George III
George III was the king of Great Britain and Ireland, then the first king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as the elector of Hanover.
Contents
History
George was the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales. His father died in 1751, leaving him that title and making him the heir-apparent of George II (same name).
George succeeded the throne in 1760. He inherited a Whig government led by Pitt the Elder and largely left it as-is. He did however shortly force the appointment of his close advisor, Stuart, to government. Stuart was notably a Tory, representing a meaningful shift in the crown's patronage. Furthermore, Stuart and Pelham-Holles together overruled Pitt's intention to declare war against Spain, and he resigned in protest. George generally favored Tories over Whigs; he publicly feuded with Fox while heaping rewards upon Pitt the Younger. His eldest son and heir, George IV (same name), was contrarily Fox's patron.
George also inherited the Seven Years War. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1763, his reign is characterized by a more pragmatic foreign policy. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 banned further westward settlement in the American colonies, leaving the remainder of British land claims as an Indian Reserve. He was hawkish toward the French Republic. But between the Wars of the Second and Third Coalitions, in the Treaty of Amiens, George ceded the claim to the French crown that had persisted since Edward III. Opposition to the French Revolution established him as a very popular monarch. Even so, all of these wars proved challenging to finance, and his governments' attempts to balance the budget created great political instability. For example, the Stamp Act of 1765, which ultimately had to be repealed the following year.
George suffered from poor health characterized by episodes of mania throughout his life. A particularly bad episode in 1788 led to a constitutional crisis, as it was unclear at the time if he would ever recover. Fox and the Whigs pushed for the Prince of Wales to be declared regent. Pitt countered by asserting that only the Parliament could legally declare a regency. Then with a parliamentary statute introduced, he inserted various limits like a ban on creating peers. Ultimately the king recovered before the bill could proceed.
The modern UK and British Empire emerged during George's reign, particularly with Pitt the Younger heading government. They reformed the separate kingdoms into the United Kingdom; extended military control over India; and established colonies in Australia. Note that the American colonies revolted during the North government. They shifted England's alignment in international affairs away from William V and towards Prussia.
George's health failed again in 1810 and he did not recover. Now the Prince of Wales did begin to serve as regent. He spent his final years in seclusion, dying in 1820.