Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

GEORGE V

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 746 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

GEORGE V  ., See also:king of See also:Hanover (1819–1878), was the only son of Ernest See also:Augustus, king of Hanover and See also:duke of See also:Cumberland, and consequently a See also:grandson of the See also:English king See also:George III . See also:Born in See also:Berlin on the 27th of May 1819, his youth was passed in See also:England and in Berlin until 1837, when his See also:father became king of Hanover and he took up his See also:residence in that See also:country . He lost the sight of one See also:eye during a childish illness, and the other by an See also:accident in 1833 . Being thus totally See also:blind there were doubts whether he was qualified to succeed to the See also:government of Hanover; but his father decided that he should do so, as the See also:law of the dissolved See also:empire only excluded princes who were born blind . This decision was a fatal one to the See also:dynasty . Both from his father and from his maternal See also:uncle, See also:Charles See also:Frederick, See also:prince of See also:Mecklenburg-See also:Strelitz (1785–1837), one of the most influential men at the Prussian See also:court, George had learned to take a very high and autocratic view of royal authority . His See also:blindness prevented him from acquiring the shrewdness and knowledge of the See also:world which had assisted his father, and he easily See also:fell into the hands of unwise, and perhaps dishonest and disloyal, advisers . A See also:man of deep religious feeling, he formed a fantastic conception of the See also:place assigned to the See also:house of See also:Guelph in the divine See also:economy, and had ideas of See also:founding a See also:great Guelph See also:state in See also:Europe . It is, therefore, not surprising that from the See also:time of his See also:accession in See also:November 1851 he was constantly engaged in disputes with his Landtag or See also:parliament, and was consequently in a weak and perilous position when the crisis in the affairs of See also:Germany came in 1866 . Having supported See also:Austria in the See also:diet of the See also:German See also:confederation in See also:June x866, he refused, contrary to the wishes of his parliament, to assent to the Prussian demand that Hanover should observe an unarmed See also:neutrality during the See also:war . As a result his country and his See also:capital were at once occupied by the Prussians, to whom his See also:army surrendered on the 29th of June 1866, and in the following See also:September Hanover was formally annexed by See also:Prussia . From his See also:retreat at Hietzing near See also:Vienna, George appealed in vain to the See also:powers of Europe; and supported by a large number of his subjects, an agitation was carried on which for a time caused some embarrassment to Prussia .

All these efforts, however, to bring about a restoration were unavailing, and the king passed the See also:

remainder of his See also:life at Gmtinden in Austria, or in See also:France, refusing to the last to be reconciled with the Prussian government . Whilst visiting See also:Paris for medical See also:advice he died in that See also:city on the 12th of June 1878, and was buried in St George's See also:chapel, See also:Windsor . In See also:February 1843 he had married See also:Marie, daughter of See also:Joseph, duke of See also:Saxe-See also:Altenburg, by whom he See also:left a son and two daughters . His son, Ernest Augustus, duke of Cumberland (b . 1845), continued to maintain the claim of his house to the See also:kingdom of Hanover . By the See also:capitulation of 1866 the king was allowed to retain his See also:personal See also:property, which included See also:money and securitiesequal to nearly £1i5oo,000, which had been sent to England before the Prussian invasion of Hanover . The See also:crown jewels had also been secretly conveyed to England . His valuable See also:plate, which had been hidden at Herrenhausen, was restored to him in 1867; his See also:palace at Herrenhausen, near Hanover, was reserved as his property; and in 1867 the Prussian government agreed to compensate him for the loss of his landed estates, but owing to his continued hostility the See also:payment of the See also:interest on this sum was suspended in the following See also:year (see HANOVER) . See O . See also:Klopp, See also:Konig Georg V . (Hanover, 1878) ; O . Theodor, Erinnerungen an Georg V .

(See also:

Bremerhaven, 1878) ; and O . Meding, Memoiren zur Zeitgeschichte (See also:Leipzig, 1881-1884) .

End of Article: GEORGE V
[back]
GEORGE THE SYNCELLUS IGEORGIOS
[next]
GEORGE WILLIAM FREDERICK CHARLES

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.