biography
| name: |
Pitt, William
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also known as Pitt the Younger
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1759–1806)
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| biography:
| British statesman and prime minister (1783–1801, 1804–6), the second son of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, born in Hayes, Greater London, UK. He studied law at Cambridge, but then became an MP (1781), his first post being Chancellor of the Exchequer under Shelburne (1782). He became First Lord of the Treasury 1783, and accepted the premiership after the collapse of the short-lived Portland government, at the age of 24, to become Britain's youngest prime minister. His first ministry lasted for 18 years, during which he carried through important reforms, his policy being influenced by the political economy of Adam Smith. He negotiated coalitions against France (1793, 1798), but these had little success. After the Irish rebellion of 1798, he proposed a legislative union which would be followed by Catholic emancipation. The union was effected in 1800, but Pitt resigned office in 1801 rather than contest George III's hostility to emancipation. He was persuaded to return to office in 1804, in the face of the mounting Napoleonic threat, formed a coalition with Russia, Austria, and Sweden, and with the defeat of the French at Trafalgar (1805) was hailed as the saviour of Europe. He drank very heavily, and this contributed to his early death while still prime minister. |
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