The following monarchs either lost their thrones through deposition by a coup d'état, by a referendum which abolished their throne, or chose to abdicate during the 20th century.

See also: Abolished monarchies

  • Afghanistan
    • Emir Habibullah Khan - assassinated in 1919.
    • King Amanullah Shah - overthrown in 1929 (d.1960).
    • Emir Habibullah Ghazi - overthrown in 1929 (executed later that year).
    • King Mohammed Nadir Shah - assassinated in 1933.
    • King Mohammed Zahir Shah - deposed in coup in 1973.


King Zog of Albania
overthrown by Mussolini in 1939
  • Albania
  • Anhalt
    • Duke Joachim Ernst abdicated at the end of World War I in 1918 (d.1947)

  • Austria
    • Emperor Karl - Austro-Hungarian Empire abolished in 1918. (d.1922)

  • Baden
    • Grand Duke Friedrich II abdicated in 1918. (d.1928)

  • Baltic State (Estonia and Livonia)
    • No ruler actually chosen, although offers were made to German Emperor Wilhelm II before it ceased to exist in 1918.

  • Bavaria
  • Brunswick-Lüneburg
    • Duke Ernst August, abdicated in 1918 (d.1953)

  • Bukhara
    • Emir Muhammad Alim Khan - deposed 1920, lands taken over by Bolsheviks (d.1934)

  • Bulgaria
    • King Simeon II - deposed in plebiscite in 1946; currently Prime Minister of Bulgaria.

  • Caliphate
  • Cambodia
    • Queen Sisowath Monivong Kossamak - deposed in 1970 with the coup that ended the regime of Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The monarchy was restored in 1993 with Sihanouk (who had previously reigned as King from 1941 to 1955) as King.

  • China
    • Emperor Puyi was forced to abdicate in 1912 following a Republican revolution. (d.1967)

  • Courland
    • Duke-elect Wilhelm II is deposed following the end of World War I in 1918 (d.1941)

  • Croatia
    • The Axis puppet King Tomislav II (Prince Aimone of Savoy, Duke of Spoleto), who had never actually reigned, abdicated in 1943, when Italy made peace with the allies.

  • Egypt
    • King Farouk abdicated in 1952 in favor of his infant son Fuad II, who was deposed the next year when Egypt became a republic. (Farouk died 1965, Fuad is still living)

  • Ethiopia
    • Emperor Haile Selassie deposed, later murdered following communist revolution in 1975.


Kaiser William II of Germany
King of Prussia

deposed after World War I

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran
overthrown by revolution in 1979

King Manuel II of Portugal
overthrown by revolution in 1910

  • Pakistan
  • Poland
    • The portion of Poland formerly ruled by Russia was occupied by Germany and Austria in 1915 and proclaimed an independent kingdom in 1916. Archduke Karl Stefan of Austria was named King-elect, but the nation was declared a republic without ever actually having had a King.

  • Portugal
    • King Carlos I - assassinated in 1908
    • King Manuel II - fled following a revolution in 1910. (d.1932)

  • Prussia
    • King Wilhelm II - overthrown from Prussian and German thrones after World War I. (d.1941)

  • Reuss Elder Line
    • Prince Henry XXIV - deposed 1918 (d.1927)

  • Reuss Younger Line
    • Prince Henry XXVII - deposed 1918 (d.1928)

  • Romania
    • King Michael - deposed by communist-dominated government in 1947.

  • Russia
    • Emperor Nicholas II - abdicated after the February Revolution of 1917, as did his named successor, his brother, Michael II (known for a very short time as Michael II); both Nicholas II and Michael separately were later murdered, as was all of Nicholas II's family. The monarchy was abolished and replaced by a Russian republic under Lenin, which in 1922 became the Soviet Union


Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
overthrown by revolution in 1917
executed with his family in 1918

Surviving monarchs from abolished monarchies:


Emperor Bao Dai of Vietnam
deposed twice
  • King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan (b. 1914)
  • King Constantine II of Greece (b. 1940)
  • King Fuad II of Egypt (b.1952)
  • Queen Elizabeth II of Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Malta (b. 1926)
  • King Simeon II of Bulgaria (b. 1937) - currently serving as Prime Minister
  • King Michael of Romania (b.1921)