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Reign
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<h2 id="regnal-periods">Regnal periods</h2> <p>Notable reigns have included the following. </p> <ul><li>Queen <a href="/facts/Queen_Victoria/CgxSlQ4g">Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India</a> reigned from 1837 to 1901.</li> <li>King <a href="/facts/Victor_Emmanuel_III_of_Italy/swYWoPeV">Victor Emmanuel III of Italy</a> reigned from 1900 to 1946.</li> <li>King <a href="/facts/Bhumibol_Adulyadej/0A2peCfN">Bhumibol Adulyadej</a> of Thailand reigned from 1946 to 2016.</li> <li>Queen <a href="/facts/Elizabeth_II/os6eB47B">Elizabeth II</a> of the Commonwealth realms reigned from 1952 to 2022.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Pope_John_XXIII/M1vHj3p6">Pope John XXIII</a> reigned from 1958 to 1963.</li> <li>Emperor <a href="/facts/Akihito/EUkB2Lt4">Akihito</a> of Japan reigned from 1989 to 2019.</li></ul> <h2 id="end-of-reign">End of reign</h2> <p>A reign can be ended in several ways: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Abdication/ptcIGUdn">Abdication</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Abolition_of_monarchy/f9FTTa7g">Abolition of monarchy</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Death/VJmq29qm">Death</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/List_of_deposed_politicians/Cx4Nz5Q6">Deposition</a></li></ul> <h3>Abdication</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/List_of_monarchs_who_abdicated/kgV6vo0v">List of monarchs who abdicated</a></p> <ul><li>Emperor <a href="/facts/Ferdinand_I_of_Austria/KhEoWEwA">Ferdinand I of Austria</a>, King of <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Hungary/91tLqn81">Hungary</a> and <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Bohemia/xLRecLL1">Bohemia</a>, King of <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Lombardy%25E2%2580%2593Venetia/524Cv0yv">Lombardy-Venetia</a> (r. 1835–1848) was abdicated due to his disabilities (<a href="/facts/Feeble-minded/CJVMplk4">feeble-mindedness</a> and <a href="/facts/Epilepsy/wawyp56a">epilepsy</a>). His successor, Emperor <a href="/facts/Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria/EI1tYJGl">Franz Josef</a> (r. 1848–1916) reigned for 68 years.</li> <li>King <a href="/facts/Edward_VIII/SFwwJvnW">Edward VIII</a> of the United Kingdom reigned from January to December 1936 before he abdicated the throne. After his abdication he became known as the <a href="/facts/Duke_of_Windsor/aw8Gyr8Q">Duke of Windsor</a>. No other monarch of the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain/5yBEtQIt">Kingdom of Great Britain</a> (1707–1800), the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland/yw0GUkge">United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland</a>, the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland</a>, or any <a href="/facts/Dominion/uJGVYft4">Dominion</a> or <a href="/facts/Commonwealth_realm/JeuLfn9q">Commonwealth realm</a> has ever abdicated, though forced abdications did occur on rare occasions in the <a href="/facts/England/U9mE5bGL">Kingdom of England</a> and the <a href="/facts/Scotland/VGwbbxB2">Kingdom of Scotland</a> prior to their merger in 1707.</li> <li>Queen <a href="/facts/Wilhelmina_of_the_Netherlands/vlCtErY7">Wilhelmina of the Netherlands</a> reigned from 1890 to 1948, before abdicating in favor of her daughter, Queen <a href="/facts/Juliana_of_the_Netherlands/94ADCLXB">Juliana</a> who then reigned until 1980 when she abdicated in favor of her daughter, Queen <a href="/facts/Beatrix_of_the_Netherlands/crCVwfPD">Beatrix of the Netherlands</a>. Beatrix followed suit and abdicated in 2013 in favor of her son and heir apparent, King <a href="/facts/Willem-Alexander_of_the_Netherlands/5KUSYstl">Willem-Alexander</a>.</li></ul> <h3>Abolition of monarchy</h3> <ul><li>King <a href="/facts/Louis_XVI_of_France/NbCK1Mk3">Louis XVI of France</a> reigned from the 1770s until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1792 and his execution the following year.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Puyi/FIxMNgoI">Xuantong Emperor</a> of <a href="/facts/Qing_dynasty/5j6r4p5m">China</a> abdicated in 1912 following the <a href="/facts/1911_Revolution/lCnPzBWo">Xinhai Revolution</a>, marking the end of the <a href="/facts/Monarchy_of_China/N9D39EUj">Chinese monarchy</a>.</li> <li>King <a href="/facts/Humbert_II_of_Italy/1V02H2o4">Humbert II of Italy</a> reigned for only a few weeks in 1946 before the abolition of the <a href="/facts/Italy/tUf0PDYF">Italian</a> Monarchy.</li> <li>King <a href="/facts/Constantine_II_of_Greece/FuGXgXPv">Constantine II of Greece</a> reigned from 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy in 1973.</li> <li>Tsar <a href="/facts/Nicholas_II_of_Russia/l4PRkopq">Nicholas II of Russia</a> reigned from 1894 until 1917 when he was forced to abdicate and the <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russian Empire</a> was overthrown during the <a href="/facts/Russian_Revolution_(1917)/kk1z6pnH">Russian Revolution</a>.</li> <li>Emperor <a href="/facts/Haile_Selassie_I/zU5z6XG6">Haile Selassie I</a> of <a href="/facts/Ethiopian_Empire/tDLkYzkb">Ethiopia</a> reigned for over 40 years (1930-1974) until the <a href="/facts/Derg/6HQmfPw6">Derg</a> forced him to abdicate and abolished the 3,000 year old monarchy, making him the 225th and final Emperor of Ethiopia.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Shah/5fHmcDtU">Shah</a> <a href="/facts/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi/r2bcadLc">Mohammad Reza Pahlavi</a> of <a href="/facts/Iran/24yukge8">Iran</a> reigned for more than 37 years (1941–1979) until the <a href="/facts/Iranian_Revolution/frTYhJ0F">Iranian Revolution</a>, which superseded the 2,500 years of monarchy with an <a href="/facts/Islamic_Republic_of_Iran/24yukge8">Islamic republic</a> system of government. The Shah died the following year and is buried in <a href="/facts/Cairo/dXjj60ar">Cairo</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Interregnum/Hzvwhu8Q">Interregnum</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Rex_(title)/2X40qWzj">Rex (title)</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"reign - definition of reign in English | Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved 2017-04-09. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160925222719/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/reign" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20160925222719/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/reign</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Robbins, John Fonseca (2015-08-31). Fonseca Robbins´Lexicon. Joinville: Clube de Autores. p. 238. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ym12CgAAQBAJ&q=%22r.%22+abbreviation+monarch+%22reigned%22&pg=PA238" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=ym12CgAAQBAJ&q=%22r.%22+abbreviation+monarch+%22reigned%22&pg=PA238</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>