George William Frederick, or George III, was King of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two countries on 1 January 1801, becoming King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. He was Duke and Prince-Elector of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire before its dissolution in 1806, and became King of the Kingdom of Hanover on 12 October 1814. George III was the third British monarch from the House of Hanover, but unlike his predecessors, George III was born in Britain, spoke English as his first language, and never visited Hanover. His reign was longer than that of any previous British monarch, and was marked by a series of military conflicts in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The first of these conflicts was the Seven Years' War, which ended with his kingdom's victory over France, making it the dominant European power in North America and India. However, Britain lost many of its American colonies during the American War of Independence. Then began conflicts with the French Revolutionaries and Napoleonic France from 1793 until the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. George III suffered from recurring mental disorders in his later life, which eventually became chronic. Doctors were puzzled by his condition, and some suggested that he suffered from a blood disease called porphyria. George suffered a final relapse in 1810, and his eldest son, George, Prince of Wales, became his regent. After his death, his son officially succeeded him as George IV of the United Kingdom. George III, the grandson of George II and son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, was born in London two months prematurely, and was thought unlikely to survive. He was baptized on the day of his birth by Thomas Secker. He was publicly baptized again a month later by the same man. As a child, George was shy and withdrawn. His family moved to Leicester when he was young, where he was educated by private tutors. Family letters show that George could read and write in both English and German, and could comment on political events by the age of eight. George was the first British monarch to study science in a formal way. Methodically, he studied physics, chemistry, astronomy, mathematics, French, Latin, history, geography, music, commerce, agriculture, and law. In addition to dancing, fencing, and horse riding. His religious education was entirely Anglican. George took part in Joseph Addison's Cato when he was ten years old. His grandfather, George II, was not fond of his son Frederick, but rather focused his attention on his grandchildren. Frederick died suddenly in 1751 after undergoing a lung operation, and George became the heir apparent, as well as the Duke of Edinburgh, a title he had inherited from his father. George II also made him Prince of Wales shortly afterwards. In the spring of 1756, when George was about to turn eighteen, the king offered him a job at St. James's Palace, but George declined the offer, influenced by his mother and John Stuart, who later became Prime Minister. George's mother preferred to keep her son at home with her in order to teach him strict values and moral principles. George fell in love with The Duke of Richmond's sister, Sarah Lennox, was advised by John Stuart to abandon her, which George did, writing: "I am born for the happiness or misery of a great nation, and therefore I must often do things against my own wishes." His grandfather George II tried to marry him to the Duchess Sophie Caroline Mary, but his attempts failed after both George and his mother refused. The following year, George II died suddenly at the age of seventy-seven, and George succeeded him as king on 25 October 1760. George's search for a wife continued until 8 September 1761, when he married Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, whom he had met on their wedding day, at St James's Palace. They were both crowned two weeks later in Westminster Abbey. Unlike his father and grandfather, George did not cheat on his wife or take another mistress, and the couple lived happily together, having nine sons and six daughters. In 1762, George bought Buckingham House to be his wife. He and his family were given refuge, and he lived in Windsor Castle and Kew Palace, while St James's Palace was for official use only. George did not travel much, and spent almost all of his life in the south of England. George and his family holidayed at Weymouth in the 1790s, making it one of England's first seaside resorts. In his accession speech to Parliament, George said: "I was born and educated in this country, I do glory in the name of Britain." He included this phrase in the speech to announce that he was distancing himself from his German ancestors, who were seen as more interested in Hanover than in Britain. Although politicians from all sides welcomed George's accession to Parliament, the early years of his reign were marked by political instability, largely as a result of the disputes over the Seven Years' War. The Whigs regarded George as an autocrat because he allegedly favoured Conservative ministers. The income of the British Crown was relatively small at the beginning of his reign, with most of the revenue coming from taxes and duties. George placed the estates under parliamentary control in return for support. and expenses for his family and the civil government. Some claim that these expenses were in the form of bribes and gifts to achieve interests, but historians deny these claims and describe them as "lies fabricated by disgruntled opponents." Over £3 million in debts were paid by the government during George's reign, and the number of people paid for expenses was increased from time to time. George made significant financial contributions to the Royal Academy of Arts from his own account, and he may have donated more than half of his personal account to charity. George owned a collection of works of art, most notably a collection of works by Giovanni Antonio Canale. George was also a book collector, and the King's Library - one of the most important libraries during the Enlightenment - was available to scholars, and later became a national library. In May 1762, the Whig government headed by the Duke of Newcastle was replaced by a new government headed by the Scottish Conservative John Stuart. The opponents fought the new president by spreading the slander that John Stuart had an affair with the King's mother, exploiting the animosity between the English and the Scots in this. In addition In addition, a member of Parliament, John Wilkes, published writings denouncing and criticizing both John Stuart and his government, which led to his arrest for sedition. Wilkes fled to France to escape punishment, was expelled by the House of Commons, and was convicted in absentia of libel. John Stuart resigned after the Treaty of Paris ended the war in 1763, allowing the Whigs under George Grenville to return to power. Later that year, the Royal Proclamation was issued, which put an end to the expansion of the American colonies to the west. The proclamation aimed to make expansion northward and southward. The proclamation did not upset the majority of the planters settled in the Americas, but it was unpopular with some prominent minorities who helped fuel the conflict between the colonies and the British government. American settlers were generally exempt from British taxes, so the British government thought it fair that they should pay some taxes in exchange for defending the colonies against local uprisings and possible French incursions. The main problem for the Americans was not the amount of taxes imposed, but the question of how to impose them. Without their consent, as they had no representation in the British Parliament. The Americans demonstrated under the slogan No taxation without representation, but London insisted on its rejection. In 1765, George Grenville passed the Stamp Act, which imposed a stamp tax on all documents in the British colonies in North America. The newspapers were affected by this decision, and they issued a huge propaganda campaign against the tax. Meanwhile, George was growing increasingly angry with Grenville for his attempts to limit the powers of the king. After George suffered a short illness - the first of a series of illnesses that he suffered - George chose the Marquess of Rockingham to form a ministry, and George dismissed Grenville. Rockingham repealed the Stamp Act, which was unpopular, but his government was weak, so he was replaced by William Pitt the Elder in 1766. George and William's decision to repeal the act was so popular in America that they had statues of them both erected in New York City. Augustus FitzRoy became prime minister in place of William In 1768, the year John Wilkes returned to England, Wilkes stood for election to the House of Commons and won, before being expelled from Parliament again. Wilkes stood twice more but was expelled, with the Commons declaring his candidacy invalid and the runner-up victorious. The Fritzberg government collapsed in 1770, allowing the Conservatives, led by Frederick North, to return to power. George was a very religious man, spending hours in prayer, but his brothers did not share this trait at all. George was shocked by what he saw in his brothers' immorality. In 1770, George discovered that his brother, Prince Henry, was committing adultery. A year later, the prince married a young widow named Anne Horton. King George considered Anne unsuitable for royal life, as she was of a lower social class, and the law prohibited any child of this marriage from succeeding to the Hanoverian throne. George insisted on a new law that would prevent members of the royal family from marrying without the sovereign's consent. This plan was not accepted. Widespread in Parliament, even among George's own ministers, the law passed as the Royal Marriages Act 1772. Shortly afterwards, the king's other brother, Prince William, acknowledged that he was married to Countess Maria, the illegitimate daughter of Sir Edward Walpole. This confirmed George's decision to pass the 1772 Act, and George never received Maria at court. North's government was primarily concerned with dealing with American discontent, and in order to appease public opinion, most customs duties were abolished, except for the tea tax, which George said was "a single tax to preserve the right of taxation." In 1773, Americans dumped the cargo of British tea ships anchored in Boston Harbor to express their discontent, an incident that later became known as the Boston Tea Party. Britain was outraged by what happened, and North considered it a criminal offence. With the explicit support of Parliament, North took new measures against the Americans, closing the port of Boston and changing the Massachusetts charter so that the Senate was appointed by the Crown rather than elected by the House of Representatives. Up to this point, according to Professor Peter Thomas, George's hopes had been pinned on a political solution, but he acquiesced to his government's views despite his skepticism about their success. Historical evidence from 1763-75 suggests that King George was not responsible for the American Revolution. Although Americans portrayed him as a tyrant, he acted as a constitutional monarch who supported the initiatives of his ministers. The American War of Independence was the culmination of the American civil and political revolution resulting from the American Enlightenment. The main problem for Americans was the lack of representation in Parliament, which they saw as a denial of the rights enjoyed by the English, especially when taxes were imposed on them without their consent. Americans resisted the imposition of direct British rule over them after the Boston Tea Party, and created autonomous provinces. The British and American regular armies had fought several battles by 1775. The Crown considered the American rebel leaders traitors and the fighting continued for another year. The colonies declared their independence in July 1776 and appealed to the people for support, reminding them of the crimes committed by King George against them, accusing him of having "abandoned his government in America, plundered their seas, ravaged their coasts, burned their cities, and killed their people." The rebels also tore down a statue of George III in New York. The British captured New York in 1776, but lost Boston. Britain's strategic plan to invade the colonies from Canada and isolate New England failed when British General John Burgoyne surrendered at the Battle of Saratoga. George III has often been accused of trying stubbornly to keep Great Britain at war with the rebels in America, against the opinions of his ministers. The Victorian writer George Trevelyan said: "The king was determined never to recognize the independence of the Americans, and to punish the rebels from During the prolongation of the war, which he promised would be eternal. The king wanted to “keep the rebels harassed, anxious, and poor, until some day discouragement would make them repent and repent.” Most historians today defend George, saying that no king of that time would have willingly given up large tracts of land, and that his conduct was much less severe than that of European monarchs of his time. After Saratoga, both Parliament and the British people were in favor of the war, and conscription reached its highest levels. Although there were prominent political opponents, they remained a minority. As the setbacks in America continued, Prime Minister North asked that power be transferred to William Pitt, whom he believed to be more capable. King George refused this request, and suggested instead that William serve as a minister in North’s government. William refused, and died later that year. In 1778, France signed a treaty of alliance with the United States, and the conflict escalated. Shortly thereafter, Spain and the Dutch Republic joined France and the United States, while Britain had no allies. North demanded that he be allowed to resign, but remained in office at the insistence of George III. Opposition to the costly war grew, and riots and riots broke out in London in June 1780. By 1780 and the Siege of Charleston, loyalists still believed in their inevitable victory, especially after British forces had inflicted heavy defeats on the Americans. But British hopes were shattered when news of Charles Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown reached London. North's government stopped providing aid, and North resigned the following year. King George drafted a statement of abdication, but it was never received. George finally accepted his defeat in North America and agreed to peace negotiations. George signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783, by which Britain recognized the independence of the United States and returned Florida to Spain. When John Adams was appointed American minister in London in 1785, George accepted The idea of establishing a new relationship between his country and his former colonies, George told Adams: "I was the last to agree to the separation, but it has happened and I can do nothing about it. But now I say that I would like to be the first to accept the friendship of the United States as an independent power." After the collapse of North's government in 1782, the Whig Marquess of Rockingham returned to the premiership, but he died a few months later. The King then appointed William Petty to replace him. Charles Fox refused to serve under William Petty, and demanded that the Duke of Portland be appointed prime minister. In 1783, the House of Commons removed Beatty from office, and the Duke of Portland was appointed prime minister, while Fox became foreign secretary and North home secretary, in what became known as the Fox-North coalition government. The King disliked George Fox for his policies as well as his personality, and he believed that he was a bad influence on his son. George was annoyed by the appointment of ministers he did not like, but the Portland government quickly formed a majority in the House of Commons, and it was not easy to get rid of them. George's discontent increased when He introduced the India Bill, which proposed reforming the government of India by transferring political power from the East India Company to parliamentary commissioners. Although the King favoured greater control over the Company, the proposed commissioners were all political allies of Fox. After the resolution passed in the House of Commons, George asked Lord Temple to inform the House of Lords that George would consider anyone who voted for the resolution an enemy. The resolution was defeated in the Lords, and the Portland government fell three days later. William Pitt the Younger became the new Prime Minister, while Lord Temple became Foreign Secretary. On 17 December 1783, Parliament voted for a resolution condemning the King's influence on parliamentary votes as a "high crime", and Lord Temple was forced to resign. Temple's departure destabilised the government, and three months later the government lost its majority and Parliament was dissolved. An election was then held, and Pitt the Younger won power. Pitt's appointment was a great victory for George. It demonstrated the King's ability to appoint a Prime Minister on his own terms, without having to follow the choice of a majority of the Commons. George supported many of Pitt's political aims. Throughout his presidency, he brought in peers like never before in order to increase his support in the House of Commons. George became extremely popular in Britain during and after Pitt's presidency. The British people admired their king's piety and his loyalty to his wife. George was fond of his children, and was heartbroken when two of them died in infancy in 1782 and 1783, respectively. Despite this, George set a strict regime for his sons, who were supposed to attend their lessons at seven in the morning, and live a life full of religion and virtue. But his sons deviated from their father's path, and George felt resentful and disappointed. George's health began to deteriorate, as he suffered from mental illness, which is likely a symptom of a genetic disease called porphyria. However, some reject this theory. A study of George's hair samples published in 2005 revealed large amounts of arsenic, which is one of the causes of this disease. The source of the arsenic is still unknown, but it is possible that it was a component of medicines or cosmetics. George suffered from the onset of the disease in 1765, but the real suffering began in the summer of 1788. After the end of Parliament, George went to Cheltenham Spa to convalesce. This was the longest journey George had ever taken from London, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the capital, but his condition worsened. By November of the same year, George was completely deranged, talking for hours on end, foaming at the mouth and his voice becoming hoarse. His doctors were puzzled by his illness, and false stories about his health spread, such as one that George shook hands with a tree, believing it to be the King of Prussia. After Parliament resumed, Pitt and Fox disputed the terms of the regency during the King's incapacity. While both sides agreed that it would be logical for George's eldest son, the Prince of Wales, to be regent, Pitt was alarmed by Fox's desire to give the regent absolute power to act on his father's behalf, as Pitt feared that he would be removed from office if Fox's wishes came true, so Pitt suggested that he should Parliament chose the regent, and wanted to limit his power. In February 1789, the Regency Bill, which made the Prince of Wales regent, was introduced in the House of Commons, but King George recovered before it reached the House of Lords. The French Revolution of 1789, and the French monarchy fell, disturbing many of the wealthy in Britain. France declared war on Britain in 1793, and George allowed Pitt to raise taxes and raise armies. The First Coalition of Austria, Prussia, and Spain opposed the French Revolution, but it soon fell after Spain and Prussia made separate peace treaties with France in 1795. The Second Coalition of Austria, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire was defeated in 1800, leaving Britain alone to face Napoleon Bonaparte. Britain experienced a brief period of calm, allowing Pitt to focus on Ireland, where there was an uprising, and the French attempted to land in Ireland in 1798. In 1800, the British Union Act was passed. The Treaty of Ireland came into effect on 1 January 1801, when the two countries became one state known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This helped George to get rid of the title of "King of France", which English and British monarchs had used since the reign of Edward III. It was suggested to George that he adopt the title of "Emperor of the British Isles", but he refused. Pitt intended to remove some of the legal impediments applied to Catholics as part of his Irish policy, but he faced opposition from the people as well as the king, who believed that this would be a violation of his coronation oath, in which he promised to protect Protestantism. As a result, Pitt threatened to resign. Meanwhile, the king suffered another setback in his health, and George blamed the Catholic question for his recurrence. On 14 March 1801, Pitt was replaced by Henry Addington. Addington established a system of annual financial accounts, abolished income tax, and began a disarmament programme. Addington made peace with the French in October 1801, and signed the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. George did not consider peace with France to be real, but rather an "experiment". War resumed in 1803, but public opinion did not see Addington as a leader of the British nation in the war and Pitt was preferred to take on the task. Napoleon's invasion of England seemed imminent, and a huge volunteer movement arose to defend England from the French. Panic was growing by the day, and George paraded an army of 27,000 volunteers in Hyde Park on 26 and 28 October 1803, attracting an estimated 500,000 spectators a day to watch the parade. The Times reported of the event: "The enthusiasm of the crowd is inexpressible." A courtier wrote on 13 November: "The King is really ready to fight in case of attack and can start moving at only half an hour's warning." George wrote to his friend Bishop Hurd: "We are here in daily expectation of Bonaparte's attempt to invade our country; if this should happen, "I will certainly be at the head of the cannon to repel them." After Admiral Horatio Nelson's famous naval victory at Trafalgar, the possibility of invasion was nil. George was again affected by illness in 1804, and after his recovery, Addington resigned, allowing Pitt to return to power once more. Pitt wanted to appoint Fox to his government, but George refused. William Grenville, seeing the treatment of Fox as unfair, refused to join the new government. Pitt sought to form an alliance with Austria, Russia, and Sweden, known as the Third Coalition, but this coalition suffered the same fate as the previous two, collapsing in 1805. Successive setbacks in Europe affected Pitt's health until he died in 1806, reviving the question of who should succeed him. This person was William Grenville, who formed a "ministry of all talents" that included Fox. The king became more tolerant of Fox after he was forced to appoint him, but Fox died in September 1806, opening the door to conflict between the king and his government. I suggested The government introduced a new law in February 1807 allowing Catholics to hold all ranks in the armed forces in order to stimulate recruitment in the country, but George refused and demanded that they never propose the law. Ministers agreed to drop the law but refused to commit themselves to never propose it in the future. These ministers were dismissed and replaced by the Duke of Portland as nominal prime minister, while actual power was in the hands of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Spencer Perceval. Parliament was dissolved, and the 1807 election gave the government a large majority in the House of Commons. George made no major policy decisions during the rest of his reign except to replace the Duke of Portland with Spencer Perceval in 1809. By late 1810, at the height of his popularity, George was almost blind from cataracts and suffered from rheumatic pains and became very ill. George believed that his illnesses were due to his stress and deep grief over the death of his youngest and favourite daughter, Princess Amelia. The princess's nurse reported that she "saw scenes of sorrow and weeping every day, as the grief was “Beyond description.” George acknowledged the need for the Regency Act 1811, under which the Prince of Wales became regent for the remainder of his father George III’s life. Although George’s health showed signs of improvement in May 1811, he was permanently insane by the end of the year, and lived in seclusion at Windsor Castle until his death. Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated in 1812, and Robert Jenkinson was appointed in his place. Robert had overseen the British victory in the Napoleonic Wars, and the Congress of Vienna under his leadership brought significant territorial gains to Hanover, which was elevated to a kingdom. George’s health continued to deteriorate, and he suffered from dementia, became totally blind, and had little hearing. George was unable to know or understand that he had become King of Hanover in 1814, and was unaware of his wife’s death in 1818. His condition continued to deteriorate, and he spoke nonsense for 58 hours straight at Christmas in 1818. 1819, and he became unable to walk in the last weeks of his life. George III died at Windsor Castle at 8:38 p.m. on 29 January 1820, six days after the death of his fourth son, Prince Edward. His favourite son, Prince Frederick, was by his side when he died. George was buried on 16 February 1820 in St George's Abbey, Windsor Castle. George III was succeeded by two of his sons, George IV and William IV, but they died without any legitimate surviving children, leaving Victoria, Prince Edward's only legitimate daughter, to become the last British monarch of the House of Hanover. George III lived 81 years and 239 days and reigned for 59 years and 96 days, thus outliving and ruling all his predecessors, surpassed only by Victoria and Elizabeth II. George III was nicknamed "George the Farmer" by his critics, mocking him for his interest in ordinary matters rather than politics. However, in contrast, he turned This title is a compliment due to the way George treated his family, and portrayed him as a man of the people. George was very interested in agriculture, and the British Agricultural Revolution reached its peak during his reign, in addition to the great development of science and industry. There was an unprecedented growth in the rural population during George's reign, which provided a large part of the workforce that led to the Industrial Revolution. George owned a collection of mathematical and scientific books that are now in the Science Museum in London, and he also financed the construction and maintenance of William Herschel's 40-foot telescope, the largest of its kind in the world at that time. William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus, and initially named it after the king, George's star, in 1781. George III named his title as "By the Grace of God, George III, King of Great Britain, France, Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc." When Great Britain was united with Ireland in 1801, George dropped the title "King of France" that had been used by all English kings since Edward III's claim to the French throne in the Middle Ages. His title was: "By the Grace of God, George III, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith." In Germany he was "Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, Treasurer and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire" until the end of the empire in 1806. George then continued as Duke until the Congress of Vienna, becoming "King of Hanover" in 1814. 25 October 1760 – 31 December 1800 25 October 1760 – 12 October 1814 1 January 1801 – 29 January 1820 12 October 1814 – 29 January 1820