Abolition of monarchy

1908 postcard depicting nineteen reigning monarchs; twelve of their thrones were abolished during the twentieth century, although the Spanish throne was later restored.

Throughout history, monarchies have been abolished, either through revolutions, legislative reforms, coups d'état, or wars. The founding of the Roman Republic is a noteworthy example. The twentieth century saw a major acceleration of this process, with many monarchies violently overthrown by revolution or war, or else abolished as part of the process of de-colonisation. The twenty-first century has already seen several monarchies abolished, usually by peaceful means in a referendum. By contrast, the restoration of monarchies is rare in modern times, with only two major examples, Spain and Cambodia.

Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

One of the earliest examples in modern times is the overthrow in 1649 of the English monarchy by the Parliament of England, led by Oliver Cromwell. The monarchy was restored in 1660. However, the most famous abolition of monarchy in history is that of the French monarchy in 1792, during the French Revolution. The French monarchy was later restored several times until 1870.

Nineteenth century

The Second French Empire came to an end in 1870 after it had lost the war against Prussia, causing Emperor Napoleon III to lose his throne. He was the last monarch of France. The Second Mexican Empire collapsed in 1867, and its Emperor, Maximilian I of Mexico, was executed. In Spain monarchy was abolished from 1873 to 1874 by the First Spanish Republic, but then restored until 1931. In 1893 foreign business leaders overthrew the Queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii. They established a republic, which joined the United States in 1898. The monarchy of Madagascar, known as the Merina Kingdom, came to an end in 1897 when France made it a colony and overthrew Queen Ranavalona III. In Brazil, monarchy was abolished in 1889, when Emperor Pedro II was overthrown by a republican military coup (the status of the republic was fully confirmed by a plebiscite in 1993 that resulted in 86,6% of the votes to the republican government).

Twentieth century

In 1910 the last emperor of Korea, Sunjong, lost his throne when the country was annexed by Japan. However the Korean royal family was kept as a puppet family. Many of the Korean royals were forceably re-educated in Japan and forced to marry Japanese royalty and aristocrats to meld the ruling families of the two empires. The monarchy of Portugal was also overthrown in 1910, two years after the assassination of King Carlos I, ending the reign of Manuel II.

The ancient monarchy of China ceased to exist in 1912 after the revolution of Sun Yat-sen overthrew Emperor Puyi. General Yuan Shikai, then provisional president, unsuccessfully tried to make himself a monarch in 1915.

World War I led to perhaps the greatest spate of abolition of monarchies in history. The conditions inside Russia and the poor performance in the war gave rise to a communist revolution which toppled the entire institution of the monarchy, executed Emperor Nicholas II and implemented a marxist-leninist government. The defeated German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires saw the abolition of their monarchies in the close aftermath of the war, ending the reigns of Wilhelm II, Charles I and Mehmed VI respectively. The monarchs of the constituent states within the German Empire, most importantly Ludwig III of Bavaria, Frederick Augustus III of Saxony and Wilhelm II of Württemberg, soon abdicated. During the war, monarchies were planned for the Grand Principality of Finland (to have a Finnish King), and for Lithuania (Mindaugas II of Lithuania), with a protectorate-like dependency of Germany. Both intended kings renounced their thrones after Germany's defeat in November 1918. King Nicholas I of Montenegro lost his throne when the country became a part of Yugoslavia in 1918. Template:Former monarchic orders of succession

After the death of the last Emperor, Bogd Khan, in 1924, Mongolia became a republic. In Spain the monarchy was again abolished in 1931 by the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1936/39) and the dictatorship of Franco (1936/39–1975). Constitutional monarchy was restored in 1975 under King Juan Carlos I.

World War II saw another spate of abolitions. In 1939 Italy invaded Albania and removed the reigning self-proclaimed King Zog and instated their own King Victor Emmanuel III as its new monarch. Italy, along with the eastern European monarchies of Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania joined with Germany in World War II against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Western allies and the Soviet Union. As the Axis powers came to a defeat in the war, communist partisans in occupied Yugoslavia and occupied Albania seized power and ended the monarchies. Communists in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania removed their monarchies with strong backing by the Soviet Union, which had many troops and supporters placed there during the course of the war. Through this, Peter II of Yugoslavia, Simeon II of Bulgaria and Michael I of Romania all lost their thrones. King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy had switched sides during the war in favour of the western allies, but a referendum in 1946 ended the short reign of his son King Umberto II and the Italian monarchy ceased to exist. A unique result of the war was that Emperor Hirohito of Japan, who had held a debated but important role in Japan's warfare against the Allied powers, was reduced in stature from a divine monarch to a figurehead by the occupying United States, instead of losing his throne altogether.

Throughout Greece's eventful modern history, the monarchy was toppled and restored several times between and after the two World Wars. The last king, Constantine II, was forced into exile after a coup in 1967 and the republic was proclaimed in 1973 by the then ruling military dictatorship. Final abolition of the monarchy was confirmed overwhelmingly after constitutional legality was restored, by free referendum in 1974.

Many monarchies were abolished in the middle of the 20th century or later as part of the process of de-colonisation. The monarchies of India, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, Guyana, and Malawi were abolished shortly after they became independent of the United Kingdom, while remaining within the Commonwealth. That of Ireland was not abolished when Ireland became independent of the United Kingdom in the 1920s, but by the Republic of Ireland Act of 1948, which came into force in 1949. Some commonwealth realms waited a little longer before abolishing their monarchies: Pakistan became a republic in 1956. The Gambia abolished its monarchy in 1970, whilst Sierra Leone became a republic in 1971, as did Sri Lanka and Malta in 1974 and Trinidad and Tobago in 1976.The monarchy in South Africa was abolished in 1961 by an apartheid referendum. The latest country to become a Commonwealth republic was Mauritius in 1992.

That of Egypt was abolished in 1953, after the revolution of 1952, which caused King Farouk I to abdicate in favour of his infant son Fuad II. The monarchy of Tunisia ended in 1957 when Muhammad VIII al-Amin lost his throne and that of Iraq when King Faisal II was killed and a republic proclaimed. King Idris of Libya was overthrown by a military coup led by Muammar Gaddafi in 1969. The monarchy of Afghanistan was abolished in 1973 after a coup d'état overthrew King Mohammed Zahir Shah. That of Iran was abolished by the Islamic revolution of 1979 overthrowing Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In Ethiopia Emperor Haile Selassie I was overthrown in 1974 as a result of a democratic revolution supplanted later by a radical leftist coup. Political upheaval and Communist insurrection put an end to the monarchies of Indochina after World War II: a short-lived attempt to leave a monarchical form of government in post-colonial South Vietnam came to naught in 1955, a military coup overthrew the kingless monarchy in Cambodia in 1970 and a Communist takeover ended the monarchy in Laos in 1975. Cambodia's monarchy later saw an unexpected rebirth under an internationally-mediated peace settlement with former king Norodom Sihanouk being restored as a figurehead in 1993.

Brazil rejected an attempt to restore its monarchy in the 1990s. Unsuccessful efforts to restore the monarchies of some of the Balkan states in the former Eastern Bloc continue. Former King Michael of Romania and Prince Alexander of Serbia have been allowed to return, gained some popularity, played largely apolitical public roles, but never came close to being restored to their ancestral thrones. However, in Bulgaria, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was deposed from the Bulgarian throne in 1946, was elected and recently served as the Prime Minister of his country from 2001 to 2005. The only formerly socialist country to have held a referendum on the monarchy was Albania where the claimant to his father's throne, the self-styled Leka I, lost by a huge margin.

In a 1999 referendum, the voters of Australia rejected a proposal to abolish their monarchy in favour of a specific republican model. The proposal was rejected in all states, with only the Australian Capital Territory voting in favour.

Twenty-first century

On 24 December 2007, the Nepalese government decided in an accord to abolish the monarchy after the elections to be held in April 2008. The Nepalese monarchy was formally abolished on 28 May 2008, causing King Gyanendra to lose his throne. After the death of its last non-elected ruler in 2007, Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoa became a de facto republic.

Monarchies abolished in the 20th–21st centuries

Country		Last Monarch	Year	Annotations
1900s
	Dendi	Askia Malla	1901	Ousted by French, the country became a part of French West Africa.
	Ashanti	Prempeh I	1902	Ousted by British, the country became a part of Gold Coast (British colony).
	Oyo	Adeyemi I Alowolodu	1905	Last monarch died, the country became a part of British Southern Nigeria Protectorate.
	Mwali		1909	The country was incorporated into French Third Republic.
1910s
	Portugal	Manuel II	1910	Republican Coup d'État.
	Korea	Sunjong		Native monarchy abolished; replaced by rule by Japan, a monarchy, through 1945.
	Angoche			Ousted by Portuguese, the country was incorporated into Portugal.
	Nri	Eze Nri Òbalíke	1911	Ousted by British, the country became a part of Southern Nigeria Protectorate.
	Kasanje			The country was incorporated into Portuguese West Africa.
	China	Xuantong	1912	Xinhai Revolution – Emperor ousted by warlords and republicans.
	Ndzuwani	Saidi Mohamed bin Saidi Omar		The country was incorporated into French Third Republic.
	Kongo	Manuel III	1914	Position abolished by Portuguese after an unsuccessful revolt.
	Darfur	Ali Dinar	1916	Darfur formally re-incorporated into Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
	China	Hongxian		Monarchy abandoned, shortly after the outbreak of the National Protection War.
	Russia	Nicholas II	1917	Russian Revolution of 1917.
	Finland			Finnish Declaration of Independence.
	Sultanate of Sulu	Sultan Jamalul-Kiram II		Split into North Borneo, and the Philippines
	Montenegro	Nicholas I	1918	Referendum deposed King and united Montenegro with Serbia.
	Germany	William II		All on account of German defeat in World War I and the following German Revolution.
	Prussia
	Bavaria	Ludwig III
	Württemberg	William II
	Saxony	Frederick Augustus III
	Hesse	Ernest Louis
	Baden	Frederick II
	Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach	William Ernest
	Mecklenburg-Schwerin	Frederick Francis IV
	Mecklenburg-Strelitz	Adolphus Frederick VI
	Oldenburg	Frederick Augustus II
	Brunswick	Ernst Augustus
	Anhalt	Joachim Ernst
	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	Charles Edward
	Saxe-Meiningen	Bernhard III
	Saxe-Altenburg	Ernst II
	Waldeck-Pyrmont	Friedrich
	Lippe	Leopold IV
	Schaumburg-Lippe	Adolf II
	Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt	Günther Victor
	Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
	Reuss Elder Line	Heinrich XXIV
	Reuss Younger Line	Heinrich XXVII
	Austria	Charles I		Charles I "renounced participation" in state affairs, but did not abdicate. Monarchy officially abolished by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, on 10 September 1919.
	Finland	Frederick Charles I		Monarchy never in effect.
	Lithuania	Mindaugas II
	Poland	Ruled by Regency Council
	Hungary	Charles IV		Monarchy restored in 1920, although the throne remained vacant with a Regent.
	Serbia	Peter I		Country transformed to Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
	Ukraine	Pavlo Skoropadskyi		Removed from power, following an uprising led by Symon Petliura and the withdrawal of German forces from Kiev.
1920s
	Bukhara (Uzbekistan)	Mohammed Alim Khan	1920
	Khiva (Uzbekistan)	Abdallah Khan
	Syria	Faisal I		Monarchy deposed, following the Siege of Damascus.
	Ottoman Empire	Mehmed VI	1922	Sultanate abolished in 1922.
	Wituland	Fumo `Umar ibn Ahmad	1923	Sultanate abolished by British, the country was incorporated into Kenya Colony.
	Greece	George II	Restored 1935 and later abolished in 1974 (see below).
	Mongolia	Bogd Khan	Communist People's Republic proclaimed after Khan's death.
	Albania	William I	1925	Monarchy restored in 1928 (Albanian Kingdom).
	Orungu	Rogombé-Nwèntchandi	1927	Position abolished by French.
1930s
	Spain	Alfonso XIII	1931	Later restored (see below).
	Jimma	Abba Jofir	1932	Ousted by Ethiopians, Jimma incorporated into Ethiopia.
	Albania	Zog I	1939	Throne usurped by Victor Emmanuel III, after Italian invasion.
1940s
	Albania	Victor Emmanuel III	1943	Relinquished throne after Italian armistice.
	Croatia	Tomislav II		Abdicated after withdrawal of Italian support.
	Iceland	Christian X	1944	Union with Denmark terminated.
	Montenegro	Ruled by Governor		Monarchy abolished after takeover by Yugoslav Partisans
	Yugoslavia	Peter II	1945	Communist reconstruction.
	Manchukuo	Kāngdé		Merged into the Republic of China after abolition of the Empire.
	Vietnam	Bảo Đại		Monarchy abolished after the Surrender of Japan.
	Hungary	Miklós Horthy as Regent	1946	Decision of the parliament without a referendum.
	Italy	Umberto II		Referendum; official result: 54,3% in favour of republic.
	Bulgaria	Simeon II		Referendum held to decide whether the monarchy would be retained; results falisified by the communist government: 95% in favour of republic.
	Sarawak	Charles Vyner Brooke		White Rajahs hand over power to British crown.
	Romania	Michael I	1947	Forced out by the communists.
	India	George VI		Became an independent Commonwealth monarchy.
	Ireland	George VI	1949	Abolished the last "Monarchy of Ireland", the King of the United Kingdom.
1950s
	India	George VI	1950	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy.
	Egypt	Fuad II	1953	Republic proclaimed one year after the 1952 Revolution.
	Vietnam	Bảo Đại	1954	Vietnam partitioned through the Geneva Accords.
	Vietnam	Bảo Đại	1955	Referendum in South Vietnam.
	Pakistan	Elizabeth II	1956	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy.
	Tunisia	Muhammad VIII al-Amin	1957	coup d'état
	Iraq	Faisal II	1958
1960s
	Ghana	Elizabeth II	1960	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy.
	South Africa		1961 (referendum 1960)
	Rwanda	Kigeli V		coup d'état
	Tanganyika	Elizabeth II	1962	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy.
	Yemen	Muhammad XI		coup d'état
	Nigeria	Elizabeth II	1963	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy.
	Uganda
	Kenya		1964
	Zanzibar	Jamshid bin Abdullah		Zanzibar Revolution
File:Flag of Burundi (1962 to 1966).svg	Burundi	Ntare V	1966	coup d'état
	Malawi	Elizabeth II		Abolished Commonwealth monarchy.
	Fadhli Sultanate	Nasser bin Abdullah bin Hussein bin Ahmed Alfadhli	1967	The countries were incorporated into newly created People's Republic of South Yemen.
	Qu'aiti Sultanate	Ghalib II bin Awadh bin Saleh Al Qu'aiti
	Sultanate of Upper Yafa	Muhammad ibn Salih Harharah
	Sultanate of Lower Yafa	Mahmud ibn Aidrus Al Afifi
	Muflahi Sheikhdom	al Qasim ibn Abd ar Rahman
	Audhali Sultanate	Salih ibn al Husayn ibn Jabil Al Audhali
	Emirate of Beihan	Saleh al Hussein Al Habieli
	Dathina Sheikhdom
	Emirate of Dhala	Shafaul ibn Ali Shaif Al Amiri
	Wahidi Sultanate of Balhaf
	Sheikhdom of Shaib	Yahya ibn Mutahhar al-Saqladi
	Alawi Sheikhdom	Salih ibn Sayil Al Alawi
	Aqrabi Sheikhdom	Mahmud ibn Muhammad Al Aqrabi
	Wahidi Sultanate of Haban	Husayn ibn Abd Allah Al Wahidi
	Qutaibi Sheikhdom
	Hadrami Sheikhdom
	Mausatta Sheikhdom
	Busi Sheikhdom
	Dhabi Sheikhdom
	Haushabi Sultanate	Faisal bin Surur Al Haushabi
	Kathiri Sultanate	Al Husayn ibn Ali
	Mahra Sultanate
	Sultanate of Lahej	Ali bin Abd al Karim al Abdali
	Lower Aulaqi Sultanate	Nasir ibn Aidrus Al Awlaqi
	Upper Aulaqi Sultanate	Awad ibn Salih Al Awlaqi
	Upper Aulaqi Sheikhdom	Amir Abd Allah ibn Muhsin al Yaslami Al Aulaqi
	Maldives	Muhammad Fareed Didi	1968	Independence referendum.
	Libya	Idris I	1969	coup d'état
	Cambodia	Norodom Sihanouk	1970	Later restored (see below).
	The Gambia	Elizabeth II	1971	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy.
	Guyana
	Sierra Leone
	Ceylon		1972	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy, state name changed into "Sri Lanka".
	Afghanistan	Mohammed Zahir Shah	1973	coup d'état
	Ethiopia	Haile Selassie I	1974
	Greece	Constantine II		referendum; official result: 69% against monarchy
	Malta	Elizabeth II		Abolished Commonwealth monarchy.
	Laos	Savang Vatthana	1975	Communist takeover
	Sikkim	Palden Thondup Namgyal		Referendum; official result: 97% to become a state of India.
	Trinidad and Tobago	Elizabeth II	1976	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy.
	Iran	Mohammad Reza Pahlavi	1979	Iranian Revolution
	Central Africa	Bokassa I		coup d'état
1980s
	Southern Rhodesia	Elizabeth II	1980	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy. An unrecognised government had unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia in 1965 and proclaimed a republic in 1969; it was renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979 but returned to United Kingdom control as Southern Rhodesia in December 1979. Southern Rhodesia subsequently gained independence as Zimbabwe.
	Rwenzururu	Charles Mumbere	1982	Forced to abdicate by the government of Uganda; declaration of independence of Rwenzururu was annulled.
	Fiji	Elizabeth II	1987	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy. Elizabeth II remained recognized as Paramount Chief by the Great Council of Chiefs until the council's de-establishment on 14 March 2012.
1990s
	Mauritius	Elizabeth II	1992	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy.
2000s
	Samoa	Malietoa Tanumafili II	2007	Last non-elected ruler (O le Ao o le Malo) died, country de facto switched to parliamentary republic
	Nepal	Gyanendra	2008	Monarchy abolished on 28 May 2008, replaced with a secular federal republic.

Current monarchies that were abolished and then restored

Country		Year Abolished	Annotations	Year Restored
	Seventeen Provinces, part of the Holy Roman Empire and held by the Habsburgs	1581	Dutch Republic established	1806
	England, Scotland and Ireland	1649	Commonwealth of England established	1660
	Spain	1873	First Spanish Republic established	1874
		1931	Second Spanish Republic established, then restored in 1947 (de jure), initially under the regency of Francisco Franco	1975 (de facto)
	Ankole	1967	Four traditional Ugandan monarchies abolished by government under new constitution of Milton Obote	1993
	Buganda
	Bunyoro
	Toro
	Cambodia	1970		1993
	Rwenzururu, a part of Uganda	1982	Abolished by the government.	2009 (de facto)

See also

• List of Abdications by Date
• List of countries by date of transition to republican system of government
• List of monarchs who lost their thrones before the 17th century
• List of monarchs who lost their thrones in the 17th century
• List of monarchs who lost their thrones in the 18th century
• List of monarchs who lost their thrones in the 19th century
• List of monarchs who lost their thrones in the 20th and 21st centuries (by individual instead of by institution as above)
• List of extinct states
• Debate on the monarchy in Canada
• Republicanism in the United Kingdom
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines constitutional referendum, 2009
• Tuvaluan constitutional referendum, 2008