Lecture 3: George II & The Seven Years' War PDF

Lecture 3 Dr. Asmaa Ismail George II: George II (George Augustus), Duke of Hanover, became King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1727 to 1760. He was born and brought up in northern Germany. He succeeded his father, King George I of Great Britain, afte...

Lecture 3 Dr. Asmaa Ismail George II: George II (George Augustus), Duke of Hanover, became King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1727 to 1760. He was born and brought up in northern Germany. He succeeded his father, King George I of Great Britain, after his death. In the first years of his father's reign as king, George was associated with opposition politicians, until they rejoined the governing party in 1720. He was always in opposition with his father, and dissidents of the government exploited this clash and tried to win the heir’s support. George II exercised little control over British domestic policy, which was largely controlled by the Parliament of Great Britain. As elector and Duke of Hanover, he spent 1 Lecture 3 Dr. Asmaa Ismail twelve summers in Hanover, where he had more direct control over government policy. He also had a difficult relationship with his eldest son, Frederick, who supported the parliamentary opposition. In 1745 supporters of the Catholic claimant to the British throne, James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, led by James's son Charles Stuart, the Young Pretender, attempted and failed to depose George in the last of the Jacobite rebellions. After the Jacobite 1745 rising, George II learned the limits of his constitutional power when he appointed Lord Carteret to the government. As a result, Henry Pelham and the Duke of Newcastle resigned, taking with them a large body of ministers. The King was forced to concede, and Pelham returned to power. Pelham then constructed a ‘broad bottom’ administration, including as many of the Whig factions as possible in order to command a majority in Parliament. In the last years of his reign, George II relied on William Pitt, the elder, in running the internal affairs. Pitt is best known as the wartime political leader of Britain and prime minister in the Seven Years’ War, especially for his single-minded devotion to victory over France, a victory which ultimately solidified Britain's dominance over world affairs. He is also known for his popular appeal and his opposition to corruption in government. 2 Lecture 3 Dr. Asmaa Ismail Frederick, the eldest son and heir of George II, died unexpectedly in 1751, nine years before his father, so George II was ultimately succeeded by his grandson, George III. For two centuries after George II's death, history tended to view him with disdain, concentrating on his mistresses, short temper, and incivility. The Seven Years War: (1756–1763) After William III, the opposition of France and Britain shifted from religion to economy and trade: the two nations vied for colonial domination in the Americas and Asia. Conflicts between Britain and France included the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), the Seven Years’ War (1756–63), and the War of the American Revolution (1775–83). The first was basically a draw, the second a great British victory, the third a British defeat. The wars of the 18th century were world wars, with battles in Europe, the Americas, and India as well as across the world’s oceans. British victories led to the exclusion of its European rivals from India and most of North America. The Seven Years' War was one of the greatest and most decisive conflicts. The Seven Years' War sit the alliance of Britain, Prussia and Hanover against the alliance of France, Austria, Sweden, Saxony, Russia, and eventually Spain. The war was driven by the commercial 3 Lecture 3 Dr. Asmaa Ismail and imperial rivalry between Britain and France, and by the antagonism between Prussia (allied to Britain) and Austria (allied to France). In Europe, Britain sent troops to help its ally, Prussia, which was surrounded by its enemies. However, the main British war aim was to destroy France as a commercial rival, and they therefore focused on attacking the French navy and colonies overseas. Concerning the dispute between Britain and France, the Seven Years' War was a global conflict arising largely from issues left unresolved by the previous wars. These included colonial rivalries between Britain and France. In North America, imperial rivals Britain and France struggled for supremacy. Early in the war, the French were aided by Canadian militia and Aboriginal allies or native Americans. They defeated several British attacks and captured a number of British forts. In 1758, the tide turned when the British captured Québec City in 1759 and Montréal in 1760. With the Treaty of Paris of 1763, France formally ceded Canada to the British. Moreover, the War was motivated by the territorial disputes between Prussia and Austria, which wanted to regain Silesia after it was captured by the former in the previous war. In a realignment of traditional alliances, 4 Lecture 3 Dr. Asmaa Ismail known as the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, Prussia became part of a coalition led by Britain, which also included long-time Prussian competitor Hanover. At the same time, Austria ended centuries of conflict by allying with France, which was deeply concerned with the growing power of Britain and wished to curtail it. France and Austria were joined by Saxony, Sweden, and Russia. Spain aligned formally with the group in 1762, attacking Portugal that year. Although Anglo-French skirmishes over their colonies had begun in 1754 with what became known in North America as the French and Indian War, the large-scale conflict that drew in most of the European powers was centered on Austria's desire to recover Silesia from Prussia. The Anglo-Prussian coalition prevailed, and Britain's rise as the world's predominant colonial power shattered France's supremacy in Europe. Prussia confirmed its status as a great power challenging Austria for dominance within Germany, thus altering the European balance of power. 5 Lecture 3 Dr. Asmaa Ismail George III: George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 until his death in 1820. George was born during the reign of his paternal grandfather, King George II, as the first son of Frederick, Prince of Wales. He became heir to the throne on the death of his father in 1751, succeeding his grandfather, George II, in 1760. He 6 Lecture 3 Dr. Asmaa Ismail was the third Hanoverian monarch and the first one to be born in England and to use English as his first language. George III's life and reign were marked by a series of military conflicts. Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, Britain lost 13 of its North American colonies in the American War of Independence. Further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In the later part of his life, George had recurrent and eventually permanent mental illness. The exact nature of the mental illness is not known definitively, but historians and medical experts have suggested that his symptoms and behaviour traits were consistent with either bipolar disorder or porphyria. In 1810, George suffered a final relapse, and his eldest son, the Prince of Wales, was named Prince Regent the following year. The King died aged 81, at which time the Regent succeeded him as George IV. George III reigned during much of the Georgian and Regency eras. At the time of his death, he was the longest-lived and longest-reigning British 7 Lecture 3 Dr. Asmaa Ismail monarch, having reigned for 59 years and 96 days; he remains the longest-lived and longest-reigning male monarch in British history. 8