The Restoration and the Augustan Age

THE EARLY HANOVERIANS

3.1 George I

George I spoke little English and spent most of his reign in Hanover, so he had to rely upon a cabinet, that is a council of top ministers.

An ambitious Whig, Sir Robert Walpole, became the most powerful minister in Parliament. He is traditionally regarded as the first Prime Minister and his anti-war government was to be the longest in English history. He opposed military expenses, promoted trade, managed to reduce land taxes and to restore trust in the established order. He was awarded a own house in Downing Street that would become the official London residence of the British Prime Minister.

This period was considered as a golden age. Political debate extended to an intellectual elite, corruption in politics and society was subject to the wit and satire of Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift and William Hogarth.

Coffee houses in town were places for social and professional networking and also for the discussion of ideas, as they circulated the latest periodicals and pamphlets. The new middle classes enjoyed greater social mobility, whereas poverty and hunger drove people to commit petty crime and to drink gin. Young aristocrats went on a Grand Tour of Europe.

A religious movement, Methodism, was founded by John and Charles Weasley in 1729

3.2 George II

George I died in Hanover in 1727 and was succeeded by his son, George II (1727-60).

The Commons supported a young brilliant minister, William Pitt (1708-78), who eventually became Prime Minister in 1756.

Under Pitt, Britain's foreign policy was guided by mercantilism and aimed to maintain a favorable balance of power in Europe.

In 1756 war broke out, which lasted seven years and was called Seven Years' War (1756-63). It was considered as the first "world war" because it fought in three continents.

This war was mainly between French and England and in the end Britain won, so most of Canada and India passed from French control to British control.