On 6th February the British frigate Madagascar landed at the port of Nauplion, still the capital of the newly-established kingdom, the seventeen-year-old Otto, members of the regency and the royal suite. The crowd gathered to welcome Otto saw in the face of the young king the prospect of eventual peace after internal controversies and conflicts and a war that had been going on for almost ten years. Moreover, until Otto came of age in 1835 it would be the members of the regency who would be charged with the government of the country, as defined by international agreements. During the first decade the domestic policy was characterized by the attempts of the regency initially and then of Otto to reduce the power of the traditional local social elites in Greek society which were at that time expressed through three political formations known as the pro-French, pro-Russian and pro-British parties. This policy, which was attempted each time by promoting one faction and pushing the others aside, revealed the intentions of the crown towards the powers which subsidized the political formations. The reaction of the traditional social elites to this treatment was initially expressed by local insurrections and concentrated in the demand for a constitution. This was realized with the movement of 3rd September 1843.

The court governments constituted a stable aspect in the period of Otto, with the exclusion of the three-year domination of Ioannis Kolettis (1843-1847) and the so-called Occupation Ministry (1854-1857). The oppressive intervention of the palace in political life was a point of contention between Otto and virtually the entire political world of the country. The crisis wwould culminate at the start of the 1860s and would lead to the dethronement of Otto (1862). The new king was Georgios I, whose reign is associated with the new constitution. In fact, in the middle of the following decade, under pressure from a new generation of politicians who appeared during the opposition against Otto and the political changeover (A. Koumoundouros, Ch. Trikoupis), king Georgios I accepted the introduction of the principle of the 'expressed majority', that is, the formation of governments which had the expressed parliamentary majority. In the last quarter of the century the central objectives of domestic policy were the reformation of the state apparatus, the modernization of institutions and the reorganization of the economy. This is the period during which domestic policy as well as Greek society became divided between those in favour of Trikoupis and the supporters of Diligiannis.