Importance Of George Iii To Pitt's Success

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How important to Pitt’s success was his relationship with George III? It is a necessity to refer to Pitt and George III’s relationship when analysing Pitt’s political reign. Most historians see the importance of King George III in Pitt’s career as crucial or Pitt would never have been able to succeed. It is apparent that without the King’s help, Pitt may have never obtained his position in power; however, it is also clear that to a great extent, Pitt’s success is due to his own gained popularity, his logical and successful ideas and sheer determination. Despite the King’s help in enabling Pitt’s position in power, we must also analyse the other factors that contribute to Pitt’s success, for instance, the weakened status of the Whig’s leader, Charles Fox and the improvements that Pitt made to the financial and economical state of the nation. From the beginning of Pitt’s reign as Prime Minister it is instantly made clear that George III was nearly entirely responsible for his entry into office. When the dispute arose over the coalition of the India Bill in 1782, George III immediately seized the opportunity to get rid of the Whigs leaving a position open for Pitt. Therefore we can see that this opening – created by the King – enabled Pitt to become Chancellor of the Exchequer and First Lord of the Treasury in 1783. This the King used as an excuse for a dramatic alteration in his government. In the beginning of Pitt’s rule, he governed a minority government. This was a great challenge for Pitt as he was young and inexperienced and facing the strong and experienced oppositions of Burke, Fox, North and Portland. However, we can see that with the King’s support, Pitt was able to gain more popularity amongst independent MPs. By March 1784, the majority had dramatically decreased and George III dissolved parliament and called a general election. This clearly
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