List of monarchs who lost their thrones or abdicated in the 20th century

From Free net encyclopedia

The following monarchs either lost their thrones through deposition by a coup d'état, by a referendum which abolished their throne, or chose to abdicate during the 20th century. A list of surviving former monarchs appears at the end of the article.

See also: Abolished monarchy, List of current monarchs

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


A

Aceh Darussalam

Abuja

Afghanistan

Agaie

Albania

Anhalt

  • Duke Joachim Ernst abdicated at the end of World War I in 1918.

Austria

  • Emperor Karl was deposed as Emperor of Austria in 1918.

B

Baden

Baltic State (Estonia and Livonia)

  • No ruler actually chosen, although offers were made to German Emperor Wilhelm II before it ceased to exist in 1918.

Baroda

Bavaria

Belgium

Bharatpur

Bhopal

Bohemia

Bone state

Brunei

Brunswick

Buffalo Point

Bugabula

Buganda

Buhweju

  • Ndagara, Omukama of Buhweju, deposed 1901.

Buleleng

Bulgaria

  • Tsar Ferdinand I abdicated in 1918 following the defeat of Bulgaria in World War One
  • Tsar Simeon II was deposed in a plebiscite in 1946; he was also until recently Prime Minister of Bulgaria.

Burundi

Bukhara

  • Emir Mohammed Alim Khan was deposed in 1920 when his lands were taken over by Bolsheviks.

Busoga

C

Caliphate

Cambodia

  • King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated in 1955, he served in various important positions, including prime minister and head of state, intermittently until 1976, and was eventually restored to the kingship in 1993.
  • Queen Sisowath Monivong Kossamak was deposed in 1970 with the coup that ended the regime of Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The monarchy was restored in 1993 with Sihanouk (who had previously reigned from 1941 to 1955) as King.
  • King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated again in 2004.

Central African Empire

Champasak

China

  • Emperor Puyi was forced to abdicate in 1912 following a Republican revolution.
  • Yuan Shikai (reigned as the self-proclaimed Hongxian Emperor) abdicated in 1916, a few months before his death, and lasting only 83 days on the throne.

Chisasibi

  • Violet Pachanos chief or Chisabibi 1989-1995 ,deposed or abdicated 1995,restored 1999,reigned until 2001.

Courland

  • Duke-elect Wilhelm II was deposed following the end of World War I in 1918.

Croatia

  • The Axis puppet King Tomislav II (Prince Aimone of Savoy, Duke of Spoleto), who had never actually reigned, abdicated in 1943, when Italy made peace with the Allies.

D

Dewas

E

Egypt

  • King Farouk abdicated in 1952 in favor of his infant son Fuad II, who was deposed the next year when Egypt became a republic. (Farouk died 1965; Fuad is still living as of 2005.)

Ethiopia

  • Emperor Iyasu V was deposed 1916 for suspected conversion to the Muslim faith.
  • Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed during communist revolution in 1975.
  • Emperor Amha Selassie I, briefly emperor 1974–1975, was deposed by the abolition of the monarchy.

F

Fiji

  • Queen Elizabeth II was deposed as Queen of Fiji following the 1987 coup which declared a republic.

Finland

G

Gambia

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen of Gambia when the country became a republic in 1970.

Germany

  • Kaiser Wilhelm II was deposed following Germany's defeat in World War I in 1918.

Ghana

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen when the country became a republic in 1960.

Gojjam

Gowa

Greece

  • King Constantine I was deposed in 1917 but returned to the throne in 1920.
  • King Constantine I abdicated in 1922.
  • King George II went into exile in 1923 and was deposed in 1924 by a referendum abolishing monarchy but returned to the throne in 1935; he was again exiled in 1941, but returned in 1946.
  • King Constantine II was exiled in 1967 and was deposed by another referendum abolishing monarchy in 1973 (and re-run in 1974).

Guyana

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen when the country became a republic in 1970.

H

Hesse and the Rhine

Hejaz

  • King Ali of Hejaz, deposed by Saudi Military forces in 1925.

Hungary

  • King Charles IV lost his throne when a republic was established in 1918. Following the restoration of the Hungarian monarchy in 1920, he was refused permission to assume residency and constitutional functions in the Kingdom by the Regent of Hungary. Karl died in exile in 1922. The Kingdom of Hungary was abolished by communists following World War II.

Hyderabad

I

Iceland

Igara

  • Musinga, Omukama of Igara, deposed 1901.

India

  • King George VI of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India, ceased to be Emperor in 1947, when India gained its independence, and ceased to be King of India in 1950, when India became a republic.

Indian Princely States

  • All the several hundred princely states (with a few exceptions) were abolished upon India's independence in 1947.

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

  • King George VI ceased to be King when the country became a republic in 1948.

Italy

J

K

Karangasem

Kenya

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be queen when Kenya became a republic in 1964.

Khiva

Kokang

Korea

Kubu

Kuwait

Kupang

Kutai

L

Lambjang and Kaski

Laos

Lesotho

  • King Moshoeshoe II was deposed in 1990 and reinstated in 1995.
  • King Letsie III took the throne upon his father's, Moshoeshoe II, deposition in 1990. He was later deposed in favor of his father (1995), and then reclaimed the throne on his father's death in 1996.

Libya

Lingga

Lippe

Lithuania

Luxembourg

  • Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde was forced to abdicate in 1919 due to political issues.
  • Her sister and successor Grand Duchess Charlotte also abdicated, in 1964.
  • Charlotte's son and successor Grand Duke Jean abdicated in favour of his son Henri in 2000.

M

Malawi

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be queen when the country became a republic in 1966.

Maldives

Malta

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be queen when the country became a republic in 1974.

Manchukuo

  • Emperor Puyi was deposed in 1945.

Mauritius

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen of Mauritius following a 1992 referendum.

Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Mecca

Mecklenburg-Strelitz

  • The last Grand Duke, Adolf Friedrich VI, committed suicide in February 1918. From then until the abolition of the monarchy in 1918, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin acted as regent.


Mohammerah

Morocco

Montenegro

  • King Nikola was deposed after the First World War, when Montenegro became part of Yugoslavia.

N

Netherlands

Nigeria

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen when the country became a republic in 1963.

Norway

  • King Oscar II was replaced in 1905, ending the Swedish-Norwegian personal union.

O

Oman

Oldenburg

P

Pakistan

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen of Pakistan when it became a republic in 1956.

Pindus

Poland

  • The portion of Poland formerly ruled by Russia was occupied by Germany and Austria in 1915 and proclaimed an independent kingdom in 1916. Archduke Karl Stefan of Austria was named King-elect, but the nation was declared a republic without ever actually having had a King in the 20th century.

Portugal

  • King Manuel II fled following a revolution in 1910.

Prussia

  • King Wilhelm II was overthrown from the Prussian and German thrones after World War I.

Q

Qatar

R

Reuss Elder Line

Reuss Younger Line

Romania

  • King Michael I was removed as king in favor of his father Carol II in 1930.
  • King Carol II abdicated in 1940.
  • King Michael was deposed again by the communist-dominated government in 1947.

Rujumbura

  • Makobore, omukama of Rujumbrura, deposed 1901.

Russia

  • Emperor Nicholas II abdicated after the February Revolution of 1917, as did his named successor, his brother Grand Duke Michael (possibly known for a very short time as Michael II). Both Nicholas II and Michael separately were later murdered, as was all of Nicholas II's family in 1918 (see the House of Romanov). The monarchy was abolished and replaced by a Russian republic under Lenin, which in 1922 became the Soviet Union.

Rwanda (the Tutsi state)

S

Sarawak

Saudi Arabia

Saxe-Altenburg

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Saxe-Meiningen

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Saxony

  • King Frederick Augustus III was deposed at the end of the First World War in 1918 with all the other German monarchs.

Schaumburg-Lippe

Serbia

  • King Peter I became instead King of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in 1918.

Serdang

Sierra Leone

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen when the country became a republic in 1971.

Sikkim

Sintang

South Africa

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen when South Africa became a republic in 1961.

Spain

  • King Alfonso XIII fled following republican wins in local elections in 1931. (The monarchy was restored in 1975 under his grandson, King Juan Carlos.)

Sri Lanka

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen when the country became a republic in 1972.

T

Tanzania

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be queen when the country became a republic in 1962.

Thailand

Tibet

  • Tenzin Gyatso was forced to flee from Tibet in 1959 because of the Chinese ocupation. He retains the title of Dalai Lama.

Tigray

Toro

Travancore&-Cochin

  • [[Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma|Maharaja Raja Ramaraja Sri Patmanabha Dasa Vanchi Pala Bala Rama Varma II (Sri Chithira Tirunal), Kulasekhara Kiritapati Manney Sultan Bahadur, Shamsher Jang]], Maharaja of Travancore, signed the instrument of accession to the Dominion of India, 15th August 1947, ending the executive political role of his monarchy. Merged his state with Cochin and served as Rajpramukh of the Travancore-Cochin Union from 1 July 1949 until 31 October 1956. Deprived of his princely rank, titles and honours by the republican federal government of India on 28th December 1971.

Trinidad and Tobago

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen when the country became a republic in 1976.

Tunisia

Turkey

U

Uganda

  • Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be Queen when the country became a republic in 1963.

Unyanyembe

  • Chief Fundikira III, Ntemi of Unyanyembe, deposed by Tanzania in 1962.

United Kingdom

V

Vietnam

  • Emperor Bao Dai abdicated in 1945 when communists seized control of the nation. Following the Geneva accords, Vietnam was partitioned and Bao Dai became Head of State (Quoc Truong) of the French controlled areas of Vietnam. He was never restored as emperor, and in 1955 was removed from office via referendum.

W

Wajo

Waldeck-Pyrmont

  • Prince Friedrich was deposed in 1918.

Württemberg

X

Y

Yemen

Yugoslavia

Z

Zanzibar

(Zanzibar was later united with Tanganyika; see People's Republic of Zanzibar for information on Zanzibar after 1964.)

Surviving monarchs from abolished monarchies

See also