-
Period: to
Reign of George I
-
Period: to
Reign of George II
-
Period: to
Seven Years' War
Conflict between Great Britain and France broke out in 1754–1755 when the British attacked disputed French positions in North America and seized hundreds of French merchant ships. Meanwhile, rising power Prussia was struggling with Austria for dominance within and outside the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris among France, Spain and Great Britain and the Treaty of Hubertusburg among Saxony, Austria and Prussia, in 1763. -
Period: to
Reign of Geroge III
-
Dismissal of Rockingham's 1st Gov. - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
PM dismissed by King; resentful; first emergence of Rockingham Whigs opposition to the King -
Unexpected choice of Frederick North, Lord North
Lord North 1770-1782 Unexpected Choice; acceptable to King becuase not part of Whig infighting in 1760s and because he could command a majority in the House of Commons Opposition to North: 1) The Rockingham Whigs 2) The Chathamites -
American War of Independence 1775-1783
April 19, 1775 – January 14, 1784; (8 years, 8 months and 26 days)
Turning point; gave opportunity for opposition towards King to unite; argument cause of war is King's tyranny; George's War -
Period: to
Period of Succession of Short-lived Governments
- Rockingham PM; King had no choice; had biggest group in House of Commons in opposition to the King
- But Rockingham dies 1 July 1782 due to flu; SUCCESSOR PORTLAND OR SHELBURNE (chathamite); goes to SHELBURNE
-
Resignation of Lord North
North was the first British Prime Minister to be forced out of office by a motion of no confidence, resigning on 20 March 1782 on account of the British defeat at Yorktown the year before. In an attempt to end the war, he proposed the Conciliation Plan, in which he promised that Great Britain would eliminate all disagreeable acts if the colonies ended the war. The colonies rejected the plan, as their goal had become full independence. -
Lord Rockingham in Office
In 1782 he was appointed Prime Minister for a second time (with Charles James Fox and Lord Shelburne as Secretaries of State) and, upon taking office, pushed for an acknowledgement of the independence of the United States, initiating an end to British involvement in the American War of Independence. -
Lord Shelburne in Office
-
Period: to
Incumbancy of Lord Shelburne; William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
Monarch George III
Preceded by The Marquess of Rockingham
Succeeded by The Duke of Portland -
King Invites PItt to become "FIrst Lord of the Treasury"
- rejected
-
Fox-North Coalition comes into power
-
King's 2nd Attempt to Recruit Pitt
- rejected
-
First Ministry of Lord Portland; William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
APRIL - DEC 1783 -
East India Bill introduced
Introduced Dec by Fox-North Coalition, proposed that seven Commissioners should be responsible for the government of India. Initially they were to be appointed by the government for four years and thereafter by the East India Company. The proposals alienated the City and the "nabobs" who had returned to England, but the greatest outcry came when the names of the Commissioners were published: four were supporters of Fox, two were Northites and the seventh was North's son. -
Period: to
WILLIAM PITT THE YOUNGER PM
-
Offer Sinecure of Clerkship of he Pells
Rejected by Pitt -
Pitt Wins General Election
30 March - 10 May; Pitt won in May -
PItt's India Act
OCT 1784: PItt's India Act The East India Company Act 1784, also known as Pitt's India Act, was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain intended to address the shortcomings of the Regulating Act of 1773 by bringing the East India Company's rule in India under the control of the British Gov; Pitt's India Act provided for the appointment of a Board of Control, and provided for a joint government of British India by both the Company and the Crown with the government holding the most pregorative -
Commutation Act
The Commutation Act of 1784, enacted by the British Parliament, reduced the tax on tea from 119% to 12.5%, effectively ending the smuggling trade. William Pitt the Younger, acting on the advice of Richard Twining of the Twinings Tea Company, introduced the Act to increase revenues through legitimate sales of tea by ending 100 years of punitive tea taxes which promoted smuggling. The Act was created to stimulate trade in China for the British East India Company <- debts -
Reading of the Royal Card
"Whoever voted for the India Bill, was not only not his friend, but would be considered by him as an enemy" -
India Bill Lost 87-79
(27 members of House of Lords changed votes after reading of the royal card resulting in this) -
India Bill Rejected Again
Both houses met; increase in opposition to the bill by 19 votes -
Shop Tax
WITHDRAWN 1789 -
Eden Treaty with France
The Eden Treaty was a treaty signed between Great Britain and France in 1786, named after the British negotiator William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland (1744–1814). It effectively ended, for a brief time, the economic war between France and the British and set up a system to reduce tariffs on goods from either country. -
Sinking Fund
Pitt set up a Sinking Fund in 1786: he set aside £1 million p.a. which accumulated at compound interest. This fund needed a constant surplus of revenue but despite deficits in 1785 and 1787, the system appeared secure by 1793 when Britain became involved in the French Wars. -
Hovering Act
The 1787 Hovering Act also attacked smuggling by extending the duties of Customs officials to 12 miles off-shore. Again, revenue rose. -
Regency Crisis of 1788
King's mental health deteriorated, possibly as the result of the hereditary disease porphyria.[16][17] He was nonetheless able to discharge some of his duties and to declare Parliament prorogued from 25 September to 20 November. Parliament began debating a Regency. In the House of Commons, Charles James Fox declared his opinion that the Prince of Wales was automatically entitled to exercise sovereignty during the King's incapacity. -
Storming of the Bastille
The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. The prison contained just seven inmates at the time of its storming but was a symbol of the abuses of the monarchy: its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. -
Period: to
French Revolution
Influential period of social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799, and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the French Empire. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, experienced violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship by Napoleon that rapidly brought many of its principles to Western Europe and beyond; inspired by liberal and radical ideas -
Period: to
Anglo-French War
PITT DECLARE WAR MARCH 1793 -
Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1794
The Act's long title was An act to empower his Majesty to secure and detain such persons as his Majesty shall suspect are conspiring against his person and government.Government spies had penetrated the Society for Constitutional Information, and were reporting a surge in its activity and much dangerous talk of a Convention rather than parliamentary reform. France sent an agent to Ireland to assess the support a French invasion would have and the agent was arrested in late April 1795.