George II

George II (1683–1760), king of Great Britain and Ireland (1727–60) and elector of Hanover. He is best remembered for being the last British monarch to lead troops into battle (1743), which is appropriate, given his lifelong love of all things military. However, George was much more than a soldier, and made sensible use of the still considerable political powers accorded to him by the 18th-cent. constitution.

The king could choose his own ministers, but only those with Commons approval were able to do his business. Walpole had served George I for many years and George II soon formed an equally successful relationship with him. Walpole was masterful at holding the favour of both monarch and Parliament, sharing George's distrust of the Tories. He persuaded the king to keep Britain out of the War of Polish Succession and survived the turmoil of the Excise crisis. Though Walpole fell in 1742, the Whig oligarchy remained and the king gravitated towards Carteret, the German-speaking former diplomat, but his rivals, the Pelham brothers (assisted by William Pitt), forced him to resign in November 1744. The Pelhams reinforced their pre-eminence in February 1746 by threatening to resign unless the king took them into his full confidence. He was furious, but was unable to form a viable alternative government. Gradually George came to appreciate the prudence of Henry Pelham, 1st lord of the Treasury until his death in 1754. Thereafter, a period of great instability set in; Pelham's brother, the duke of Newcastle, hitherto foreign affairs minister, became 1st lord, but the Commons was restless, with Pitt and Henry Fox ridiculing the government (of which they were both members). The king detested Pitt and had long refused to admit him to the higher echelons of government, but there seemed no other option. War and expediency brought Newcastle and Pitt together in 1757, to form one of the greatest ministries in British history. George never came to like Pitt, but they worked effectively together; even in old age the king remained at the heart of government and had, usually, the final word.

George II was the absolute ruler of a medium-sized German state, Hanover, as well as being the British sovereign. George's affection for and (understandable) desire to visit and protect Hanover was a frequent cause for concern among his British subjects and a significant factor in the development of foreign policy. It gave the king a German-centred view of foreign affairs, shared by Newcastle, but which came into conflict with the colonial vision of Pitt. In addition, his unfettered power to rule in Hanover contrasted with the limitations placed upon the monarch in Britain, which George could find frustrating.

George II's reputation for parsimony was not restricted to his private finances. He was an emotional miser too (he had been separated from his mother as a boy), having few, if any, close friends. This tendency extended to government. He admired Pelham's budget cuts (except when they affected the military) and was notoriously reluctant to ‘dilute’ the peerage with new creations, despite their political value. The one emotion he displayed liberally was a prodigiously bad temper. He was blunt, rude, and lacked social graces to a surprising degree. He had good health for most of his life, apart from severe piles, and into old age retained full command of his faculties. George had little interest in cultural or intellectual matters (with the exception of his patronage of Handel). His wife Queen Caroline, however, was renowned for her intellectual curiosity and quick wit. George loved her deeply, but resented any suggestion that she (and her alleged favourite, Walpole) dictated policy to him. His love did not prevent George from taking a number of mistresses before as well as after her death in 1737. Thereafter, Lady Yarmouth (a German) became the chief object of his not inconsiderable sexual appetite.

The king got along with his daughters fairly well, but towards his sons the difference in attitude was dramatic. His beloved younger son was the duke of Cumberland; he was very like his father in his devotion to the military with his finest hours coming during the War of Austrian Succession, including accompanying George at Dettingen (1743). His ruthless pursuit of the Jacobites after Culloden also met with paternal approval. Cumberland's errors of diplomatic judgement and consequent resignation in 1757 cast a shadow over George's otherwise triumphant final years. The king's pride in Cumberland contrasts with the loathing he (and Queen Caroline) had for their heir, Frederick, prince of Wales. That George I (whom George II also hated) had liked Frederick may have been the origin of the king's animosity, but it reached such intensity as to be beyond rational explanation. Frederick was often foolish, but he had received little encouragement to show responsibility; despite George II's own contacts with the opposition as prince of Wales, the king was enraged by Frederick's similar behaviour. Frederick's early death in 1751 provided the opportunity for reconciliation between the king and the princess of Wales and his grandson and heir. However, as the future George III grew older, a breach developed here too, so that when the new king acceded to the throne, he had already formulated theories of government notably different from his grandfather's.

During his reign George II demonstrated that his love of the military was not purely ceremonial. His courage in battle was obvious as early as 1708, when as Prince George Augustus of Hanover he fought as a British ally in the War of Spanish Succession. His courage was required again during the War of Austrian Succession, not just on the battlefield at Dettingen, but in the face of an invasion by Charles Edward Stuart in 1745. George was certain of victory, even when the Jacobites reached Derby; the minute levels of support the invaders received in England vindicated his instincts and the Jacobites were soon utterly vanquished. The Seven Years War brought momentous British successes in the colonies and in Europe. George supervised military operations and appointments carefully, though preferring elderly commanders to the more enterprising younger officers advocated by Pitt.

A flamboyant, charismatic, and forceful king may not have been the ideal way for Britain to preserve her balanced constitution in the mid-18th cent. But though George II had his flaws, he was essentially sensible and moderate, and his reign can be judged a success.

Andrew Iain Lewer

Bibliography

Chevenix-Trench, C. , George II (1973);
Davies, G. , A King in Toils (1938);
Owen, J. B. , ‘George II Reconsidered’, in Whiteman, A., Bromley, J. S., and Dickson, P. G. M. (eds.), Statesmen, Scholars and Merchants (Oxford, 1973).