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Hanoverian Exile and Prussian Governance: King George V of Hanover and His Successor in Austria, 1866–1913

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Monarchy and Exile

Abstract

In February 1913, The Times’ editorial reported on the betrothal of Ernest Augustus of Hanover, son of the exiled Duke of Cumberland, and Victoria Louise, the only daughter of the German Emperor William II. The article stated enthusiastically: ‘This betrothal is twice blessed, because it practically closes in the happiest manner an hereditary feud which is older than the present German Empire. The quarrels of the fathers and grandfathers are reconciled in the marriage of their descendants. It is Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending.’1 The Times included a brief historical account of the reign of George V as king of Hanover, the grandfather of the groom-to-be. Defeated by Prussia in 1866, George withdrew to become ‘an exile of the most uncompromising and unpractical kind’. Resisting any compromise beyond full restitution of his sovereignty, George and his descendants remained in Austria for two generations. It was only after 57 years in exile that the Hanoverian royal family returned to Germany to become a reigning dynasty again.2

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Notes

  1. The Times, 13 February 1913, issue 40134m, p. 7, col. C. This and all other Times articles referred to in this article are quoted from The Times Digital Archive 1785–1985 (accessed 1.8.2008). The quotation is also referred to in Hans Philippi (1966), Preuβen und die Braunschweigische Thronfolgefrage (Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Niedersachsen 25, Niedersachsen und Preußen, Heft 6) (Hildesheim: Lax), 183.

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  2. See also the Princess’ own account of the events in Victoria Luise (1965), Ein Leben als Tochter des Kaisers (Göttingen: Göttinger Verlagsanstalt), pp. 73–103.

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  3. There are only a few titles dealing with the Hanoverians after 1866. Hans-Georg Aschoff (1987), Welfische Bewegung und Politischer Katholizismus, 1866–1918: Die Deutschhannoversche Partei und das Zentrum in der Provinz Hannover Während des Kaiserreichs (Düsseldorf: Droste), is possibly the best, particularly pp. 293–310. Hanoverian opposition to Bismarck has inspired more interest.

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  4. For the latest publications see Jasper Heinzen (2007), ‘The Guelph “Conspiracy”: Hanover as Would-be Intermediary in the European System, 1866–1870’, International History Review, 29, 2, 258–81.

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  51. For a legal definition of fidei commis, see Ina Ebert (2008), ‘Familienfideikommiss’, in Albrecht Cordes et. al. (eds) Handbuch zur Deutschen Rechtsgeschichte (Berlin: Duncker & Humboldt), I, pp. 1503–4.

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  55. Riotte, ‘The House of Hanover’, pp. 88–90, more general: Catrine Clay (2006) King — Kaiser — Tsar. Three Royal Cousins who Led the World to War (London: Walker & Company).

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  57. For a highly innovative interpretation, see Daniel Schönpflug (2008), ‘Liebe und Politik: Die Heiraten der Hohenzollern und ihre Nachwirkungen, 1858–1935’, in Thomas Biskup and Martin Kohlrausch (eds), Das Erbe der Monarchie: Nachwirkungen einer Institution seit 1918 (Frankfurt/New York: Campus), pp. 77–95, here pp. 83–4.

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  1. Torsten Riotte
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. London, UK

    Philip Mansel (Fellow of the Institute of Historical Research) (Fellow of the Institute of Historical Research)

  2. Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany

    Torsten Riotte (Lecturer in History) (Lecturer in History)

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© 2011 Torsten Riotte

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Riotte, T. (2011). Hanoverian Exile and Prussian Governance: King George V of Hanover and His Successor in Austria, 1866–1913. In: Mansel, P., Riotte, T. (eds) Monarchy and Exile. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230321793_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230321793_15

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-32066-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-230-32179-3

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