As king from 1727, George exercised little control over British domestic policy, which was largely controlled by theParliament of Great Britain. As elector he spent twelve summers in Hanover, where he had more direct control over government policy. He had a difficult relationship with his eldest son,Frederick, who supported the parliamentary opposition. During theWar of the Austrian Succession, George participated at theBattle of Dettingen, and thus became the most recent British monarch to lead an army in battle. Supporters of theCatholic claimant to the British throne,James Francis Edward Stuart, led byJames's son, attempted and failed to depose George in thelast of the Jacobite rebellions in 1745. Prince Frederick died suddenly in 1751, before his father, and George was succeeded by Frederick's eldest son,George III.
For two centuries after George II's death, historians tended to view him with disdain, concentrating on his mistresses, short temper, and boorishness. Since then, reassessment of his legacy has led scholars to conclude that he exercised more influence in foreign policy and military appointments than previously thought.
George was born in the city ofHanover in Germany, followed by his sister,Sophia Dorothea, three years later. Their parents, George Louis, Hereditary Prince ofBrunswick-Lüneburg (later KingGeorge I of Great Britain), andSophia Dorothea of Celle, both committed adultery. In 1694 the marriage was dissolved on the pretext that Sophia Dorothea had abandoned her husband.[5] She was confined toAhlden House and denied access to her two children, who probably never saw their mother again.[6]
George spoke only French, the language of diplomacy and the court, until the age of four, after which he was taught German by one of his tutors, Johann Hilmar Holstein.[7] In addition to French and German, he also learned English and Italian, and studied genealogy, military history, and battle tactics with particular diligence.[8]
George's father did not want his son to enter into a loveless arranged marriage as he had and wanted him to have the opportunity of meeting his bride before any formal arrangements were made.[11] Negotiations from 1702 for the hand of PrincessHedvig Sophia of Sweden, Dowager Duchess and regent ofHolstein-Gottorp, came to nothing.[12] In June 1705, under the false name "Monsieur de Busch", George visited theAnsbach court at its summer residence in Triesdorf to investigateincognito a marriage prospect:Princess Caroline of Ansbach, the former ward of his auntQueen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia. The English envoy to Hanover, Edmund Poley, reported that George was so taken by "the good character he had of her that he would not think of anybody else".[13] A marriage contract was concluded by the end of July.[14] On 22 August / 2 September 1705[a] Caroline arrived in Hanover for her wedding, which was held the same evening in the chapel atHerrenhausen Palace.[11]
George was keen to participate in thewar against France inFlanders, but his father refused to let him jointhe army in an active role until he had a son and heir.[15] In early 1707 George's hopes were fulfilled when Caroline gave birth to a son,Frederick.[16] In July Caroline fell seriously ill withsmallpox, and George caught the infection after staying by her side devotedly during her illness.[17] They both recovered. In 1708 George participated in theBattle of Oudenarde in the vanguard of the Hanoverian cavalry; his horse and a colonel immediately beside him were killed, but George survived unharmed.[18] The British commander,Marlborough, wrote that George "distinguished himself extremely, charging at the head of and animating by his example [the Hanoverian] troops, who played a good part in this happy victory".[19] Between 1709 and 1713 George and Caroline had three daughters:Anne,Amelia, andCaroline.[20]
By 1714 Queen Anne's health had declined, andBritish Whigs, who supported the Hanoverian succession, thought it prudent for one of the Hanoverians to live in England to safeguard the Protestant succession on Anne's death. As George was apeer of the realm (as Duke of Cambridge), it was suggested that he be summoned to Parliament to sit in theHouse of Lords. Both Anne and George's father refused to support the plan, although George, Caroline, and Sophia were all in favour.[21] George did not go. Within the year both Sophia and Anne were dead, and George's father was king.[22]
George and his father sailed for England fromThe Hague on 16/27 September 1714 and arrived atGreenwich two days later.[23] The following day, they formally entered London in a ceremonial procession.[24] George was given the title ofPrince of Wales. Caroline followed her husband to Britain in October with their daughters, while Frederick remained in Hanover to be brought up by private tutors.[25] London was like nothing George had seen before; it was 50 times larger than Hanover,[b] and the crowd was estimated at up to one and a half million spectators.[27] George courted popularity with voluble expressions of praise for the English, and claimed that he had no drop of blood that was not English.[28]
In July 1716, the King returned to Hanover for six months, and George was given limited powers, as "Guardian and Lieutenant of the Realm", to govern in his father's absence.[29] He made aroyal progress throughChichester,Havant,Portsmouth, andGuildford in southern England.[30] Spectators were allowed to see him dine in public atHampton Court Palace.[31] An attempt on his life at theTheatre Royal, Drury Lane, in which one person was shot dead before the assailant was brought under control, boosted his high public profile.[32]
The King distrusted or was jealous of George's popularity, which contributed to the development of a poor relationship between them.[33] The birth in 1717 of George's second son,George William, proved to be a catalyst for a family quarrel; the King, supposedly following custom, appointedLord ChamberlainThomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, as one of thebaptismal sponsors of the child. The King was angered when George, who disliked Newcastle, verbally insulted the Duke at the christening, which the Duke misunderstood as a challenge to a duel.[c] George and Caroline were temporarily confined to their apartments on the order of the King, who subsequently banished his son fromSt James's Palace, the King's residence.[35] The Prince and Princess of Wales left court, but their children remained in the care of the King.[36]
George and Caroline missed their children, and were desperate to see them. On one occasion, they secretly visited the palace without the approval of the King; Caroline fainted and George "cried like a child".[37] The King partially relented and permitted them to visit once a week, though he later allowed Caroline unconditional access.[38] In February 1718, Prince George William died aged only three months, with his father by his side.[39]
Banned from the palace and shunned by his own father, the Prince of Wales was identified for the next several years with opposition to George I's policies,[40] which included measures designed to increase religious freedom in Great Britain and expand Hanover's German territories at the expense ofSweden.[41] His new London residence,Leicester House, became a frequent meeting place for his father's political opponents, including SirRobert Walpole andLord Townshend, who had left the government in 1717.[42]
The King visited Hanover again from May to November 1719. Instead of appointing George to the guardianship, he established a regency council.[43] In 1720, Walpole encouraged the King and his son to reconcile, for the sake of public unity, which they did half-heartedly.[44] Walpole and Townshend returned to political office, and rejoined the ministry.[45] George was soon disillusioned with the terms of the reconciliation; his three daughters who were in the care of the King were not returned and he was still barred from becoming regent during the King's absences.[46] He came to believe that Walpole had tricked him into the rapprochement as part of a scheme to regain power. Over the next few years, he and Caroline lived quietly, avoiding overt political activity. They had three more children:William,Mary, andLouisa, who were brought up at Leicester House andRichmond Lodge, George's summer residence.[47]
In 1721, the economic disaster of theSouth Sea Bubble allowed Walpole to rise to the pinnacle of government.[48] Walpole and his Whig Party were dominant in politics, as the King feared that theTories would not support the succession laid down in theAct of Settlement.[49] The power of the Whigs was so great that the Tories would not hold power for another half-century.[50]
George I died on 11/22 June 1727 during one of his visits to Hanover, and his son succeeded him as king and elector at the age of 43. George II decided not to travel to Germany for his father's funeral, which far from bringing criticism led to praise from the English who considered it proof of his fondness for England.[51] He suppressed his father's will because it attempted to split the Hanoverian succession between George II's future grandsons rather than vest all the domains (both British and Hanoverian) in a single person. Both British and Hanoverian ministers considered the will unlawful, as George I did not have the legal power to determine the succession personally.[52] Critics supposed that George II hid the will to avoid paying out his father's legacies.[53]
It was widely believed that George would dismiss Walpole, who had distressed him by joining his father's government, and replace him withSir Spencer Compton.[55] George asked Compton, rather than Walpole, to write his first speech as king, but Compton asked Walpole to draft it. Caroline advised George to retain Walpole, who continued to gain royal favour by securing a generouscivil list (a fixed annual amount set by Parliament for the king's official expenditure) of £800,000,[56] equivalent to £141,200,000 today.[57] Walpole commanded a substantial majority in Parliament and George had little choice but to retain him or risk ministerial instability.[58] Compton was ennobled as Lord Wilmington the following year.[59]
Walpole directed domestic policy, and after the resignation of Lord Townshend in 1730 also controlled George's foreign policy.[60] Historians generally believe that George played an honorific role in Britain, and closely followed the advice of Walpole and senior ministers, who made the major decisions.[61] Although the King was eager for war in Europe, his ministers were more cautious.[62] A truce was agreed in theAnglo-Spanish War, and George unsuccessfully pressed Walpole to join theWar of the Polish Succession on the side of the German states.[63] In April 1733 Walpole withdrew the unpopularExcise Bill that had attracted strong opposition, including from within his own party. George lent Walpole support by dismissing the bill's opponents from theircourt offices.[64]
George II's relationship with his sonFrederick, Prince of Wales, worsened during the 1730s. Frederick had been left behind in Germany when his parents came to England, and they had not met for 14 years. In 1728, he was brought to England, and swiftly became a figurehead of the political opposition.[65] When George visited Hanover in the summers of 1729, 1732 and 1735, he left his wife to chair the regency council in Britain rather than his son.[66] Meanwhile, rivalry between George II and his brother-in-law and first cousinFrederick William I of Prussia led to tension along thePrussian–Hanoverian border, which eventually culminated in the mobilization of troops in the border zone and suggestions of a duel between the two kings. Negotiations for a marriage between the Prince of Wales and Frederick William's daughterWilhelmine dragged on for years but neither side would make the concessions demanded by the other, and the idea was shelved.[67] Instead, the Prince marriedPrincess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha in April 1736.[68]
In May 1736, George returned to Hanover, which resulted in unpopularity in England; a satirical notice was even pinned to the gates ofSt James's Palace decrying his absence. "Lost or strayed out of this house", it read, "a man who has left a wife and six childrenon the parish."[69] The King made plans to return in the face of inclement December weather; when his ship was caught in a storm, gossip swept London that he had drowned. Eventually, in January 1737, he arrived back in England.[70] Immediately, he fell ill with a fever andpiles, and withdrew to his bed. The Prince of Wales put it about that the King was dying, with the result that George insisted on getting up and attending a social event to disprove the gossip-mongers.[71]
When the Prince of Wales applied to Parliament for an increase in his allowance, an open quarrel broke out. The King, who had a reputation for stinginess,[72] offered a private settlement, which Frederick rejected. Parliament voted against the measure, but George reluctantly increased his son's allowance on Walpole's advice.[73] Further friction between them followed when Frederick excluded the King and Queen from the birth of his daughter in July 1737 by bundling his wife, who was in labour, into a coach and driving off in the middle of the night.[74] George banished him and his family from the royal court, much as his own father had done to him, except that he allowed Frederick to retain custody of his children.[75]
Soon afterwards, George's wife Caroline died on 20 November 1737 (O.S.). He was deeply affected by her death, and to the surprise of many displayed "a tenderness of which the world thought him before utterly incapable".[76] On her deathbed she told her sobbing husband to remarry, to which he replied, "Non, j'aurai des maîtresses!" (French for "No, I shall have mistresses!").[77] It was common knowledge that George had already had mistresses during his marriage, and he had kept Caroline informed about them.[78]Henrietta Howard, later Countess of Suffolk, had moved to Hanover with her husband during the reign of Queen Anne,[79] and had been one of Caroline'swomen of the bedchamber. She was his mistress from before the accession of George I until November 1734. She was followed byAmalie von Wallmoden, later Countess of Yarmouth, whose son,Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden, may have been fathered by George. Johann Ludwig was born while Amalie was still married to her husband, and George did not acknowledge him publicly as his own son.[80]
Against Walpole's wishes, but to George's delight, Britain reopened hostilities withSpain in 1739.[81] Britain's conflict with Spain, theWar of Jenkins' Ear, became part of theWar of the Austrian Succession when a major European dispute broke out upon the death ofHoly Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1740. At issue was the right of Charles's daughter,Maria Theresa, to succeed to hisAustrian dominions.[82] George spent the summers of 1740 and 1741 in Hanover, where he was more able to intervene directly in European diplomatic affairs in his capacity as elector.[83]
Prince Frederick campaigned actively for the opposition in the1741 British general election, and Walpole was unable to secure a stable majority. Walpole attempted to buy off the Prince with the promise of an increased allowance and offered to pay off his debts, but Frederick refused.[84] With his support eroded, Walpole retired in 1742 after over 20 years in office. He was replaced bySpencer Compton, Lord Wilmington, whom George had originally considered for the premiership in 1727. Wilmington, however, was a figurehead;[85] actual power was held by others, such asLord Carteret, George's favourite minister after Walpole.[2] When Wilmington died in 1743,Henry Pelham took his place at the head of the government.[86]
The pro-war faction was led by Carteret, who claimed that French power would increase if Maria Theresa failed to succeed to the Austrian throne. George agreed to send 12,000 hired Hessian and Danish mercenaries to Europe, ostensibly to support Maria Theresa. Without conferring with his British ministers, George stationed them in Hanover to prevent enemy French troops from marching into the electorate.[88] TheBritish Army had not fought in a major European war in over 20 years, and the government had badly neglected its upkeep.[89] George had pushed for greater professionalism in the ranks, and promotion by merit rather than bysale of commissions, but without much success.[90] An allied force of Austrian, British,Dutch, Hanoverian and Hessian troops engaged the French at theBattle of Dettingen on 16/27 June 1743. George personally accompanied them, leading them to victory, thus becoming the last British monarch to lead troops into battle.[91] Though his actions in the battle were admired, the war became unpopular with the British public, who felt that the King and Carteret were subordinating British interests to Hanoverian ones.[92] Carteret lost support, and to George's dismay resigned in 1744.[93]
Tension grew between thePelham ministry and George, as he continued to take advice from Carteret and rejected pressure from his other ministers to includeWilliam Pitt the Elder in theCabinet, which would have broadened the government's support base.[94] The King disliked Pitt because he had previously opposed government policy and attacked measures seen as pro-Hanoverian.[95] In February 1746, Pelham and his followers resigned. George askedLord Bath and Carteret toform an administration, but after less than 48 hours they returned the seals of office, unable to secure sufficient parliamentary support. Pelham returned to office triumphant, and George was forced to appoint Pitt to the ministry.[96]
George's French opponents encouragedrebellion by the Jacobites, the supporters of the Roman Catholic claimant to the British throne,James Francis Edward Stuart, often known as the Old Pretender. Stuart was the son ofJames II, who had been deposed in 1688 and replaced by his Protestant relations. Two prior rebellions in1715 and1719 had failed. In July 1745, the Old Pretender's son,Charles Edward Stuart, popularly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender, landed in Scotland, where support for his cause was highest. George, who was summering in Hanover, returned to London at the end of August.[97] The Jacobites defeated British forces in September at theBattle of Prestonpans, and then moved south into England. The Jacobites failed to gain further support, and the French reneged on a promise of help. Losing morale, the Jacobites retreated back into Scotland.[98] On 16/27 April 1746, Charles faced George's military-minded sonPrince William, Duke of Cumberland, in theBattle of Culloden, the last pitched battle fought on British soil. The ravaged Jacobite troops were routed by the government army. Charles escaped to France, but many of his supporters were caught and executed. Jacobitism was all but crushed; no further serious attempt was made at restoring theHouse of Stuart.[99] The War of the Austrian Succession continued until 1748, when Maria Theresa was recognized as Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Bohemia. The peace was celebrated by afête inGreen Park, London, for which Handel composedMusic for the Royal Fireworks.[100]
In thegeneral election of 1747,Frederick, Prince of Wales, again campaigned actively for the opposition but Pelham's party won easily.[101] Like his father before him, Frederick entertained opposition figures at his house inLeicester Square.[102] When Frederick died unexpectedly in 1751, his eldest son,Prince George, became heir apparent. The King commiserated with Frederick's widow, Augusta, and wept with her.[103] As her son would not reach the age of majority until 1756, a new BritishRegency Act was passed that would make her regent, assisted by a council led by Frederick's brother William in case of George II's death.[104] The King also made a new will, which provided for William to be sole regent in Hanover.[105] After the death of his daughterLouisa at the end of the year, George lamented, "This has been a fatal year for my family. I lost my eldest son – but I am glad of it ... Now [Louisa] is gone. I know I did not love my children when they were young: I hated to have them running into my room; but now I love them as well as most fathers."[106]
In 1754 Pelham died, to be succeeded by his elder brother, Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle.
Hostility betweenFrance and Britain, particularly over thecolonization of North America, continued.[107] Fearing a French invasion of Hanover, George aligned himself with Prussia (ruled by his nephew,Frederick the Great), Austria's enemy.Russia and France allied with Austria, their former enemy. A Frenchinvasion of the British-held island of Minorca led to the outbreak of theSeven Years' War in 1756. Public disquiet over British failures at the start of the conflict led to Newcastle's resignation and the appointment ofWilliam Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, as prime minister andWilliam Pitt the Elder asSecretary of State for the Southern Department.[108] In April the following year George dismissed Pitt in an attempt to construct an administration more to his liking. Over the succeeding three months attempts to form another stable ministerial combination failed. In JuneLord Waldegrave held the seals of office for only four days. By the start of July, Pitt was recalled and Newcastle returned as prime minister. As Secretary of State, Pitt guided policy relating to the war. Great Britain, Hanover, and Prussia and their alliesHesse-Kassel andBrunswick-Wolfenbüttel fought against other European powers, including France, Austria, Russia,Sweden andSaxony. The war involved multiple theatres from Europe to North America and India, where British dominance increased with the victories ofRobert Clive over French forces and their allies at theBattle of Arcot and theBattle of Plassey.[109]
George said his son Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (pictured), had "ruined me and disgraced himself" at the 1757 Convention of Klosterzeven.
George's son William commanded the King's troops in northern Germany. In 1757Hanover was invaded and George gave his son full powers to conclude a separate peace,[110] but by September George was furious atWilliam's negotiated settlement, which he felt greatly favoured the French.[111] George said his son had "ruined me and disgraced himself".[112] William, by his own choice, resigned his military offices,[113] and George revoked the peace deal on the grounds that the French had infringed it by disarming Hessian troops after the ceasefire.[114]
By October 1760 George II was blind in one eye andhard of hearing.[117] On the morning of 25 October he rose as usual at 6:00 am, drank a cup of hot chocolate, and went to hisclose stool alone. After a few minutes, his valet heard a loud crash and entered the room to find the King on the floor;[118] his physician,Frank Nicholls, recorded that he "appeared to have just come from his necessary-stool, and as if going to open hisescritoire".[119]
The King was lifted into his bed, and Princess Amelia was sent for; before she reached him, he was dead. At the age of nearly 77 he had lived longer than any of his English or British predecessors.[120] Apost-mortem revealed that George had died as the result of athoracic aortic dissection.[119][121] He was succeeded by his grandson George III, and buried on 11 November in Westminster Abbey. He left instructions for the sides of his and his wife's coffins to be removed so that their remains could mingle.[122]
During George II's reign British interests expanded throughout the world, the Jacobite challenge to the Hanoverian dynasty was extinguished, and the power of ministers and Parliament in Britain became well-established. Nevertheless, in the memoirs of contemporaries such asLord Hervey andHorace Walpole, George is depicted as a weak buffoon, governed by his wife and ministers.[129] Biographies of George written during the nineteenth and first part of the twentieth century relied on these biased accounts.[130] Since the last quarter of the twentieth century, scholarly analysis of surviving correspondence has indicated that George was not as ineffective as previously thought.[131] Letters from ministers are annotated by George with pertinent remarks and demonstrate that he had a grasp of and interest in foreign policy in particular.[132] He was often able to prevent the appointment of ministers or commanders he disliked, or sideline them into lesser offices.[133] This academic reassessment, however, has not completely eliminated the popular perception of George II as a "faintly ludicrous king".[134] His parsimony, for example, may have opened him to ridicule, though his biographers observe that parsimony is preferable to extravagance.[135]Lord Charlemont excused George's short temper by explaining that sincerity of feeling is better than deception, "His temper was warm and impetuous, but he was good-natured and sincere. Unskilled in the royal talent of dissimulation, he always was what he appeared to be. He might offend, but he never deceived."[136] Lord Waldegrave wrote, "I am thoroughly convinced that hereafter, when time shall have wore away those specks and blemishes which sully the brightest characters, and from which no man is totally exempt, he will be numbered amongst those patriot kings, under whose government the people have enjoyed the greatest happiness".[137] George may not have played a major role in history, but he was influential at times and he upheld constitutional government.[138]Elizabeth Montagu said of him, "With him our laws and liberties were safe, he possessed in a great degree the confidence of his people and the respect of foreign governments; and a certain steadiness of character made him of great consequence in these unsettled times ... His character would not afford subject for epic poetry, but will look well in the sober page of history."[139]
From 1706: Duke and Marquess of Cambridge, Earl of Milford Haven, Viscount Northallerton and Baron of Tewkesbury[140]
August–September 1714: His Royal Highness George Augustus, Prince of Great Britain, Electoral Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay, etc.[141]
1714–1727:His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
1727–1760:His Majesty The King
George II's full style was "George the Second, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain,France and Ireland,Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg,Archtreasurer and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire".[142]
Caroline's ten[146] or eleven[147] pregnancies resulted in eight live births. One of the couple's children died in infancy, and seven lived to adulthood.
^abcdeOver the course of George's life, two calendars were used: theOld StyleJulian calendar and theNew StyleGregorian calendar. Before 1700, the two calendars were 10 days apart. Hanover switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar on 19 February (O.S.) / 1 March (N.S.) 1700. Great Britain switched on 3/14 September 1752. George was born on 30 October Old Style, which was 9 November New Style, but because the calendar shifted forward a further day in 1700, the date is occasionally miscalculated as 10 November.[1] In this article, individual dates before September 1752 are indicated as either O.S. or N.S. or both. All dates after September 1752 are N.S. only. All years are assumed to start from 1 January and not 25 March, which was the English New Year.
^Hanover had about 1,800 houses, whereas London had 100,000.[26]
^George shook his fist at Newcastle and said "You are a rascal; I shall find you out!", which the Duke apparently misheard as "You are a rascal; I shall fight you!"[34]
Dennison, Matthew (2017),The First Iron Lady, London: Harper Collins Publishers,ISBN978-0-00-812199-0
Haag, Eugène; Haag, Émile; Bordier, Henri Léonard (1877),La France Protestante (in French), Paris: Sandoz et Fischbacher{{citation}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain; Magdelaine, F. et B. (1981)L'Allemagne Dynastique. Volume 3: Brunswick-Nassau-Schwarzbourg. Le Perreux-sur-Marne: Giraud.ISBN978-2-901138-03-7
Bultmann, William A. (1966) "Early Hanoverian England (1714–1760): Some Recent Writings" in Elizabeth Chapin Furber, ed.Changing views on British history: essays on historical writing since 1939. Harvard University Press, pp. 181–205
Dickinson, Harry T.; introduced byA. L. Rowse (1973)Walpole and the Whig Supremacy. London: The English Universities Press.ISBN978-0-340-11515-2
Hervey, John Hervey Baron (1931)Some materials towards memoirs of the reign of King George II. Eyre & Spottiswoode
Marshall, Dorothy (1962)Eighteenth Century England 1714–1784
1 Not a British prince by birth, but createdPrince Consort.2 Not a British prince by birth, but created a Prince of the United Kingdom. Princes whose titles were removed and eligible people who do not use the title are shown in italics.
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