Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg
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The Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (informally the Electorate of Hanover; German: Kurfürstentum Braunschweig-Lüneburg) became the ninth Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in 1692, when the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, elevated 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 until the approval of the Imperial Diet in 1708.
[edit] History
In 1714, George Louis became king of Great Britain, whereby Brunswick-Lüneburg and Great Britain were joined in personal union. The possessions of the electors grew in Germany as well, as they inherited the formerly Swedish territories of Bremen and Verden in 1719, and as part of the German Mediatisation of 1803, the Electorate received the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück. 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.
In 1803, the electorate was occupied by French and Prussian troops after the Convention of Artlenburg. In 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was abolished. Following the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, the former electorate's territories together with territories ceded from Prussia was created into the Kingdom of Westphalia, ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. However, the government of George III did not recognize the French annexation, being at war continuously with France through the entire period, and Hanoverian ministers continued to operate out of London. The government of Brunswick-Lüneburg maintained its own separate diplomatic service, which maintained links to countries such as Austria and Prussia, with whom the United Kingdom itself was technically at war. The army of Brunswick-Lüneburg was dissolved, but many of the officers and soldiers went to England, where they formed the King's German Legion. The Legion was the only German army to fight continually during the whole Napoleonic wars against the French.
French control lasted until October 1813 when the territory was overrun by Russian Cossack troops, and the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig later the same month spelled the definitive end to the Napoleonic client state, as well as the entire Confederation of the Rhine, after which the rule of the House of Hanover was restored. Hanover became a kingdom, at the Congress of Vienna in 1814.
[edit] Electors of Hanover
In 1692, the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, elevated Ernest Augustus, son of Duke George, 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 until the approval of the Imperial Diet in 1708, in the person of Ernest Augustus' 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.
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 duchies of Calenberg, Grubenhagen, and Celle (even though at the time Celle was ruled by Ernest Augustus' older brother) and the counties of Diepholz and Hoya.
- George I (1708–1727)
- George II (1727–1760)
- George III (1760–1814)
[edit] References
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