William Pitt the Elder
William Pitt the Elder directed the war that made Britain the dominant power outside Europe. Born in London in 1708, the grandson of a governor of Madras who had made a fortune in diamonds, he was educated at Eton, which he loathed, went to Oxford, and left because of gout that afflicted him for life. He bought a commission and entered parliament in 1735, and made his name attacking Walpole's foreign policy in speeches of exceptional force. George II detested him and blocked his advancement for years. He came to power in 1756 after Britain had lost Minorca and was losing the Seven Years' War, saying that he knew he could save the country and that nobody else could. His strategy was to reverse the priorities. Rather than commit the army to Germany, he subsidised Frederick the Great to occupy French forces on the continent — an ally, he said, doing the work of an army — and used British money and sea power everywhere else. He expanded the navy, raised Highland regiments from the clans that had rebelled in 1745, and promoted young officers over seniority. The results came in 1759, the annus mirabilis: Quebec, Guadeloupe, the defeat of the French fleets at Lagos and Quiberon Bay, and victory at Minden. He resigned in 1761 when the cabinet refused to strike at Spain pre-emptively. He opposed taxing the American colonies, arguing that they could not be taxed without representation, and collapsed in the Lords in 1778 while urging against conceding independence. He died weeks later.
- Lived: 1708 CE – 1778 CE
- Nationality: British
- Roles: secretary_of_state, Prime Minister (de facto), mp_for_bath
