Säule Nr. 2: Die „Personalunion“ zwischen Großbritannien und Hannover

Only Protestants could wear the crown of England, but Queen Anne (1665–1714) left no heirs to the throne. Consequently, the search turned to the continent: Electress Sophie (1630–1714), as the granddaughter of the Anglo-Scottish King James I (1566–1625), was eligible for the throne. However, the Electress died in 1714, just a few weeks before Queen Anne, so it was not she but her son, Elector George Louis (1660–1727), who, as George I, established the British royal line of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg (“Hanover”).

A defining feature of the Hanover-British personal union was that the two countries continued to exist independently of one another and were therefore governed separately. Only at the very top was there a single ruler: simultaneously Elector of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Great Britain, the emerging world power.

Would you like to learn more about this topic? Visit Column No. 2 at Kröpcke!