Agreed. That other post was a ridiculous slur on George III.
George III was also known as “Farmer George” for his passionate interest in scientific agriculture. Before porphyria got the better of him, he funded advances in many fields of science. If he was around today, he’d be a head of state who actually deserved a Nobel prize.
His is a *very* interesting life, even among kings.
He started out as Duke of Edinburgh, before the current association of Edinburgh to the Crown as it is now. He was one of the first English peers in Scotland after the 1707 union. This is why one of the titles now possessed by the monarchy is Edinburgh. He was 18.
When his father died, he was appointed Duke of Brunswick and Prince-Elector of Hanover. He was technically the vassal of the Emperor of Germany and the last King to be a member of the Imperial league.
Then, he later became Prince of Wales as the heir apparent. Only after he was already Duke of Brunswick.
Then at 22, his grandfather dies, and he becomes King of England, and Scotland. So he’s rising up in the world. He gets married the following year.
He becomes king in the middle of the French and Indian Wars (Seven Years war), a huge war between France and everybody else. Along with Frederick the Great, they manage to defeat an alliance with France, Austria, Russia, Sweden and Spain. Prussia defeats France, Austria, Russia, Sweden and Saxony on the continent, and Great Britian manages to defeat Spain and France in North America, inheriting all of Canada, and substantial amounts in the Caribbean and in India.
They become the pre-eminent world power just two years into his reign.
Then you have the whole deal with the war with France, and the American Revolution, which lasts until 1782. He’s still only 44, and has been on the throne 22 years and has experienced more than most kings.
Then the French revolution fires off. This has huge consequences for him. When they execute the French king, he argues his claim to the Kingdom of France against republican France of the revolution. They end up in constant war over the next 25 years.
During all of this, you have the Act of Union with Ireland and the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He becomes King of Ireland along with Scotland and England and France.
His territory in Hanover gets overran by republican France. Then Napoleon comes along and dissolves the Empire. After the war, he’s outlasted the French Revolution and survives to the Congress of Vienna which remakes all of Europe. He’s pushing on 80. He gets his *fifth* King title, (England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Hanover), after starting life as the second son of the eldest son of the appointed King of England, one generation removed from a sole Prince Elector of Hanover.
Basically Europe between the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Vienna is the age of George III, encompassing both the American and French Revolutions. I’d argue he had far more influence than Victoria. Far, far more, yet he doesn’t receive half the credit he deserves.
He *created* the concept of the Anglosphere which we have today.
His is a *very* interesting life, even among kings.
He started out as Duke of Edinburgh, before the current association of Edinburgh to the Crown as it is now. He was one of the first English peers in Scotland after the 1707 union. This is why one of the titles now possessed by the monarchy is Edinburgh. He was 18.
When his father died, he was appointed Duke of Brunswick and Prince-Elector of Hanover. He was technically the vassal of the Emperor of Germany and the last King to be a member of the Imperial league.
Then, he later became Prince of Wales as the heir apparent. Only after he was already Duke of Brunswick.
Then at 22, his grandfather dies, and he becomes King of England, and Scotland. So he’s rising up in the world. He gets married the following year.
He becomes king in the middle of the French and Indian Wars (Seven Years war), a huge war between France and everybody else. Along with Frederick the Great, they manage to defeat an alliance with France, Austria, Russia, Sweden and Spain. Prussia defeats France, Austria, Russia, Sweden and Saxony on the continent, and Great Britian manages to defeat Spain and France in North America, inheriting all of Canada, and substantial amounts in the Caribbean and in India.
They become the pre-eminent world power just two years into his reign.
Then you have the whole deal with the war with France, and the American Revolution, which lasts until 1782. He’s still only 44, and has been on the throne 22 years and has experienced more than most kings.
Then the French revolution fires off. This has huge consequences for him. When they execute the French king, he argues his claim to the Kingdom of France against republican France of the revolution. They end up in constant war over the next 25 years.
During all of this, you have the Act of Union with Ireland and the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He becomes King of Ireland along with Scotland and England and France.
His territory in Hanover gets overran by republican France. Then Napoleon comes along and dissolves the Empire. After the war, he’s outlasted the French Revolution and survives to the Congress of Vienna which remakes all of Europe. He’s pushing on 80. He gets his *fifth* King title, (England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Hanover), after starting life as the second son of the eldest son of the appointed King of England, one generation removed from a sole Prince Elector of Hanover.
Basically Europe between the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Vienna is the age of George III, encompassing both the American and French Revolutions. I’d argue he had far more influence than Victoria. Far, far more, yet he doesn’t receive half the credit he deserves.
He *created* the concept of the Anglosphere which we have today.