Anne
Anne was the queen of Great Britain and Ireland.
Contents
History
Despite being William's heir apparent since 1694, she had been effectively exiled from court.
William did eventually die in 1702, leaving her to inherit the English, Scottish, and Irish crowns.
Reign
Anne appointed a mixed government of both Tories and Whigs.
In 1707, through the Acts of Union passed in both Parliaments, the English and Scottish crowns were permanently united into the kingdom of Great Britain.
War of Spanish Succession
Must of Anne's reign was devoted to the War of Spanish Succession which she inherited, and which quickly became a financial burden on her government.
Churchill, whom the ailing William had appointed as his representative for the Treaty of The Hague, was retained as captain-general of the armies. His skill and successes made him extremely powerful in both the Grand Alliance armies and domestically. However, his persistent remoteness ensured a gradual downfall.
Anne's government drifted to favor a Whig Junto (i.e., Somers, Montagu, Wharton, and Russell). The oppositional Country Whigs merged with the Tories and, in 1710, in the context of the Sacheverell riots, won a majority in the Parliament.
Anne appointed a Tory government led by Harley and St John, who then enacted a strategy to force a peace treaty. Churchill was relieved of his command, and English forces were directed to cease combat. Bilateral diplomacy with Louis XIV was opened. The Treaty of Utrecht was pushed through the Parliament over Whig opposition by the rapid creation of new Tory peerages.
Legacy
Per the Act of Settlement of 1701, Catholics could not succeed to the English throne. When Anne died in 1714, the crown passed over the Jacobite claim to George I.