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Maria Theresa
When Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI, died in 1740 his daughter; Maria Theresa was left to inherit the throne. Charles left Maria with the inherited lands of Austria and parts of the Habsburg lands. Maria Theresa was unable to be elected empress because of the law called the Pragmatic Sanction. This law simply states that the inheritances go to a male and this law also affected whether or not Maria gained the Habsburg lands intact. This was soon not a problem when Maria married her husband, Frances, who soon became emperor. During Maria's reign she came into conflict with Frederick the Great of Prussia. Frederick offered Maria an alliance with Prussia and promised to vote for her husband in the upcoming election for the office of the Holy Roman Emperor if Austria would not attack Prussia for taking the province of Silesia. Her rejection to this offer caused the War of the Austrian Succession. Prussia soon overwhelmed Austria and Maria was forced to sign a peace treaty with Prussia handing over Silesia. This disrupted the balance of power in Europe and the Seven Years' War resulted. Great Britain supported Prussia and Austria formed an alliance with Russia. Austria was unable to gain Silesia back from Prussian forces at the war's end. Although Maria Theresa lost her province of Silesia during the war, her internal revisions of education and medicine improved her country altogether. Maria also made several reforms in military affairs.
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WILLIAM PITT THE ELDER
Britain's success during the Seven Years' War was largely because of the brilliant leadership of William Pitt the Elder. William was the Secretary of state during the war and had full control over foreign affairs and the direction of the war for Great Britain. After many defeats in Canada, Britain finally began to win battles against the French control in the country. These winnings resulted in the capture of Fort Duquesne which the British later named Pittsburgh. Also the British won control over the city of Quebec. After these defeats, William had fulfilled his promise to "save the country." William then wanted to create a war with Spain sensing that it would be inevitable that Spain and Britain would engage in war eventually. The Seven Years' War ended without any clear victor and King George III had little desire to continue the war. Soon after William Pitt the Elder resigned his position in 1761.
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Mary II of England, the Queen who ruled Protestant England with William III. They were given the throne by Parliament in exchange for allowing the English Bill of Rights to pass. |
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KING GEORGE III
King George III reigned from 1760 to 1820 and was the first of the Honnoverian house to become monarch and to be borne and educated as an Englishman. George became king of Great Britain and Ireland in 1760. During his reign the Seven Years' War took place. Great Britain sided with Prussia and Austria formed an alliance with France and Russia. This was just the beginning of a long rivalry between France and Great Britain. The Seven Years' War also arose in the Americas, but it was called the French and Indian War. The Seven Years' War ended with no clear victor and King George didn't have the will to fight any longer.
King George III believed that Parliament had too much power in the constitutional system. So the king took several steps to ensure that Parliament wouldn't exceed himself. He selected his own ministers from the so called "King's Friends" to Parliament. Confusion arose and unsettlement took place in the political world. During this confusion American colonies began to break away from British control. Britain set then set up many acts to help control this rebellion, but this only angered the colonists more. Soon after, the American Revolution began. France sided with the Americans hoping to get back at the British, which they succeeded in doing as the British were defeated and the U.S. gained its independence. King George III died at Winter Palace on January 29, 1820. His son, George IV, however, had already been ruling at the last years of his father's life because George III suffered from blindness and dementia.
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