George I of Greece

George I of Greece (1845-1913), King of Greece (1863-1913), the first Greek monarch of the House of Glücksburg. The second son of King Christian IX of Denmark, he was known as Prince William and was nominated for the Greek throne by the British government after the revolution that deposed his predecessor, Otto I, in 1862. The Danish prince was elected to the throne by the Greek National Assembly and was crowned as George I, King of the Hellenes, after being approved by the Great Powers. In 1867 he married Olga, niece of Alexander II of Russia. George followed a consistent expansionist policy; the Ionian Islands, part of Epirus, and most of Thessaly were joined to Greece during his reign. After winning a victory over Turkey in the First Balkan War, he was assassinated in Salonica in 1913. He was succeeded by his son, Constantine I.