William Pitt

William Pitt 1759-1806, British statesman; 2d son of William Pitt, 1st earl of Chatham. Trained as a lawyer, he entered Parliament in 1781 and in 1782 at the age of 23 became chancellor of the exchequer under Lord Shelburne. At the fall (1783) of the coalition government of Lord North and Charles James Fox , who was to be Pitt's lifelong rival, Pitt was made prime minister by George III . He overcame strong opposition in Parliament, where the king's interference was sharply resented, and a long-postponed general election (1784) gave him a parliamentary majority. Pitt's policies included reduced expenditures, new taxes to decrease the national debt, and lower customs duties in accordance with the theories of Adam Smith . He also advocated parliamentary reform but failed (1785) to secure Parliament's approval of it. His India Act (1784) strengthened the government's powers there but left patronage in the hands of the East India Company. His Constitutional Act (1791) divided Canada into Upper and Lower Canada and sanctioned the institutions of the French Canadians in the latter province. Pitt's popularity increased steadily; when the king became temporarily insane (1788-89), the prime minister was able, despite the efforts of Fox, to prevent the establishment of an unlimited regency and remain in office. His liberal policies ended when Great Britain became involved in the French Revolutionary Wars , followed by the Napoleonic Wars (see Napoleon I ). When the French Revolution began (1789), Pitt's desire was for peace and neutrality, and after France finally declared war (1793) on Britain, he failed to foresee either the length or the seriousness of the conflict. Within Great Britain he suspended (1794) habeas corpus and enacted other repressive legislation to halt radical agitation. His military coalitions against France (1793 and 1798) were unsuccessful on land, although the British navy won some overwhelming victories, and his financial support of Britain's allies brought on a monetary crisis. Rebellion in Ireland hampered the war effort and convinced Pitt that the solution to the Irish problem lay in the parliamentary union of Ireland with England, accompanied by Catholic Emancipation , so that Roman Catholics might hold office. The union was achieved (1800) by wholesale bribery, but the king then refused to approve Catholic Emancipation, and Pitt resigned (1801). He was recalled (1804) as prime minister to repel an expected invasion by Napoleon, which never materialized. He organized a third coalition against France, but Horatio Nelson's great naval victory at Trafalgar was soon followed by the defeat of Britain's allies at Austerlitz (1805). The latter news is said to have hastened Pitt's death.

Bibliography: See biographies by P. H. Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope (4 vol., 3d ed. 1867, repr. 1970), Lord Rosebery (1891, repr. 1968), and J. Ehrmann (1972, repr. 1983); studies by P. MacKesy (1984) and G. O'Brien (1986)

Pitt, William (or Pitt the Younger) (1759–1806) British statesman, Prime Minister (1783–180; 1804–06). The son of Pitt the Elder, he became Prime Minister at the age of 24, the youngest ever to hold this office. He restored the authority of Parliament, introduced financial reforms, reduced the enormous national debt he had inherited, and reformed the administration of India. With Britain's entry into war against France (1793), Pitt became almost entirely occupied with the conduct of the war and with uniting European opposition to France. Having secured the Union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1800, he resigned in 1801 over the issue of Catholic Emancipation (which George III refused to accept). He returned as Premier in 1804 after hostilities with France had been resumed, and died in office.

Pitt, William (1708–78) prime minister of Great Britain (1756–61, 1766–68). Born into a prominent family, Pitt entered Parliament in 1735. As prime minister, he attempted to extend Britain's empire around the world, largely by taking on Britain's ancient rival, France. During the Seven Years War (1756–63) he attacked French possessions and succeeded in driving France out of Canada, as well as West Africa and India. The part of the French and Indian War (1754–63) that took place in the North American colonies broke out after the French began fortifying the territory between Lake Erie and the forks of the Ohio River, where they constructed Fort Duquesne. George Washington led an unsuccessful expedition (1754) to take the fort, marking the beginning of hostilities. Pitt, however, determined to oust the French, allied himself with the colonists and appointed a series of capable commanders; the result was total French defeat after the British took Montreal (1760). Under the main provisions of the Treaty of Paris (1763), the French ceded Canada and all French territories east of the Mississippi to Britain, thus ensuring British cultural hegemony over the colonies.