11.10
George II of Britain is born on November 10, 1683 in Hanover, Germany. He was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. In 1701, his grandmother, Sophia of Hanover, became second-in-line to the British throne. After her death, and that of Queen Anne, in 1714, his father George I, Elector of Hanover, inherited the British throne. In the first years of his father’s reign as king, young George was associated with opposition politicians, until they re-joined the governing party in 1720. He ascended to throne of Britain upon the death of his father George I on June 11, 1727 and was crowned at Westminster Abbey in October 1727. As king George II exercised little control over British domestic policy, which was largely controlled by Parliament. As elector, he spent 12 summers in Hanover, where he had more direct control over government policy. He had a difficult relationship with his eldest son, Fredrick, who supported the parliamentary opposition. During the War of Austrian Succession, George II participated at the battle of Dettingen (1743), and thus became the last British monarch to lead an army in battle. In 1745, supporters of the Catholic claimant to the British throne, James Francis Edward Stuart (The Old Pretender), led by James’s son Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie), attempted and failed to depose George in the last of the Jacobite rebellions. After Prince Frederick died unexpectedly in 1751, George’s grandson, George III, became heir and ultimately king. For two centuries after his death on October 25, 1760, history tended to view George II with disdain, concentrating on his mistresses, short temper, and boorishness. Since then, some scholars have re-assessed his legacy and conclude that he held and exercised influence in foreign policy and military appointments.
