His Royal Highness Prince Otto Friedrich Ludwig of Bavaria, accompanied by a Bavarian council of regency, arrives in 1833 to ascend the Greek throne as His Majesty Othon the First, by the Grace of God, King of Greece, Prince of Bavaria.

Formidable problems face Greece’s seventeen-year-old king and the three regents appointed to assist him.

The agricultural infrastructure on which the economy is based lies in ruins.

At least two-thirds of the olive trees, vineyards, and flour mills have been destroyed, and only about ten percent of Greece's sheep and goat flocks remain.

Many villages are devastated, as are several of the most important commercial centers.

The rural populace, destitute and displaced, looks to their new king for relief.

Several groups that had supported the war for independence now demand compensation.

The military leaders who had led and financed the war want land, power, and pay for their men.

Ship owners demand indemnity for their substantial losses in naval battles.

The soldiers who had fought the war want regular pay, land, or both.

The peasants want land.

It is impossible to satisfy all these claims.

In 1833 also, the patriarch of Constantinople establishes an autocephalous Orthodox Church of the Kingdom of Greece with Otto at its head.

However, the Roman Catholic monarch shows no inclination toward conversion, adding further fuel to the political fire.

Moreover, Greece's persistent fiscal crises are exacerbated by the fact that remaining outside the kingdom are the fertile agricultural areas of Macedonia ...