A 1908 postcard shows 19 mostly European monarchs of the time; 11 of these thrones have since been abolished.

Throughout history monarchies have been abolished either through legislative reforms, coups d'état, or wars.

One example is the overthrow in 1649 of the English monarchy by the Parliament of England, led by Oliver Cromwell. The monarchy was restored in 1660. Another is the abolition of the French monarchy in 1792, during the French Revolution. The French monarchy was later restored several times until 1871. The ancient monarchy of China ceased to exist in 1912 after the revolution of Sun Yat-sen. The last emperor of Korea lost his throne in 1910 when the country was annexed by Japan. After the death of the last khagan in 1924 Mongolia became a republic.

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 Portugal was overthrown in 1910, two years after the assassination of King Carlos I. In Spain monarchy was abolished from 1873 to 1874 by the First Spanish Republic and from 1931 to 1975 by the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1936/39) and the dictatory of Franco (1936/39-1975). Constitutional monarchy was restored 22 November 1975.

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 the Tsar and implemented a proletarian dictatorship. The defeated empires of Germany, Austria and Turkey saw the abolition of their monarchies in the close aftermath of the war. During the war, monarchies were planned for the Grand Duchy 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.

In 1939 Italy invaded Albania and removed the existing King Zog and instated the Italian King as its new monarch. Italy, along with the other 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. The King of Italy had switched sides during the war in favour of the western allies, but a referendum in 1946 saw the monarchy ended there as well. A unique feature of the war was the Japanese Emperor who had held a debated but important role in Japan's warfare against the allied powers, being reduced in stature from a divine monarch to a figurehead one by the occupying United States, instead of being abolished altogether.

In Greece the king was forced into exile after a coup d'état in 1967 and the republic was proclaimed in 1973 (confirmed by referendum in 1974).

The monarchies of India, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe were abolished when, or shortly after, they became independent of the United Kingdom, while remaining within the Commonwealth in the middle of the 20th century or later. That of Ireland was not abolished when Ireland became independent of the United Kingdom in the 1920s, but was abolished by the Republic of Ireland Act of 1948, which came into force in 1949. Pakistan became a republic in 1956. 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 and Sudan was abolished in 1953, after the revolution of 1952; that of Tunisia in 1957, that of Iraq in 1958, that of Libya in 1969, that of Iran was abolished by the Islamic revolution of 1979. In Ethiopia the emperor 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[1], while efforts to restore the monarchies of some of the Balkan states in the former Eastern Bloc continue.

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 Balkan 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 1997. 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.

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

On December 24, 2007, the Nepalese government decided in an accord to abolish the monarchy after the elections to be held in April, 2008.^[1] The Nepalese monarchy was formally abolished on 28 May, 2008.

[edit] Monarchies abolished in the 20th-21st centuries

Country		Last Monarch	Year	Annotations
1900s
	Dendi Kingdom	Askia Malla	1901	Ousted by French, the country became a part of French West Africa
	Ashanti Empire	Prempeh I	1902	Ousted by British, the country became a part of Gold Coast (British colony)
	Oyo Empire	Adeyemi I Alowolodu	1905	Last monarch died, the country became a part of British Southern Nigeria Protectorate
	Mwali Sultanate		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 Sultanate			Ousted by Portuguese, the country was incorporated into Portugal
	Kingdom of Nri	Eze Nri Òbalíke	1911	Ousted by British, the country became a part of Southern Nigeria Protectorate
	Kasanje Kingdom			The country was incorporated into Portuguese West Africa
	China	Puyi	1912	Xīnhài Revolution – Emperor ousted by warlords and republicans
	Sultanate of Ndzuwani	Saidi Mohamed bin Saidi Omar		The country was incorporated into French Third Republic
	Albania	William I	1914	monarchy restored in 1928 (Albanian Kingdom)
	Kingdom of Kongo	Manuel III		Position abolished by Portuguese after an unsuccessful revolt
	Russia	Nikolai II	1917	February Revolution
	Montenegro	Nikola I	1918	referendum deposed King and united with Serbia
	Germany	Wilhelm II		All on account of German defeat in World War I and the following German Revolution
	Prussia
	Bavaria	Ludwig III
	Württemberg	Wilhelm II
	Saxony	Friedrich Augustus III
	Hesse	Ernst Ludwig I
	Baden	Friedrich II
	Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach	Wilhelm Ernst I
	Mecklenburg-Schwerin	Friedrich Franz IV
	Mecklenburg-Strelitz
	Oldenburg	Frederick Augustus II
	Brunswick	Ernst Augustus I
	Anhalt	Joachim Ernst I
	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	Carl Eduard I
	Saxe-Meiningen	Bernhard III
	Saxe-Altenburg	Ernst II
	Waldeck-Pyrmont	Friedrich I
	Lippe	Leopold IV
	Schaumburg-Lippe	Adolf II
	Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt	Günther Victor I
	Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
	Reuss Senior Line
	Reuss Junior Line
	Austria	Karl I		deposed and monarchy abolished
	Finland	Frederick Charles I (king-elect)		never in effect
	Lithuania	Mindaugas II (king-elect)
	Poland	None (ruled by Regency Council)
	Hungary	Károly IV		restored 1920, although throne remained vacant with a Regent
1920s
	Bukhara (Uzbekistan)	Mohammed Alim Khan	1920
	Khiva (Uzbekistan)	Abdallah Khan
	Witu Sultanate	Fumo `Umar ibn Ahmad	1923	Sultanate abolished by British, the country was incorporated into Kenya Colony
	Ottoman Empire	Mehmed VI		Turkish War of Independence followed by a parliamentary decision in 1923
	Ottoman Caliphate	Abdülmecid II	1924
	Greece	Georgios II	1924	restored 1935 and later abolished in 1974 (see below)
	Mongolia	Bogd Khan		Communist People's Republic proclaimed after Khan's death
	Kingdom of Orungu	Rogombé-Nwèntchandi	1927	Position abolished by French
1930s
	Spain	Alfonso XIII	1931	later restored (see below)
	Kingdom of Jimma	Abba Jofir	1932	Ousted by Ethiopians, Jimma incorporated into Ethiopia
	Albania	Zog I	1939	Italian Invasion
1940s
	Croatia	Tomislav II	1943	abdicated after withdrawal of Italian support
	Iceland	Christian X	1944	union with Denmark terminated
	Yugoslavia	Petar II	1945	communist reconstruction
	Manchukuo	Puyi		merged into the Republic of China after abolition of the Empire
	Hungary	None (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 initiated by the Soviets; official result: 95% against monarchy
	Sarawak	Charles Vyner Brooke		White Rajahs hand over power to British crown
	Romania	Mihai I	1947	forced out by communists
	Indian Princely States	See article	1947- 1950	became federal states of an independent India
	Ireland	George VI	1949	Abolished the last "King of Ireland", the King of the United Kingdom
1950s
	India	George VI	1950	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
	Egypt and Sudan	Fuad II	1953	Revolution
	Democratic Republic of Vietnam	Bảo Đại	1954	Vietnam partitioned through the Geneva Accords
	State of 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
	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		coup d'état
	Burundi	Ntare V	1966
	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	referendum
	Libya	Idris I	1969	coup d'état
	Amb	Nawab Sir Muhammad Farid Khan		Pakistani Frontier States abolished, merged into the North-West Frontier Province
	Chitral	Mohammad Saif ul-Mulk Nasir
	Dir	Muhammad Shah Khosru Khan
	Swat	Miangul Abdul-Haqq Jahan Zeb
1970s
	Cambodia	Norodom Sihanouk	1970	later restored (see below)
	The Gambia	Elizabeth II		Abolished Commonwealth monarchy
	Guyana
	Sierra Leone		1971
	Ceylon		1972	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy, state name changed in to "Sri Lanka"
	Afghanistan	Mohammed Zahir Shah	1973	coup d'état
	Ethiopia	Haile Selassie I	1974
	Greece	Konstantinos 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. Unofficially, had declared a republic in 1965 under the name Rhodesia, but this was not internationally recognised. Briefly became Zimbabwe Rhodesia, then restored to being Southern Rhodesia, before gaining independence as Zimbabwe
	Kingdom of Rwenzururu	Abel Muzorewa	1982	Forced to abdicate by the government of Uganda; declaration of independence of Rwenzururu was annulled
	Fiji	Elizabeth II	1987	Abolished Commonwealth monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II recognised as Paramount Chief by the Great Council of Chiefs
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 I	2008	Monarchy abolished on 28 May 2008, replaced with secular federal republic[2]

[edit] Current monarchies that were abolished and then restored

Country		Year	Annotations	Restored
	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	Abolished by government under new constitution of Milton Obote	1993
	Buganda
	Bunyoro
	Toro
	Cambodia	1970	coup d'état	1975
		1976	King forced into exile once again by Khmer Rouge	1993

[edit] See also

• List of Abdications by Date
• 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

[edit] References