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Royal disestablishments of the 20th Century

In World War I and afterwards, leading up to the start of WWII, the crowned heads of 30 royal houses were deposed or abdicated. Defeat in WWI also brought about the collapse of four great Empires, three of which collapsed in 1917-1918; the Russian Empire under the Tsar Nicholas II in March 1917, the German Empire under the Kaiser Wilhelm II, including his numerous Kings, Princes and Dukes in November 1918, the Austrian Empire under the Emperor Charles I, who also lost his two other thrones as King Charles III of Bohemia, and King Charles IV of Hungary, also in 1918. The King and Kingdom of Finland, and Nicholas I of Montenegro suffered the same fate in 1918. The Ottoman Empire fell when the Sultanate was abolished in 1922, and its Caliphate was abolished in 1924. A few crowned heads managed to survive until the 1930’s, when Alfonso of Spain in 1931, then Zog of Albania abdicated in 1936. Carol of Romania fled in 1940 after WWII started. Although the British crowned heads narrowly missed these same fates, numerous members of their royal families, did not.

1917

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Russian Empire

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The Russian Empire was successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and predecessor of the Soviet Union. In 1866, it stretched from eastern Europe, across northern Asia, and into North America. At the beginning of the 19th century, Russia was the largest country in the world, extending from the Arctic Ocean to the north to the Black Sea on the south, from the Baltic Sea on the west to the Pacific Ocean on the east. Its government and 150 million subjects were ruled by the Emperor - Czar, as one of the last absolute monarchies in Europe. The end of the Russian Empire was brought about, due to the ultimatum of the Austrian Empire against Serbia, due to the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand in his own province of Bosnia. This ultimatum which began WWI drew Russia, as protector of the Slavs for 100 years, in defence of this tiny kingdom in the Balkans. The irreversible process of Russian mobilization plunged the Powers into war, which Russia was not prepared for. In 1917, in the last act of Imperial Russia, the Czar of the Russian Empire Nicholas II abdicated in favour of his brother, but Michael is said to have declined the crown. In October 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power. Almost the first action of the new regime was to bring the Romanov dynasty, and the war, to an end. The Czar and his family were taken to Yekaterinburg, and were all executed in July 1918, as were most of his relatives in 1918-1919, these deaths concluded the end of the Russian Empire, and the Romanov dynasty. (Louda, p 280) All the victims of the Bolsheviks were descended from lines of decent of the wife of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I (1796-1855), Charlotte (Alexandra) (1798-1860), the daughter of Frederick William III, King of Prussia. Subsequent other German Houses bred with the Russian Nobility include; the daughters of Louis II Grand Duke of Hesse; Joseph Duke of Saxe-Altenburg; Peter, Duke of Oldenburg; Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden; Prince Maurice of Saxe-Altenburg; and the wife of Nicholas II, daughter of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse. The list shows all of their descendants killed in 1918-1919. (Louda, table 139)


Russian Empire
Image Title House House Arms States of the Empire
Tsar Nicholas II House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov The Russian Empire (1721-1917)
Khanate of Kazan, Kingdom of Poland, Tauric Chersonesos, Grand Principalities: Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Grand Principality of Finland, Georgian. principalities and Khanates:Siberia, Astrakhan. Principalities and oblasts. (northeastern regions): (Perm, Volga Bulgaria, Vyatka, Kondinsky, Obdorsk), of Belorussia and Lithuania (Lithuania, Białystok, Samogitia, Polatsk, Vitebsk, Mstislavl). Provinces: Great Russia proper (Pskov, Smolensk, Tver, Nizhniy-Novgorod, Ryazan, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersk, Udorsky). Southwestern regions: (Volhyn, Podolsk, Chernigov). Baltic provinces: (Esthonia, Courland, Semigalia, Karelia, Livonia), Turkestan.
House of Romanov
executed in 1918-1919
Image Title Notes Image Title Notes
Nicholas II of Russia
(1868-1918)
Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna
Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna
Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia
(1859-1919)
Son of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1831–1891)

Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (1863–1919) Brother of Nicholas Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia
(1869-1918)
Brother of Nicholas
Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1864–1918) Wife of Sergius (1857-1905) 3rd son of Emperor Alexander II. Sister of Alix. Dau of Louis IV GD of Hesse Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia
(1860-1918)
4th son of Emperor Alexander II
Vladimir Paley
(1897-1918)
Only son of Paul. Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich of Russia
(1850-1918)
Son of Constantine (1827-1892) and Alexandra (1830-1911), dau of Joseph Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
Artemi Nikolaevich Prince Iskander Artemi Prince Iskander
(1881-1918)
Only son of Nicholas. Grand Duke Dimitri Constantinovich of Russia
(1860-1919)
Brother of Nicholas
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia
(1878-1918)
Heir to throne, brother of Nicholas. Prince John Constantinovich of Russia
(1886-1918)
Son of Constantine (1858-1915) and Elizabeth (1865-1927), dau of Prince Maurice of Saxe-Altenburg
Prince Constantine Constantinovich of Russia
(1891-1918)
Sister of Ivan Prince Igor Constantinovich of Russia
(1894-1918)
Brother of Ivan

Great Britain

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In 1893, according to Ottfried Neubecker of the Governing Board of the International Academy of Heraldry, “The princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha were excluded from the British royal family in 1893.” ((Heraldry, Sources Symbols and Meaning. Ottfried Neubecker. ISBN 0-316-64141-3 ,p 96)) These S-CG princes in that year, had been accused of contriving to impose themselves as hereditary kings, upon Great Britain, Portugal, Bulgaria and Belgium. ((Lines of Succession. Louda & Maclagan. 1981. ISBN 085613-276-4, p 202)) The catalyst for these exclusions occurred in 1888, when Wilhelm II of the House of Hohenzollern became the German Emperor. Wilhelm II, was a successor to this excluded S-CG house, as a 1st grandson of Queen Victoria of the House of Hanover and Prince Albert of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Wilhelm II, as such, received the Oath of Allegiance, sworn by British parliamentarians &c, to the Queen, her heirs and successors. Prime Minister Lord Salisbury, accepted this constitutional relationship with the German Emperor Wilhelm, stating in a speech in Wales (1888), “We are a part of a community of Europe and we must do our duty as such”; ((ref)) He then enacted parliamentary procedures in 1888, to legislate a new Official Secrets Act 1889.

The order of succession changed in 1892, on the death of the Duke of Clarence. In 1893, the succession to the S-CG Duchy passed to the heirs of Prince Albert. His 2nd son Alfred Duke of Edinburgh, was Duke of S-CG till his death in 1900, whose only son and heir died in 1899, and was succeeded by his nephew Charles Edward (Louda p 202). who was symbolically deprived of his British dukedom of Albany in 1919, via a British Deprivation of Titles Act, 1917, and then abdicated his German Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1918, at the end of WWI. Likewise, Ernest Augustus, of the House of Hanover was also deprived of his British dukedoms of Cumberland and Teviotdale in 1917 and abdicated from the German Duchy of Brunswick in 1918. (Louda, p 198). After the succession of George V of Great Britain in 1910, another Official Secrets Act 1911 was enacted. In 1917, during WWI and Deprivation Act, most princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha were disestablished, with exception of George V who decreed his House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha re-named as House of Windsor, and also in that same year, the House of Hesse-Battenberg was re-named as the House of Mountbatten (Louda, p 218).

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Charles Edward Duke of Albany
Image Title House House Arms British Arms German Territory Deposed
titles and lands
Duke
Charles Edward

(1884-1954)
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
(1826-1918)
Duchy of Saxe-Coburg Gotha
(1826–1918)
Deprived of British Dukedom of Albany in 1917. Deprived of German Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1918.
Duke
Ernest Augustus

(1845-1923)
House of Hanover
(1635-1918)
File:Arms of Ernst Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale Duchy of Brunswick
(1815–1918)
Deprived of British Dukedom of Cumberland in 1917, Deprived of German Dukedom of Brunswick in 1918.


House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
royal families excluded in 1917
Image Title Arms Notes Image Title Arms Notes
Princess Helena
(1846–1923)

Later: Princess of
Schleswig-Holstein
.


Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein
Princess Louise
(1848–1939)

John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll
Prince Arthur
(1850–1942)

Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia
Princess Beatrice
(1857–1944)

Later: Countess of Battenberg


Prince Henry of Battenberg
Princess Louise
(1867–1931)
Later: Duchess of Fife

Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife
Princess Victoria
(1868–1935)
Maud of Wales
(1869–1938)
Later: Queen of Norway

Haakon VII of Norway
Marie of Romania
(of Edinburgh)

(1875–1938)
Later: Queen of Romania

Ferdinand of Romania
Princess Victoria Melita
(of Edinburgh)

(1876–1936)
Later: Grand-duchess of Hesse
later Grand-duchess of Russia

Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse
Princess Alexandra
(of Edinburgh)

(1878–1942)
Later: Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Princess Margaret
(1882–1920)
Later: Crown princess of Sweden
Daughter of Arthur and Princess Louise


Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein

Prince Arthur of Connaught
(1883–1938)
Third son of Prince Albert

Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife
Princess Alice
(1883–1966)

Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone
Princess Beatrice
(of Edinburgh)

(1884–1966)
Later: Duchess of Galliera

Infante Alfonso, Duke of Galliera
Princess Patricia
(1886–1974)
Later: Lady Ramsay
Daughter of Arthur and Princess Louise

Alexander Ramsay (Royal Navy officer)

Mary, Princess Royal
(1897–1965)

Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood


1918

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German Empire

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Wilhelm I
1797 - 1888

1871 - 1888


Augusta
1811 - 1890
 

Frederick III
1831 - 1888
Hohenzollern

1888 - 1919


Victoria
1840 - 1901
 

Wilhelm I
1859 - 1941

1888 - 1919


Victoria
1858 – 1921
 


See: German monarchy 1918


Finland

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The Grand Principality of Finland was a part of the Russian Empire until 1917.


Montenegro

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Montenegro
Image Title House House Arms State Location Flag Notes
King
Nicholas I

(1841-1921)
House of Petrović-Njegoš
(1696-1918)
Kingdom of Montenegro
(1696-1918)
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Austrian Empire

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Austrian Empire
Image Title House House Arms States of the Empire
Emperor Charles I House of Habsburg-Lorraine The Austrian Empire (Austria-Hungary) (1867-1918)
Further Austria (the old possessions of the House of Habsburg in today's France, Germany and Switzerland): Kingdoms: Kingdom of Bohemia. Kingdom of Hungary. Kingdom of Croatia. Kingdom of Slavonia. Kingdom of Dalmatia. Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia. Duchies: Archduchy of Austria. Duchy of Carinthia. Duchy of Carniola. Duchy of Salzburg. Duchy of Silesia. Duchy of Styria. Duchy of Bukovina. Principalities &c: Grand Principality of Transylvania. Margravate of Moravia. Princely County of Tyrol. County of Gorizia and Gradisca. Vorarlberg. Margravate of Istria. Imperial Free City of Trieste. Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar.

1924

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Ottoman Empire

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Ottoman Empire
Image Title House House Arms States of the Empire
Sultan Mehmet VI House of Osman The Ottoman Empire (1299-1922)
Africa: Tripolitania. Anatolia: Adana. Aidin. Ankara. Archipelago. Bitlis. Diyâr-ı Bekr. Erzurum. Hüdavendigâr. Istanbul. Kastamonu. Konya. Mamuret-ul-Aziz. Sivas. Trebizond. Van. Europe: Adrianople. Bosnia. Crete. Danube. Janina. Kosovo. Monastir. Salonica. Scutari. Middle East: Aleppo. Baghdad Basra. Beirut. Hejaz. Mosul. Syria. Yemen
Caliph Abdul Mejid II House of Osman Ottoman Empire (1922-1924)

1931

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Spain

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Alfonso of Spain

1936

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Albania

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Zog of Albania

1940

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Romania

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Carol of Romania

References

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Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "William II (Germany)" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

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