OTHO I., second son of Ludwig, king of Bavaria, was b. at Salzburg, June 1, 1815, and on the erection of Greece into a kingdom in 1832, was appointed by the protecting powers king of Greece. Till he attained his majority, the government was intrusted to a regency, which was unable to suppress internam disorder, or counteract the diplomatic intrigues of foreign powers. On assuming the government in 1685 Otho transferred the court from Nauplia to Athens, and passed into law several important measures. which afforded the most lively satisfaction to his subjects. During a visit to in 1636, he married the princess Amalie of Oldenburg. A monetary crisis, provoked partly by false administrative measures, and partly by too prompt demands for repayment on the part of the protecting powers, threw the affairs of Greece into confusion. and materially weakened the king's popularity. A national reaction against the Germanizing tenden the court followed, and resulted in 1848 in a military revolution, which was sup pressed. Otho now attempted to soothe the general discontent by taking the oath to the new constitution of Mar. 30, 1844, but his efforts were only partially successful. Though the Bavarian ministers were dismissed, the king and his Greek advisers showed the most reactionary tendencies, and attempted in various ways to curtail the privileges which the new constitution had conferred on the people. The equivocal position in which he was placed, in 1853, between the allied powers on the one hand, and his subjects, whose sympathies were strongly in favor of Russia, on the other, greatly increased the difileul ties of his situation. The occupation of the Pincus by Anglo-French troops enabled him to restrain the enthusiasm of his subjects; but after their withdrawal in 1657, he was obliged to adopt severe measures against the frontier brigands. His council, too,
was composed of men unable or unwilling to support him, and his position became year by year more and more difficult. The strong pro-Russiauism of the queen rendered her for some time a favorite; but the belief that Otho's absolute measures were due to her instigation, turned the tide of popular hatred so strongly against her, that attempts were made on her life. The general discontent :it last found vent in insurrections at Nauplia and Syra in 1S62, which were soon suppressed. A more formidable insurrection in the districts of Missoloughi, Acarnania, Ells, and Messcnia, having for its object the expul sion of the reigning dynasty, broke out iu October of the same year, and in a few days extended to the whole of Greece. .Otho and his queen tied to Salamis, from which place he issued a proclamation declaring that he quitted Greece to avoid the effusion of of blood, and a provincial government was then established. This government, iu Feb., 1863, rssigned its executive power to the national assembly, which confirmed its acts, and decreed that prince Alfred of England had been duly elected king of Greece. On the reftkil of this prince to accept the throne, their choice fell on prince William of the second son of Christian IX., king of Denmark'. who under the title of George I. king of the Hellenes, in Sept., 1863, assumed the functions of royalty. Otho died July I., 1867.