King Constantine emerged as a leading figure of this period, exerting a considerable influence upon the people who believed in him.

He has been identified with the anti-Venizelist bloc and became the charismatic leader of those social groups opposed to Venizelism and those who hated Eleftherios Venizelos the man. The prestige Constantine gained during the Balkan Wars turned him into a victorious army commander. No other member of the monarchy before or after him had enjoyed such prestige and devotion. Constantinism resulted from dedication to the institution of monarchy and to the person of the King and successful army commander. His German education, his admiration for the militarist German spirit and his ties, through his consort Sophia, with Germany led him to passionately support the Germanophile neutrality of Greece during the First World War, a fact that brought him into opposition with Venizelos and the policy the latter was condoning. Their conflict tragically divided the Greek people.