Princes and
kings of the
Balkan countries since 1800
Countries are covered in order of the establishment of the
throne.
| Ottoman Sultans | ||
|
Selim III |
1789-1807 |
Of the house of Osman, ruling since 1300; deposed by janissaries and later killed |
|
Mustafa IV |
1807-08 |
Cousin of Selim III; deposed and killed by a rebellion |
|
Mahmud II |
1808-39 |
Brother of Mustafa IV |
|
Abdülmecid I |
1839-61 |
Young son of Mahmud II |
|
Abdülaziz |
1861-76 |
Another son of Mahmud II; deposed and probably murdered |
|
Murad V |
1876 |
Son of Abdülmecid I; deposed as insane |
|
Abdülhamid II |
1876-1909 |
Another son of Abdülmecid I; deposed by vote of parliament |
|
Mehmed V Reşad |
1909-18 |
Another son of Abdülmecid I |
|
Mehmed VI Vahdeddin |
1918-22 |
Another son of Abdülmecid I; sultanate abolished in 1922 |
|
Rulers of Montenegro |
|||
|
Peter I |
1782-1830 |
Prince- |
Of the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty of prince-bishops, ruling since 1696 |
|
Peter II |
1830-51 |
Prince- |
Nephew of Peter I |
|
Danilo |
1851-52 |
Prince- |
Cousin of Peter II; assassinated |
|
Nicholas |
1860-1910 |
Prince |
Nephew of Danilo; deposed in preparation for Montenegro's absorption into Yugoslavia |
|
Rulers of
Serbia/Yugoslavia |
|||
|
Djordje Petrović (Karadjordje) |
1804-13 |
Lord |
First ruler, went into exile after defeat by Ottomans; killed in 1817 by order of his successor |
|
Miloš Obrenović |
1817-39 |
Prince |
Hereditary prince from 1830; abdicated in protest against a Russian-imposed constitution |
|
Milan (O) |
1839 |
Prince |
Son of Miloš |
|
Michael (O) |
1839-42 |
Prince |
Another son of Miloš; fled the country |
|
Alexander (K) |
1842-58 |
Prince |
Son of Karadjordje; brought to the throne by vote of the notables; forced to abdicate |
|
Miloš Obrenović (again) |
1858-60 |
Prince |
Forced to abdicate |
|
Michael (O, again) |
1860-68 |
Prince |
Assassinated |
|
Milan II (O) |
1868-82 |
Prince |
Cousin of Michael; abdicated in protest against a liberalized constitution |
|
Alexander I (O) |
1889-1903 |
King |
Son of Milan II; assassinated |
|
Peter I (K) |
1903-21 |
King |
Son of Prince Alexander (1842-58); elected to the throne by the Skupština; declared insane in 1914, with his son Alexander as Regent |
|
Alexander II (K) |
1921-34 |
King |
Son of Peter I; assassinated |
|
Peter II (K) |
1934-45 |
King |
Young son of Alexander II, with Prince Paul as Regent until 1941; in exile during the war; never returned, as Yugoslavia became a republic in 1945 |
|
Kings of Greece |
||
|
Otto I |
1833-62 |
First ruler, a Bavarian prince chosen by the protecting Powers; deposed |
|
George I |
1863-1913 |
A Danish prince chosen by the protecting Powers; assassinated |
|
Constantine I |
1913-17 |
Son of George I; abdicated under Allied pressure |
|
Alexander |
1917-20 |
A younger son of Constantine I, imposed by Allied pressure; deposed by plebiscite |
|
Constantine I (again) |
1920-22 |
Restored by plebiscite, despite Allied pressure; abdicated under pressure; d. 1923 |
|
George II |
1922-23 |
Eldest son of Constantine I; from 1923 to 1935 Greece was a republic |
|
Paul |
1947-64 |
Yet another son of Constantine I |
|
Constantine II |
1964-73 |
Son of Paul; in exile after 1967, deposed in 1973 to create a republic |
Rulers of Romania |
|||
|
Alexander John Cuza |
1859-66 |
Prince |
A native boyar, elected prince of both Wallachia and Moldavia, separately, so as to informally create a united country; forced to abdicate |
|
Carol I |
1866-81 |
Prince |
First ruler of an officially united Romania; a Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen princeling |
|
Ferdinand |
1914-27 |
King |
Nephew of Carol I |
|
Michael |
1927-30 |
King |
Grandson of Ferdinand; elevated (as a child) in place of his discredited father Carol, with a regency |
|
Carol II |
1930-40 |
King |
Son of Ferdinand, father of Michael; maneuvered his way back onto the throne; eventually fled the country |
|
Michael (again) |
1940-47 |
King |
Abdicated under pressure and a republic was established |
| Rulers of Bulgaria | |||
|
Alexander |
1879-86 |
Prince |
First ruler, a Battenberg princeling; abdicated under Russian pressure |
|
Ferdinand |
1887-1908 |
Prince |
A Saxe-Coburg princeling; abdicated upon Bulgaria's defeat in WWI |
|
Boris III |
1918-43 |
Tsar |
Son of Ferdinand |
|
Simeon II |
1943-46 |
Tsar |
Young son of Boris, ruled under a regency; in 1946 a republic was declared by plebiscite |
| Kings of Albania | ||
|
William (of Wied) |
1914 |
First ruler, a German princeling who accepted the new crown in Feb. but fled in Sept after the war began; when Albania reemerged after the war, it chose to be a republic |
|
Zog |
1928-39 |
President who had himself made king; reign ended with Albania's incorporation into Italy |