List of monarchs who lost their thrones or abdicated in the 20th century
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
list.
See also: Abolished monarchies, List of current monarchs
- List of former monarchs by country
A
King Zog of Albania
overthrown by Mussolini in 1939
-
- Duke Joachim
Ernst abdicated at the end of World War I in 1918 (d.1947)
-
- Emperor Karl - Austro-Hungarian Empire abolished in 1918.
(d.1922)
B
Baden
-
- No ruler actually chosen, although offers were made to German Emperor Wilhelm II before it ceased to exist in 1918.
deposed 1971
-
- King Charles III deposed by the proclamation of the Republic of
Czechoslovakia on November 14 1918.
-
- Emir Muhammad Alim Khan - deposed 1920, lands taken over by Bolsheviks (d.1934)
-
- King Simeon II - deposed in plebiscite in 1946;
currently Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
C
-
- Queen Sisowath Monivong Kossamak - 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 as King from 1941 to 1955) as King.
- Bua Laphan
Ratsadany, prince of Champasak 1900-1904, deposed when the principality was abolished on 22nd November 1904
-
- Emperor Puyi was forced to abdicate in 1912 following a Republican revolution.
(d.1967)
- Emperor Hongxian, deposed 1916(emperor briefly)
-
- Duke-elect Wilhelm II is deposed following the end of
World War I in 1918 (d.1941)
-
- 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
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)
-
- Emperor Iyasu V,deposed 1916 for suspected convert to muslim faith.
- Emperor Haile Selassie deposed, later
murdered following communist revolution in 1975.
Kaiser William II of Germany
King of Prussia
deposed after World War I
-
- Emperor Amha Selassie
I., briefly emepror 1974-1975.deposed by the abolition of the monarchy. Died 1997.
F
G
Gambia
-
- Kaiser Wilhelm II deposed following Germany's defeat
in World War I in 1918. (d.1941)
-
- King Constantine I - deposed in 1917 (returned to
the throne in 1920)
- King Constantine I - abdicated in 1922 (d.1923)
- King George II - deposed in 1924 by referendum abolishing
monarchy. (returned to the throne in 1935)
- King Constantine II - deposed by referendum
abolishing monarchy in 1973 (and re-run in 1974)
H
Hesse and the Rhine
-
- King Charles IV - Lost his throne when a republic was established
in 1918. Folowing the restoration of the Hungarian monarchy in 1920 he was refused
permission to assume residency and constitutional functions in the Kingdom of Hungary following the end of World War I by the
Regent of Hungary. Karl died in exile in 1922. The Kingdom of Hungary was abolished by communists following World War II.
deposed 1971.
I
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. (d.1952)
-
- all the several hundred princely states (with a few exceptions) were abolished upon India's independence in 1947.
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran
overthrown by revolution in 1979
-
- King Faisal II - murdered with his family in 1958.
-
- King George VI – ceased to
be King when the country became a republic in 1948. (d.1952)
J
K
-
- Khan Abd Allah Khan, deposed 1920, lands taken over by Bolsheviks
-
- Lyunghui Emperor deposed by the Japanese in 1910.
deposed by the Indonesian government 1958
L
1948-1951, Deprived of all the hereditary offices and priviledges conferred on Jung Bahadur in 1857, 18th February 1951.
-
- King Moshoeshoe II, deposed 1990, reinstated 1995, died 1996.
- King Letsie III, took the throne upon his father's, Moshoeshoe II,
deposition (1990). Later deposed in favor of his father (1995), and then recalimed the throne on his father's death in 1996.
-
- King Idris - deposed in a coup led by Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi in
1969. (d. 1983)
-
- The German puppet King Mindaugas II Duke Wilhelm von Urach is deposed following the end of the First World War in
1918.
-
- Grand Duchess Marie-Adélaïde was
forced to abdicate in 1919 due to political issues (d. 1924)
- Her sister and successor Grand Duchess Charlotte
also abdicated, in 1964 (d. 1985)
- Charlotte's son and successor Grand Duke Jean abdicated in
favour of his son Henri in 2000.
M
-
- Emperor Pu-yi deposed, 1945
-
- 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.
-
- King Nikola - deposed after the First World War, when Montenegro became part of Yugoslavia.
N
-
- King Oscar II was replaced in 1905, ending the
Swedish-Norwegian personal union (d. 1907)
O
King Manuel II of Portugal
overthrown by revolution in 1910
P
-
- 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.
-
- King Manuel II - fled following a revolution in 1910.
(d.1932)
-
- King Wilhelm II - overthrown from Prussian and German
thrones after World War I. (d.1941)
Q
R
-
- King Michael - deposed by communist-dominated government in
1947.
-
- 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. See
The House of Romanov. The monarchy was abolished and replaced by a Russian
republic under Lenin, which in 1922 became the Soviet Union
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
overthrown by revolution in 1917
executed with his family in 1918
Rwanda (the Tutsi state)
S
-
- King Frederick Augustus III -
deposed at the end of the First World War in 1918 with all the other German monarchs. (d.1932)
-
- Prince Adolf II - deposed in 1918
(d.1936)
-
- The Obrenovich dynasty came to an
end in 1903, when King Alexander was murdered.
- King Peter I became instead King of the Serbs,
Croats, and Slovenes in 1918.
deposed 1946.
-
- Queen Elizabeth II - ceased
to be Queen when South Africa became a republic in 1961.
-
- King Alfonso XIII - fled following republican win in
local elections in 1931, died 1941 (monarchy restored in 1975 under his grandson, King Juan Carlos)
T
- Tenzin Gyatso was forsed to flee from Tibet in 1959 because of the
Chinese ocupation; he retains the title of Dalai Lama
-
- King Muhammad al-Amin - deposed in 1957, when Tunisia became a republic. (d.1962)
U
-
- King Edward VIII of the United
Kingdom abdicated on December 11, 1936, later became the Duke of Windsor. (d.1972)
- He also abdicated from the rest of the Commonwealth nations, but is not listed under them, since the dates of abdication are the same, or
one day different for technical reasons in Ireland.
V
-
- Emperor Bao Dai abdicates in 1945 when communists seize 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 (d.1997)
W
Waldeck and
Pyrmont
-
- Prince Friedrich - deposed in 1918 (d.1946)
Württemberg
X
Y
-
- King Muhammad al-Badr - deposed in 1962 (d.1996)
Z
Surviving monarchs from abolished monarchies:
Emperor Bao Dai of Vietnam
deposed twice
- King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan (b. 1914)
- King Constantine II of Greece (b. 1940)
- King Fuad II of Egypt (b.1952)
- Queen Elizabeth II of Fiji,
Mauritius, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Guyana,
Trinidad and Tobago, and Malta (b. 1926)
- King Simeon II of Bulgaria (b. 1937) - currently
serving as Prime Minister
- King Michael of Romania (b.1921)
For monarchs deposed before 1900, see Monarchs deposed in the 19th century
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