London Conference of 1832

In May 1832, representatives of Britain, France and Russia, the three protecting powers of Greece, met in London and reached a decision on the new country's future. After the assassination of Kapodistrias in 1831, Greece had fallen into anarchy, and the powers were determined to establish a stable government. They agreed that Greece would become an independent kingdom and chose Otto, the 17-year-old second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, as its first king. Ludwig was a great admirer of ancient Greece, and Otto, as a Catholic prince from a smaller German state, was acceptable to all three powers. Because Otto was still a minor, a regency of three Bavarian officials would rule on his behalf until he came of age. The agreement, confirmed in a treaty signed with Bavaria, also guaranteed a large loan to the new state and confirmed an expansion of its northern border to a line running from the Gulf of Arta to the Gulf of Volos. The Greek National Assembly accepted Otto as king later that year.