George I

1. 1660-1727, king of England 1714-27.

2. 1845-1913, king of Greece 1863-1913.

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I

Greek Georgios orig. Prince William of Denmark

born Dec. 24, 1845, Copenhagen, Den.

died March 18, 1913, Salonika, Greece

King of Greece.

Son of Christian IX of Denmark, he served in the Danish navy and in 1862 was nominated to the Greek throne by Britain, France, and Russia after the Greek king, Otto, was deposed. Accepted by the Greek National Assembly, he ascended the throne as George I in 1863. He oversaw the incorporation of territory in Thessaly and Epirus into Greece as well as the annexation of Crete. In the unrest caused by the Balkan Wars, he was assassinated at Salonika; he was succeeded by his son, Constantine I. His long reign was the formative period for the development of Greece as a modern European state.

II

orig. George Louis German Georg Ludwig

born May 28, 1660, Osnabrück, Hanover

died June 11, 1727, Osnabrück

First king of England (1714–27) from the house of Hanover.

He succeeded his father as the elector of Hanover (1698) and fought with distinction in the War of the Spanish Succession. As a great-grandson of James I of England and under the Act of Settlement, George ascended the English throne in 1714. He formed a Whig ministry and left internal politics to his ministers, including 1st Earl Stanhope, Viscount Townshend, and Robert Walpole. He was unpopular because of his German manner and German mistresses and their involvement in the South Sea Bubble crisis, but he strengthened Britain's position by forming the Quadruple Alliance (1718). He was succeeded by his son, George II.

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▪ king of Great Britain

in full  George Louis,  German  Georg Ludwig 

born May 28, 1660, Osnabrück, Hanover [Germany]

died June 11, 1727, Osnabrück

 elector of Hanover (1698–1727) and first Hanoverian king of Great Britain (1714–27).

      George Louis of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the son of Ernest Augustus, elector of Hanover, and Sophia of the Palatinate, a granddaughter of King James I of England. George married his cousin Sophia Dorothea of Celle in 1682, but in 1694, accusing her of infidelity, he divorced her and imprisoned her in the castle of Ahlden, where she died 32 years later. He succeeded his father as elector of Hanover in 1698. The English Parliament's Act of Settlement (Settlement, Act of) (1701), seeking to ensure a Protestant succession to the throne in opposition to the exiled Roman Catholic claimant (James Edward, the Old Pretender), made George third in line for the throne after Princess Anne (queen from 1702–14) and his mother.

      During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14) George fought with distinction against the French. England's Whig politicians began to court his favour, but many Tories remained loyal to the Old Pretender. When George's mother died on June 8, 1714, he became heir to the throne, and on the death of Queen Anne (Aug. 1, 1714) the Whigs, who had just gained control of the government, ushered him into power.

      Naturally, George formed a predominantly Whig ministry. Although the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1719 were readily suppressed, he was far from popular in England. Ugly rumours concerning his treatment of his wife were widely disseminated, and the greed of his two German mistresses reflected badly on his court. He attempted diligently, however, to fulfill his obligations to his new kingdom. Since he could not speak English, he communicated with his ministers in French. Although he stopped attending Cabinet meetings, he met with key ministers in private—a step that led to the decline of the Cabinet, which had largely controlled the government during Queen Anne's reign. His shrewd diplomatic judgment enabled him to help forge an alliance with France in 1717–18. Nevertheless, he often found it difficult to get his way in domestic politics, in which he had to deal with such strong-willed ministers as Robert Walpole (Walpole, Robert, 1st earl of Orford) (later earl of Orford), James Stanhope, and Viscount Charles Townshend (Townshend, Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount). In 1716–17 Townshend and Walpole left his government in protest over Stanhope's alleged efforts to mold English foreign policy to the needs of George's Hanoverian possessions. By joining with George's son, the prince of Wales (later King George II), whom the king detested, these dissidents formed an effective opposition movement within the Whig Party.

      Shortly after this faction was reconciled to George in 1720, the South Sea Company suffered a financial collapse. In the ensuing scandal it became apparent that George and his mistresses had taken part in South Sea Company transactions of questionable legality, but Walpole's skill in handling the House of Commons saved the king from disgrace. As a result, George was forced to give Walpole and Townshend a free hand in the ministry. They pushed several of the king's friends out of office, and by 1724 George had come to rely completely on their judgment. George died of a stroke on a trip to Hanover. In addition to his son and successor, George II, he had a daughter, Sophia Dorothea (1687–1757), wife of King Frederick William I of Prussia and mother of Frederick the Great.

Additional Reading

Ragnhild Hatton, George I, Elector and King (1978).

▪ king of Greece

original name  Prince William of Denmark , Danish  Prins Vilhelm af Danmark 

born Dec. 24, 1845, Copenhagen, Den.

died March 18, 1913, Salonika, Greece

      king of Greece, whose long reign (1863–1913) was the formative period for the development of Greece as a modern European state. His descendants occupied the throne until the military coup d'état of 1967 and eventual restoration of the republic in 1973.

      Born Prince William, the second son of King Christian IX of Denmark and the brother of Queen Alexandra of England, he was nominated to the Greek throne by Britain, France, and Russia after the first Greek king, Otto, was deposed in 1862. The National Assembly accepted William as king of the Hellenes in March 1863, and he ascended the throne as George (Georgios) I on October 31. Although the early years of his reign were dominated by his harsh and unpopular adviser Count Sponneck, who was obliged to return to Denmark in 1877, he refrained from transgressing the prerogatives of the National Assembly and became one of the most successful constitutional monarchs in Europe.

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