To avoid inciting Greek resentment towards Thessaloniki, a city largely populated by Slavs, authorities denied any political motive for the regicide, attributing it to Schinas, described as an alcoholic and mentally unstable individual.

Constantine I succeeded his father on the eve of World War I, marking the beginning of a period of great instability for Greece and the Crown.

He was forced to abdicate permanently in 1922, this time in favor of his eldest son, George II, following Greece's defeat in the Greco-Turkish War.

[2][3][4][5][6][7] The "Megali Idea," an irredentist belief in the recovery of Greek lands under Ottoman control and the restoration of the Byzantine Empire, led Greece to regain Volos and other parts of Thessaly during the Convention of Constantinople (1881).

However, the country suffered a humiliating defeat in the First Greco-Turkish War in 1897, led by Crown Prince Constantine, the king's eldest son.

King George I survived an assassination attempt the following year and a military coup in 1909, which resulted in Eleftherios Venizelos becoming Prime Minister.

George I and Venizelos rushed to Thessaloniki to support Greece's claims and organize a victory celebration for the king's upcoming golden jubilee.

The liberation of Thessaloniki was followed by the recapture of Ioannina, another Greek city held by the Ottomans, during the Battle of Bizani in early March 1913.

[4][21][22][23][24] However, as they reached the corner of Vasilissis Olgas and Agia Triada streets, they were unexpectedly approached by Alexandros Schinas, a presumed Greek anarchist, around 43 years old.

[21] Aware that the assassination of the king in a city largely populated by Slavs could reignite tensions with Bulgaria, the Greek authorities targeted some Muslim and Jewish residents of Thessaloniki whom they held responsible.

[37] To pacify public opinion, the government eventually announced that the killer was Greek, describing Alexandros Schinas as a person of "low intelligence," a "degenerate criminal," and a "victim of alcoholism.

"[38] This "official narrative" became the widely accepted portrayal of Schinas, depicting him as an alcoholic and homeless, with his motivation for the assassination of the king attributed to mental illness rather than political reasons.

[27][34][39][40] The authorities then attempted to suggest that he was an agent acting on behalf of a foreign power (Bulgaria, Germany, or the Ottoman Empire) without providing any evidence to support their claims.

[Note 4][42] In Brussels, the court mourned for twenty-one days,[45] while in Paris, President of the Republic Raymond Poincaré and Prime Minister Aristide Briand sent telegrams of condolence to Constantine I.

In the columns of Le Figaro, the day after the assassination of the King of the Hellenes, journalist Georges Bourdon wrote: "The death of this rare sovereign is a great loss for Greece, which will not be alone in feeling bitterness.

"[47][Note 5] The assassination of George I is reminiscent of other attacks on monarchs and political figures at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries,[41] including King Humbert I of Italy (1900), Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1898), President of the French Republic Sadi Carnot (1894), and Emperor Alexander II of Russia (1881).

Various conspiracy theories, once propagated by the Greek authorities,[41] have suggested that Schinas may have been an agent for the Ottomans, Bulgarians, the Dual Alliance (Germany and Austria-Hungary[Note 6]), or Macedonian nationalists.

[27][51] The government of Greece initially denies any political motive for the regicide, but during an interview in prison, a journalist asks Alexandros Schinas, "Are you an anarchist?"

Some speculate that Schinas committed suicide to avoid further torture and a slow death from tuberculosis, while others suggest he may have been thrown out the window by the gendarmes to silence him.

[21][22][26][56] However, in 2014, Michael Newton provided a more nuanced perspective, highlighting the torture Schinas endured during his detention, which led to a "confused confession blending anarchist beliefs with a claim of regicide due to a financial dispute.

[62][Note 8] Kemp suggests that Schinas, rather than being part of a larger political or state conspiracy, may have been a troubled individual seeking to escape the harsh realities of the early 20th century, both mentally and physically unwell.

George I's remains were covered with the Greek flag and placed on a stretcher, carried alternately by Prince Nicolas, the king's aides-de-camp, senior officers, civilian, and religious authorities.

The Metropolis of Thessaloniki, Gennadios Alexiadis, offered a prayer, followed by civilian and military authorities silently passing by the monarch's coffin.

Starting from the palace at 9 am, the procession, with traditional evzones forming the special guard of the deceased monarch, proceeds to the port amidst a large and solemn crowd.

As the special train departs for the capital, cannons from foreign ships anchored in Piraeus, along with Greek batteries, fire salute rounds.

Following a religious ceremony, the coffin, adorned with the flags of Greece and Denmark (the countries of George I's birth), is placed in a chapel and publicly displayed for three days.

[69] After the religious ceremony, the procession headed to the Larissa station, where a special train would return George I's body to the Tatoi Royal Palace.

[59] The end of the First Balkan War and the signing of the Treaty of London on May 30, 1913, led to significant expansion for the Kingdom of Greece: acquiring a large part of Macedonia (including Thessaloniki) and Epirus, as well as Crete and most of the Aegean Islands.

Excluding Alexander I, who was a puppet king under Eleftherios Venizelos' influence,[81] and Paul I, the only monarch to reign uninterrupted from enthronement to natural death,[82] George I's successors all faced exile.

[90] Since 1960, a room at the Papafeio orphanage, a former military hospital where the body of George I was taken after the assassination by Alexandros Schinas, has been transformed into a small museum dedicated to the first King of the Hellenes.