Electorate of Hanover

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Electorate of Hanover
Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Kurfürstentum Hannover
Kurfürstentum Braunschweig-Lüneburg
1692–1814
Flag of Hanover
Flag
Coat of arms (1708–1714) of Hanover
Coat of arms
(1708–1714)
Electorate of Hanover in 1789
Electorate of Hanover in 1789
Status
Capital
George III William Frederick
History 
• Elevation to Electorate
1692
• Inherited Lüneburg and Saxe-Lauenburg
1705
• Electorate formally approved
1708
1714
• Acquired Bremen-Verden
1715
• Merged into Kingdom of Westphalia
1807
• Re-established as Kingdom of Hanover
1814
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Principality of Calenberg
1807:
Kingdom of Westphalia
1814:
Kingdom of Hanover
Today part ofGermany

The Electorate of Hanover (

Hanoverian Succession
.

The

Act of Union 1707, which settled the succession to the British throne on Queen Anne's nearest Protestant relative, the Electress Sophia of Hanover, and her descendants.[1]

The prince-elector of Hanover became

king of Great Britain in 1714. As a consequence, a reluctant Britain was forced time and again to defend the king's German possessions.[note 1] However, Hanover remained a separately ruled territory with its own governmental bodies, and the country had to sign a treaty with Great Britain whenever Hanoverian troops fought on the British side of a war. Merged into the Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, it was re-established as the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814, and the personal union with the British crown lasted until 1837.[3]

Name

In 1692, Emperor

Ernest Augustus of the Brunswick-Lüneburg line of Calenberg, to the rank of prince-elector of the empire as a reward for aid given in the Nine Years' War. There were protests against the addition of a new elector, and the elevation did not become official until the approval of the Imperial Diet in 1708. Calenberg's capital, Hanover
, became colloquially eponymous for the electorate, but it officially used the name Chur-Braunschweig-Lüneburg of the entire ducal dynasty.

The electoral coat of arms and flag (see info box upper right of this article) displayed the Saxon Steed (German: Sachsenross, Niedersachsenross, Welfenross, Westfalenpferd; Dutch: Twentse Ros / Saksische ros/paard; Low Saxon: Witte Peerd) is a heraldic motif associated with the German provinces of Lower Saxony and Westphalia, and the Dutch region of Twente as the electorate covered large portions of the original stem Duchy of Saxony.

Geography

Additional Informations and re-done, more polished version of this map: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Hanover1720.png/1024px-Hanover1720.png
Sketch map of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg including the Hanover electorate (blue) and the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (green), c. 1720: Elector George I Louis acquired Saxe-Lauenburg and Bremen-Verden, his successor George II Augustus gained Land Hadeln (1731,not shown on the map) and George III acquired the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück (1803)

The electorate comprised large parts of the modern German state of Lower Saxony in Northern Germany. Beside the Principality of Calenberg it also included the former princely lands of Göttingen and Grubenhagen as well as the territory of the former County of Hoya.

the Electorate of Hanover within the Northeastern part of the Holy Roman Empire in 1789

In 1705, Elector

George William of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1715, he purchased the duchies of Bremen-Verden from King Frederick IV of Denmark (confirmed by the 1719 Treaty of Stockholm), whereby his former landlocked electorate gained access to the North Sea
.

In 1700, the territories forming the electorate introduced, like all other Protestant territories of

New Style
).

History

Main article:
History of Hanover

In 1692, the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, elevated George's son, Duke Ernest Augustus to the rank of elector of the empire as a reward for aid given in the War of the Grand Alliance. There were protests against the addition of a new elector, and the elevation did not become official (with the approval of the Imperial Diet) until 1708, in the person of Ernest Augustus's son, George Louis. Though the elector's titles were properly duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he is commonly referred to as the elector of Hanover after his residence.

Hanover acquired Bremen-Verden in 1719.

The electorate was legally bound to be indivisible: it could add to its territory, but not alienate territory or be split up among several heirs; and its succession was to follow male primogeniture. The territory assigned to the electorate included the Brunswick-Lüneburg principalities of Calenberg, Grubenhagen, and Lüneburg (even though at the time Lüneburg was ruled by Ernest Augustus's older brother) and the counties of Diepholz and Hoya.

Link with Great Britain

Main article: Personal union of Great Britain and Hanover
Civil ensign of Hanover (1727–1801).

In 1714,

Verden
in 1719.

George Louis died in 1727 and was succeeded by his son

enfeoffed George II (gave him land in exchange for a pledge of service), with the reverted fief of Saxe-Lauenburg, which had de facto been ruled in personal union with Hanover and with one of its preceding Principality of Lüneburg
since 1689.

In 1731, Hanover also gained

estates
in Bremen-Verden and in Hadeln, thus confirming 400-year-old traditions of estate participation in government.

In Hanover, the capital of the electorate, the Privy Council of Hanover (electoral government) installed a new ministry in charge of the Imperial Estates ruled by the electors in personal union. It was called the Department of Bremen-Verden, Hadeln, Lauenburg and Bentheim. However, the electors spent most of their time in England. Direct contact with the electorate was maintained through the office of the German Chancery, situated in St James's Palace in London.

Seven Years' War

Further information:
Great Britain in the Seven Years War

During the

Frederick II combining the North American conflict with the Brandenburg-Prusso–Austrian Third Silesian, or Seven Years' War
(1756–1763).

In the summer of 1757, the

Convention of Kloster-Zeven). However, George II did not recognise the convention. The following year, the British Army, supported by troops from Prussia, Hesse-Kassel and the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
, again expelled the occupants. Hanover remained unaffected for the rest of the war.

French Revolutionary Wars

After the war ended, peace prevailed until the

War of the First Coalition against France (1792–1797) with Great Britain, Hanover and other war allies forming the coalition, did not affect Hanoverian territory since the first French Republic was fighting on several fronts, even on its own territory. However, men were drafted to recruit the 16,000 Hanoverian soldiers fighting in the Low Countries under British command against France. In 1795, the Holy Roman Empire declared its neutrality, including Hanover, but a peace treaty with France was being negotiated until it failed in 1799. Prussia, however, ended for its part the war with France by the Treaty of Basel (1795), which stipulated that Prussia would ensure the Holy Roman Empire's neutrality in all of the latter's territories north of the demarcation line of the River Main, including the British continental dominions of Hanover, Bremen-Verden, and Saxe-Lauenburg. To that end, Hanover also had to provide troops for the so-called demarcation army maintaining the armed neutrality.[5]

Napoleonic era

During the

Denmark-Norway and Russia, Britain began to capture Prussian ships. After the Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
, the coalition fell apart and Prussia withdrew its troops.

As part of the

German Mediatisation of 25 February 1803, the electorate received the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück in real union, which had been ruled by every second ruler of the House of Hanover
since 1662.

After Britain, this time without any allies, had declared war on France (18 May 1803), French troops invaded Hanover on 26 May. According to the Convention of Artlenburg (5 July 1803), confirming the military defeat of Hanover, the Hanoverian Army was disarmed, and its horses and ammunitions were handed over to the French. The Privy Council of Hanover, with the minister Friedrich Franz Dieterich von Bremer holding up the Hanoverian stake,[clarification needed] fled to Saxe-Lauenburg, across the Elbe, which was ruled by Britain and Hanover in personal union. Soon, the French also occupied Saxe-Lauenburg.

In the autumn of 1805, at the beginning of the War of the Third Coalition against France (1805), the French occupying troops left Hanover in a campaign against Austria. British, Swedish and Russian coalition forces captured Hanover. In December, the French Empire, since 1804 France's new government, ceded Hanover, which it no longer held, to Prussia, which captured it in early 1806.

On 6 August 1806, the

Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
(11 November 1806), and France recaptured Hanover.

Following the

Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and formerly-Prussian territories. In early 1810 Hanover proper and Bremen-Verden but not Saxe-Lauenburg were also annexed by Westphalia. In an attempt to assert the Continental System, the French Empire annexed in late 1810 all of the continental North Sea
coast (as far as Denmark) and the areas along the sections of the rivers navigable for seagoing vessels, including Bremen-Verden and Saxe-Lauenburg and some adjacent territories of Hanover proper.

However, the government of George III did not recognise the French annexation and was at war continuously with France for the entire period, and Hanoverian ministers continued to operate out of London. The Privy Council of Hanover maintained its own separate diplomatic service, which maintained links with countries such as Austria and Prussia. The Hanoverian Army was dissolved, but many of the officers and soldiers went to England, where they formed the King's German Legion. That was the only German army to fight continually throughout the Napoleonic Wars against the French.

French control lasted until October 1813, when the territory was overrun by Russian troops, and the Battle of Leipzig later that month spelled the definitive end to the Napoleonic client state of Westphalia, as well as the entire Confederation of the Rhine, and the rule of the House of Hanover was restored. The former electorate became the Kingdom of Hanover, which was confirmed at the Congress of Vienna in 1814.

Electors of Hanover

Main article: House of Hanover

The electorate was legally indivisible: it could add to its territory, but not alienate territory or be split up among several heirs, as had been the rule before, which led at times to a multitude of

Brunswick-Lüneburgian principalities. Its succession was to follow male primogeniture. Since that was against Salic law, which was then valid for the ducal family, the change needed imperial confirmation, which Emperor Leopold I
granted in 1692.

In 1692, at its upgrading to the rank of electorate, its territory comprised the Brunswick-Lüneburgian principalities of

Diepholz and Hoya
.

Although the

Arch-treasurer
and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire" until 1814.

List of electors of Hanover
Elector Dates of reign Succession Notes
George I Louis
Georg Ludwig 		1708–1727 Son of Ernest Augustus. Became King of Great Britain and Ireland in 1714.
Acquired Bremen-Verden in 1719.
George II Augustus
Georg II. August 		1727–1760 Son of George I. Acquired the
Land of Hadeln
in 1731.
George III William Frederick
Georg III. Wilhelm Friedrich 		1760–1806 Grandson of George II. Became King of the
Great French War: lost (early 1801), restored (April 1801), lost (May 1803), restored (Autumn 1805), lost (early 1806), and restored (October 1813).
Although the electoral title became defunct with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, George did not recognise that dissolution.
Proclaimed King of Hanover in early 1814 and was broadly recognised as such during the 1814–1815 Congress of Vienna
.

Notes

  1. ^ During the 18th century, whenever war was declared between Great Britain and France, the French army invaded or threatened to invade Hanover, forcing Great Britain to intervene diplomatically and militarily to defend the Electorate. In 1806, George III even declared war on Prussia after King Frederick William III, under heavy pressure from Napoleon, had annexed George III's German possessions.[2]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Heide Barmeyer. "Hannover und die englische Thronfolge" (PDF). H-Soz-Kult. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  2. ^ Auguste Himly, Histoire de la formation territoriale des États de l'Europe centrale. 1876, vol. 1, pp. 95–96.
  3. ISBN 978-1-84383-300-0
    .
  4. ^ a b Wilson 2016, p. 583.
  5. ISBN 978-3-8258-7551-0
    .

Sources

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