Abstract

Traffic in Kings

In the years 1917 and 1918 three mighty and ancient dynasties lost their thrones: the Romanovs in Russia, the Hohenzollerns in Germany, and the Flapsburgs in Austria. The Sultan of Turkey shared the same fate only a few years later, and George II of Greece was driven into exile in 1923. The list of departing monarchs was closed by the resignation of King Alfonso XIII of Spain in April 1931. The king by hereditary right has given way to another figure, the dictator, raised from the lower ranks of the population. In the period since the war only one event has been opposed to the anti-monarchist wave: the new Republic of Albania, established in 1925, changed to a monarchy in 1928 when its president, Achmed Zogu, became king under the name of Zog I.