The Hanoverian Dimension in British History, 1714–1837

Britain's special relationship with Hanover during the last two decades of the Personal Union has so far been seriously neglected by British historians. A typical example is Norman Gash who, in his presentation of the history of the United Kingdom in the nineteenth century, regarded as a standard work, never mentions Britain's continental partner at all. More recent biographies of George IV and William IV do little to remedy this. Elsewhere there are a few comments, for example on the connection between Hanoverian customs policy and British trade interests. The first to attempt a fundamental reassessment of Hanover's importance to Britain was Jeremy Black, in his work on the Guelph dynasty on the British throne. It is to be hoped that this paradigm change has produced an achievement that will inspire further studies.

On the German side the list of relevant literature is not a great deal longer. Both older and more recent works on the history of the kingdom of Hanover do, however, at least mention individual aspects of its relationship with Britain. The repercussions of the Personal Union for Hanover are illustrated in an essay that emerged as a by-product of an exhibition in Hanover's Historical Museum in the mid-1970s. George IV's visit to his German kingdom in October 1821 was already documented in minute detail by contemporaries – albeit restricted to an account of his itinerary.