en, George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus , house =

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, religion =

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, father = Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover , mother =

Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Frederica Louise Caroline Sophie Alexandrina of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (german: Friederike Louise Caroline Sophie Alexandrine; 3 March 1778 – 29 June 1841) was a German princess who married successively Prince Louis Charles of Prussia, Prince ...

, birth_date = 27 May 1819 , birth_place =

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

, death_date = , death_place =

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, burial_date = 24 June 1878 , burial_place = St George's Chapel, Windsor , signature = Signature- Georg V of Hannover.jpg George V (Georg Friedrich Alexander Karl Ernst August; 27 May 1819 – 12 June 1878) was the last King of Hanover, the only child and successor of

King Ernest Augustus King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...

. George V's reign was ended by the Austro-Prussian War, after which

annexed Hanover.

Early life

Prince George of Cumberland was born on 27 May 1819 in

, the only son of Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale. Ernest Augustus was the fifth son of George III of the United Kingdom and his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was baptised on 8 July 1819 at a hotel in Berlin where his parents were staying, by the Rev.

Henry Thomas Austen Henry Thomas Austen (8 June 1771 – 12 March 1850) was a militia officer, clergyman, banker and the brother of the novelist Jane Austen.Grey, David J. "Henry Austen: Jane Austen's "Perpetual Sunshine"." ''Persuasions Occasional Papers'', No. 1, ...

(brother of author Jane Austen). His godparents were the then Prince Regent George IV of the United Kingdom (represented by the Duke of Cumberland), King Frederick William III of Prussia, Emperor

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son o ...

, the Crown Prince of Prussia, Prince William of Prussia, Prince Frederick of Prussia, Prince Henry of Prussia, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, the Grand Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,

Duke Charles of Mecklenburg Duke Charles of Mecklenburg (german: Herzog Carl zu Mecklenburg) (30 November 1785 – 21 September 1837) was a member of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and a Prussian soldier who served in the Napoleonic Wars. From 1827 until his death he was P ...

, Empress Maria Feodorovna, the Queen of the Netherlands Wilhelmine of Prussia, the Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom, the Hereditary Princess of Hesse-Homburg Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, the Princess Mary (Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh), Princess Sophia of the United Kingdom, Princess Alexandrine of Prussia, the Electoral Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, the Duchess of Anhalt-Dessau

Princess Frederica Wilhelmina of Prussia Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a s ...

Princess Maria Anna of Hesse-Homburg Princess Maria Anna of Hesse-Homburg (13 October 1785, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe – 14 April 1846, Berlin) was a German noblewoman. She was the most senior woman at the Prussian court from 1810 to 1823. She was styled as "Princess Wilhelm of Pr ...

(Princess William of Prussia),

Margravine Elisabeth Louise of Brandenburg-Schwedt , house = Brandenburg-Schwedt , father = Frederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt , mother = Princess Sophia Dorothea of Prussia , birth_date = , birth_place = Schwedt , death_date = , death_place = Berlin, Brandenburg , pla ...

(Princess Ferdinand of Prussia), Princess Louisa of Prussia, and Princess Radziwill. George spent his childhood in Berlin and in Great Britain. He lost the sight of one eye following a childhood illness in 1828, and in the other eye following an accident in 1833. His father had hoped that the young prince might marry his cousin

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

, who was older by three days, thus keeping the British and Hanoverian thrones united, but nothing came of the plan.

Crown Prince

Upon the death of King William IV and the accession of Queen Victoria to the British throne, the 123-year personal union of the British and Hanoverian thrones ended because Hanover's

semi-Salic law The Salic law ( or ; la, Lex salica), also called the was the ancient Frankish civil law code compiled around AD 500 by the first Frankish King, Clovis. The written text is in Latin and contains some of the earliest known instances of Old ...

prevented a woman from ascending its throne. The Duke of Cumberland succeeded to the Hanoverian throne as Ernest Augustus, and Prince George became the Crown Prince of Hanover. As a legitimate descendant of George III in the male line, he remained a member of the British royal family and second in line to the British throne until the birth of Queen Victoria's first child,

Victoria, Princess Royal Victoria, Princess Royal (Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa; 21 November 1840 – 5 August 1901) was German Empress and Queen of Prussia as the wife of German Emperor Frederick III. She was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdo ...

, in 1840. Since he was totally blind, there were doubts as to whether the Crown Prince was qualified to succeed as king of Hanover, but his father decided that he should do so.

Marriage

George married, on 18 February 1843, at Hanover, Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, the eldest daughter of Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, by his wife, Duchess Amelia of Württemberg.

King of Hanover

Battle of Langensalza (1866) Hanoverian Medal, obverse

The Crown Prince succeeded his father as the King of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg as well as Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, in the Peerage of Great Britain and Earl of Armagh, in the Peerage of Ireland, on 18 November 1851, assuming the style George V. From his father and from his maternal uncle, Prince Charles Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, one of the most influential men at the

n court, George had learned to take a very high and autocratic view of royal authority. During his 15-year reign, he engaged in frequent disputes with the Hanoverian

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

(parliament). George was generally supportive of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in the Diet of the German Confederation. As the Austro-Prussian War started, the Prussian government sent a dispatch on 15 June 1866 demanding that Hanoverian troops submit to their authority or face war. Despite previously having concluded that Hanover could not win an armed confrontation with Prussia, George remained protective of his throne and refused the ultimatum. Contrary to the wishes of the parliament, Hanover joined the Austrian camp in the war. As a result, the Prussian army occupied Hanover and the Hanoverian army surrendered on 29 June 1866 following the Battle of Langensalza, the King and royal family having fled to Austria. The Prussian government formally annexed Hanover on 20 September 1866, despite the King of Prussia, William I, being a first cousin of King George V of Hanover; their mothers were sisters. The deposed King never renounced his rights to the throne or acknowledged Prussia's actions. From exile in Gmunden, Austria, he appealed in vain for the European great powers to intervene on behalf of Hanover. From 1866 to 1870, George V maintained the

Guelphic Legion The Guelphic Legion (german: Welfenlegion) was an irregular, volunteer military unit founded and maintained at the expense of the deposed Welf king George V of Hanover, after the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover by Prussia in 1866. History Af ...

partially at his own expense.Schmitt, Hans A. ''Prussia's Last Fling: The Annexation of Hanover, Hesse, Frankfurt, and Nassau, 15 June – 8 October 1866.'' Central European History 8, No. 4 (1975), pp. 316–347. While in exile from his throne, he was appointed an honorary full general in the

British army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

in 1876.

Death

George V died at his residence in the Rue de Presbourg, Paris, on 12 June 1878. After a funeral service in the Lutheran Church at the Rue Chaucat, Under "Duke of Cumberland". his body was removed to England and buried in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Legacy

The King supported industrial development. In 1856 the "Georgs-Marien-Bergwerks- und Hüttenverein" was founded which was named after him and his wife. The company erected an iron and steel works which gave the city Georgsmarienhütte its name.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

*27 May 1819 – 20 June 1837: ''His Royal Highness'' Prince George of Cumberland * 20 June 1837 – 18 November 1851: ''His Royal Highness'' The Crown Prince of Hanover * 18 November 1851 – 12 June 1878: ''His Majesty'' The King of Hanover

Honours

Arms

By grant dated 15 August 1835, George's arms in right of the United Kingdom were those of his father (being the arms of the United Kingdom, differenced by a ''label argent of three points, the centre point charged with a fleur-de-lys azure, and each of the other points charged with a cross gules''), the whole differenced by a ''label gules bearing a horse courant argent''.Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family
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Ancestry

Issue

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:George 05 Of Hanover Kings of Hanover Princes of the United Kingdom Hanoverian princes House of Hanover Burials at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle Sons of kings Dukes of Cumberland and Teviotdale People from Berlin 1819 births 1878 deaths Blind royalty and nobility Crown Princes of Hanover Knights of the Garter Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Commanders Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain