of Wales
31.
Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine
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Her mother died while her brother and sisters were still young, which placed her in an early position of responsibility over her siblings. She was perceived by her family as liberal in outlook, straightforward, practical, during World War I, she and her husband abandoned their German titles and adopted the British-sounding surname of Mountbatten, which was simply a translation into English of the German Battenberg. Two of her sisters – Elisabeth and Alix, who had married into the Russian imperial family – were killed by communist revolutionaries and she was the maternal grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort of Queen Elizabeth II. Victoria was born on Easter Sunday at Windsor Castle in the presence of her maternal grandmother and she was christened in the Lutheran faith in the arms of the Queen on 27 April. Her early life was spent at Bessungen, a suburb of Darmstadt, there, she shared a room with her younger sister, Elisabeth, until adulthood. She was privately educated to a standard and was, throughout her life. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, military hospitals were set up in the grounds at Darmstadt. She remembered the intense cold of the winter, and being burned on the arm by hot soup, in 1872, Victorias eighteen-month-old brother, Friedrich, was diagnosed with haemophilia. The following year, Friedrich fell from a window onto stone steps and it was the first of many tragedies to beset the Hesse family. In early November 1878, Victoria contracted diphtheria, Elisabeth was swiftly moved out of their room and was the only member of the family to escape the disease. For days, Victorias mother, Princess Alice, nursed the sick, but she was unable to save her youngest daughter, Victorias sister Marie, just as the rest of the family seemed to have recovered, Princess Alice fell ill. She died on 14 December, the anniversary of the death of her father, as the eldest child, Victoria partly assumed the role of mother to the younger children and of companion to her father. She later wrote, My mothers death was an irreparable loss and my childhood ended with her death, for I became the eldest and most responsible. At family gatherings, Victoria had often met Prince Louis of Battenberg, who was her first cousin once removed, Prince Louis had adopted British nationality and was serving as an officer in the Royal Navy. In the winter of 1882, they met again at Darmstadt, after a brief postponement because of the death of her maternal uncle, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Victoria married Prince Louis on 30 April 1884 at Darmstadt. Her father did not approve of the match, in his view Prince Louis had little money and would deprive him of his daughters company, however, Victoria was of an independent mind and took little notice of her fathers displeasure. Remarkably, Victorias father secretly married the same evening his mistress, Countess Alexandrine Hutten-Czapska, the wife of Alexander von Kolemine. Over the next sixteen years, Victoria had four children, They lived in a succession of houses at Chichester, Sussex, Walton-on-Thames, when Prince Louis was serving with the Mediterranean Fleet, she spent some winters in Malta
32.
Darmstadt
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Darmstadt is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area. Darmstadt has a population around 150,000, the Darmstadt Larger Urban Zone has 430,993 inhabitants. Darmstadt holds the official title City of Science as it is a centre of scientific institutions, universities. The existence of the elements were also confirmed at GSI Centre for Heavy Ion Research, nihonium, flerovium, moscovium, livermorium. Darmstadt is also the seat of the worlds oldest pharmaceutical company, Merck, Darmstadt was formerly the capital of a sovereign country, the Grand Duchy of Hesse and its successor, the Peoples State of Hesse, a federal state of Germany. As the capital of an increasingly prosperous duchy, the city gained some international prominence, in the 20th century, industry, as well as large science and electronics sectors became increasingly important, and are still a major part of the citys economy. It is also home to the football club SV Darmstadt 98, Darmstadt, Indiana was named after Darmstadt and for the former Royal Family. The name Darmstadt first appears towards the end of the 11th century, the origins of the name are unknown. Dar-mund in Middle Low German is translated as Boggy Headlands, even locals often believe, incorrectly, that the name derives from the Darmbach. In fact, the received its current name much later, after the city. Darmstadt was chartered as a city by the Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian in 1330, the city, then called Darmstait, became a secondary residence for the counts, with a small castle established at the site of the current, much larger edifice. When the house of Katzenelnbogen became extinct in 1479, the city was passed to the Landgraviate of Hesse, the city grew in population during the 19th century from little over 10,000 to 72,000 inhabitants. A polytechnical school, which became a Technical University now known as TU Darmstadt, was established in 1877. In the beginning of the 20th century, Darmstadt was an important centre for the art movement of Jugendstil, annual architectural competitions led to the building of many architectural treasures of this period. Also during this period, in 1912 the chemist Anton Kollisch, working for the pharmaceutical company Merck, Darmstadts municipal area was extended in 1937 to include the neighbouring localities of Arheilgen and Eberstadt, and in 1938 the city was separated administratively from the surrounding district. Darmstadt was the first city in Germany to force Jewish shops to close in early 1933, the shops were only closed for one day, for endangering communal order and tranquility. In 1942, over 3,000 Jews from Darmstadt were first forced into a camp located in the Liebigschule. Darmstadt was first bombed on 30 July 1940, and 34 other air raids would follow before the wars end, the old city centre was largely destroyed in a British bombing raid on 11 September 1944
33.
Lutheranism
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Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity which identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer and theologian. Luthers efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone and this is in contrast to the belief of the Catholic Church, defined at the Council of Trent, concerning authority coming from both the Scriptures and Tradition. In addition, Lutheranism accepts the teachings of the first seven ecumenical councils of the undivided Christian Church, unlike Calvinism, Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Church, with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist, or Lords Supper. Lutheran theology differs from Reformed theology in Christology, the purpose of Gods Law, the grace, the concept of perseverance of the saints. Today, Lutheranism is one of the largest denominations of Protestantism, with approximately 80 million adherents, it constitutes the third most common Protestant denomination after historically Pentecostal denominations and Anglicanism. The Lutheran World Federation, the largest communion of Lutheran churches, Other Lutheran organizations include the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well as independent churches. The name Lutheran originated as a term used against Luther by German Scholastic theologian Dr. Johann Maier von Eck during the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. Eck and other Catholics followed the practice of naming a heresy after its leader. Martin Luther always disliked the term Lutheran, preferring the term Evangelical, which was derived from euangelion, the followers of John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and other theologians linked to the Reformed tradition also began to use that term. To distinguish the two groups, others began to refer to the two groups as Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed. As time passed by, the word Evangelical was dropped, Lutherans themselves began to use the term Lutheran in the middle of the 16th century, in order to distinguish themselves from other groups such as the Philippists and Calvinists. In 1597, theologians in Wittenberg defined the title Lutheran as referring to the true church, Lutheranism has its roots in the work of Martin Luther, who sought to reform the Western Church to what he considered a more biblical foundation. Lutheranism spread through all of Scandinavia during the 16th century, as the monarch of Denmark–Norway, through Baltic-German and Swedish rule, Lutheranism also spread into Estonia and Latvia. Since 1520, regular Lutheran services have been held in Copenhagen, under the reign of Frederick I, Denmark-Norway remained officially Catholic. Although Frederick initially pledged to persecute Lutherans, he adopted a policy of protecting Lutheran preachers and reformers. During Fredericks reign, Lutheranism made significant inroads in Denmark, at an open meeting in Copenhagen attended by the king in 1536, the people shouted, We will stand by the holy Gospel, and do not want such bishops anymore. Fredericks son Christian was openly Lutheran, which prevented his election to the throne upon his fathers death, however, following his victory in the civil war that followed, in 1537 he became Christian III and advanced the Reformation in Denmark-Norway
34.
Greek Orthodox Church
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Historically, the term Greek Orthodox has also been used to describe all Eastern Orthodox Churches in general, since Greek in Greek Orthodox can refer to the heritage of the Byzantine Empire. Over time, most parts of the liturgy, traditions, and practices of the church of Constantinople were adopted by all, thus, the Eastern Church came to be called Greek Orthodox in the same way that the Western Church is called Roman Catholic. Orthodox Churches, unlike the Catholic Church, have no Bishopric head, such as a Pope, however, they are each governed by a committee of Bishops, called the Holy Synod, with one central Bishop holding the honorary title of first among equals. Greek Orthodox Churches are united in communion with other, as well as with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches. The Eastern Orthodox hold a doctrine and a common form of worship. The most commonly used Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church was written by Saint John Chrysostom, others, are attributed to St. Basil the Great, St. James, the Brother of God and St. The majority of Greek Orthodox Christians live within Greece and elsewhere in the southern Balkans, but also in Lebanon, Cyprus, Anatolia, European Turkey, and the South Caucasus. In addition, due to the large Greek diaspora, there are many Greek Orthodox Christians who live in North America, Orthodox Christians in Finland, who compose about 1% of the population, are also under the jurisdiction of a Greek Orthodox Church. Thus, they may attend services held in Old Russian and Old Church Slavonic, the Church conducts its liturgy in Koine Greek in the areas of Albania populated by the ethnic Greek minority, alongside the use of Albanian throughout the country. The Greek and Eastern Churches online Constantelos, Demetrios J. Understanding the Greek Orthodox church, its faith, history, the Orthodox Eastern Church Hussey, Joan Mervyn. The orthodox church in the Byzantine empire online Kephala, Euphrosyne, the Church of the Greek People Past and Present Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, II, The Nineteenth Century in Europe, The Protestant,2, 479-484, Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, IV, The Twentieth Century in Europe, The Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Churches McGuckin, John Anthony. The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, media related to Greek Orthodox Church at Wikimedia Commons
35.
Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse
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Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse was the first child of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and his second wife, Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich. They had four children, In October 1937, Georg Donatus father, a few weeks after the funeral, his younger brother, Prince Louis was due to be married to the Hon. Margaret Geddes, daughter of Lord Geddes. The airplane hit a chimney near Ostend and crashed into flames. Immediately afterward, he set off with his new wife Margaret to Belgium to visit the crash site, the funeral and burial of Georg Donatus and his family took place at the Rosenhöhe, Darmstadt, Hesse a few days later. A photograph of the procession, showing Prince Louis as chief mourner. World War II began less than two years later, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess fourteen-month-old daughter, Johanna was the only one of the family who was not on board the aircraft. She was adopted by her uncle Prince Louis and aunt Princess Margaret in early 1938, Johanna died of meningitis in 1939. With the death of the childless Prince Louis in 1968, the line of the Hesse. His Royal Highness The Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine Georg Donatus never acceded to the ducal throne as it had been abolished at the end of the First World War. Titles became surnames after that point and it was rare for the head of a royal, gilbert I, Count of the Maasgau, d
36.
Prince Christoph of Hesse
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Christoph Ernst August of Hesse was the fifth son of Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse and Princess Margaret of Prussia. He was a German SS officer killed accidentally during World War II, Prince Christophe was a director in the Third Reichs Ministry of Air Forces, Commander of the Air Reserves, and held the rank of Oberführer in the SS. On 7 October 1943, he was killed in an accident in the Apennine Mountains near Forlì. His body was found two days later, christoph married Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark on 15 December 1930 in Kronberg im Taunus, Germany. Princess Sophie was the youngest daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg,3 Dec 1960 Clarissa Elisabetta Fiore Prinzessin zu Windisch-Grätz b.5 Aug
37.
Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession
38.
Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark
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Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, of the Glücksburg branch of the House of Oldenburg, was the fourth child and third son of George I, King of the Hellenes, and of Queen Olga. He was known as Greek Nicky in the family to him from his paternal first cousin Emperor Nicholas II of Russia. Prince Nicholas was a painter, often signing his works as Nicolas Leprince. Married Count Carl Theodor of Toerring-Jettenbach, married Prince George, Duke of Kent. The Princesses were raised with an English nanny, Kate Fox, along with his brothers Constantine and George, Nicholas helped to organize the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, the first to be held since 393. Nicholas served as president of the Sub-Committee for Shooting and his father bequeathed him the Royal Theater of Greece which Nicholas, in turn, transferred to the Greek state in 1935. He was friends with George Simitis and was godfather to his son, Prince Nicholas died in Athens on February 8,1938 and was buried in the Royal tomb at the Palace of Tatoi. 22 January 1872 –8 February 1938, His Royal Highness Prince Nicholas of Greece, foreign Honours Spain, Cross of Naval Merit -with White Decoration-. United Kingdom, Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
39.
Crete
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Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, 88th-largest island in the world and the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete and a number of surrounding islands and islets constitute the region of Crete, the capital and the largest city is Heraklion. As of 2011, the region had a population of 623,065, Crete forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece, while retaining its own local cultural traits. It was once the centre of the Minoan civilization, which is regarded as the earliest recorded civilization in Europe. The island is first referred to as Kaptara in texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and it was also known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu, strongly suggesting a similar Minoan name for the island. The current name of Crete is thought to be first attested in Mycenaean Greek texts written in Linear B, through the words
Kingdom of Greece
Hellenic Army
