George II: Puppet of the Politicians?

by Jeremy Black

Following closely on the heels of his recent biography of George III, Jeremy Black turns to the reign of his grandfather, George II, to set the record straight. In his new book he sets out to demonstrate the unfairness of charges that George II was a puppet king overshadowed by towering politicians such as Walpole, and later, Pitt. For a king who ruled for so long (1727-60), the neglect shown by historians to George II is surprising. He was the last British king to lead an army into battle, at Dettingen in 1743, and his rule included the drama of Culloden in 1746 - the culmination of the war over British succession. The neglect is due chiefly to the lack of easily accessible source George II left no diaries, and was not a great letter writer. Black has instead exploited rich archival resources to piece together a figure who was the pivot in an often finely balanced - and sometimes dangerously unbalanced - fledgling political system. In the process of revealing George II
to us, Black goes further than biography, telling us much about the society and system within which the King functioned. In an era of successive wars between European states - in which George, as Elector of Hanover, was keen to ensure that Britain played a part - there is much here also relating to Britain's role within Europe.

Genres: 18th Century

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2007

About the author

Jeremy Black is an English historian, who was formerly a professor of history at the University of Exeter. He is a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of America and the West at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US.
Black is the author of over 180 books, principally but not exclusively on 18th-century British politics and international relations, and has been described by one commentator as "the most prolific historical scholar of our age". He has published on military and political history, including Warfare in the Western World, 1882–1975 (2001) and The World in the Twentieth Century (2002).

Reviews

[JR Roach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent biography. Strikes the perfect balance between narrating the major events of his reign, situating George within the wider context of European, German, and British monarchy, capturing his character, and attending to the major historiographical issues George II's reign intersects with. As a result, it is a perfect introduction to understanding the nature of Britain's parliamentary monarchy in its moment of transition between the Revolution Settlement and the purely ceremonial status it holds today. Black ably documents the importance of George II's actions, character, and constitutional role within the government, identifying areas where his personal influence shaped policy, while conversely identifying the increasing limits placed on his freedom of action. As a result, this book manages to capture both the important commonalities between British and European monarchy - the importance of rank and authority, the persistence of court intrigue and royal favor as major political forces, the emphasis on dynastic concerns, and monarchs' large freedom of action on foreign and military policy - while still emphasizing how the unique features of Britain's regime, especially the need to manage the commons to secure funding, especially for George's foreign policy preferences, frequently forced him to accept ministers he did not prefer or dismiss his favorites.

Black's conclusions about George II's importance have major implications both for understanding George III's supposedly novel political strategy (for the most part largely a continuation of George II's relationships with ministers) and for Whig readings of British history that incorrectly over-emphasize Britain's distinctiveness vis a vis Europe and minimize the role of monarchy after the Glorious Revolution. One of my major reading objectives for this year is to get a better understanding of the nature of European monarchy in the 18th century, the role of monarchs and ministers, the importance of intermediary bodies and constitutional constraints, the structures of aristocracy and patronage, and the foundations and objectives of reform programs often associated with "enlightened absolutism." The ultimate goal is to gain broader context for the nature of Britain's parliamentary monarchy and to understand the collapse of France's monarchy in a broader European perspective. And for those purposes Black's book was perfect.

[Teddy Dodger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the several books of his I've read, this one I'd argue is his best (though he has written >100 so I'll never be able to say for sure). Black masterfully integrates the personalities, socio-economic structure and geopolitics of the period (1727-1760) to refute common misconceptions about one of our least understood monarchs- that he was a puppet of the politicians and his overbearing women, an angry uneducated man uninterested in art or science, or that he outsourced British foreign policy to Hanoverian interests (true but with qualifications).

Black reveals a society in which low-life expectancy and the continued centrality of the monarch creates all sorts of peverse incentives, particularly in the 1750s when George III (his grandson) was too young to rule in his own right, and foreign powers were consistently trying to second-guess what Britain's policy would be when the aging king (the longest-lived until that point) died. The monarch, unlike from William Pitt Jr onwards, is still the central figure in British politics, albeit one constrained by the post-1688 settlement and the de-facto monopoly of office enjoyed by the Court Whigs (George II for long-periods of time refused to bring Tories or Country Whigs in).

Very accessible for those with no knowledge of the period, insightful for those who do.