Fire in the North XI
Wilhelm I/William IV, King of Prussia from 1800, and of Great Britain and of Ireland from 1802, King of the Anglo-Prussian Union. The eldest grandson of Queen Anne II, he became heir following the death of his father in 1788, and had assumed the throne of Prussia on the death of his grandfather in 1800. By the time of his assumption of the British crown, he was thirty-seven years of age.
Wilhelm would garner a mixed reception. His reign marked a long period of strength, development and growth for the realms under his rule, both in Europe and North America, and would see the formal beginning of the Anglo-Prussian Union - this saw him win sizeable support from those who benefited materially from such growth. Moreover, he would work to attempt to end the lingering issue of Jacobitism: officially dubbing his dynasty the House of Stuart-Hohenzollern; working to try to tie both Scotland and Ireland more closely to the dynasty by granting a number of concessions; and working to try to build support in those nations. However, he would prove to be a more active monarch than the British Parliament might have liked: in Prussia, he continued to hold a great deal of official power; and in Britain he would exert large amounts of unofficial influence - including influence obtained through less than fair means - to ensure that legislation he supported or championed made its way through Parliament. Between this and periodic vocal clashes with more recalcitrant parliamentarians, as well as the considerable clout he wielded among the representatives of the Union Diet, his level of personal power was such that some in Parliament considered him a would-be tyrant. Such rhetoric, indeed, would be repeated in the New Leveller movement and their revolt in 1809, the violence of which led to a growth in support for the monarch (already popular thanks to his relative youth, vigour and his service in the Hussars) for his suppression of the movement, and the realisation among Parliament that his position was too strong to try to limit.
Despite his uptime-influenced education and the influence of his grandmother Anne II, Wilhelm proved in many ways to be a more reactionary monarch than either herself or his grandfather, seeing a strengthening of traditional institutions and firm rule from the centre as being vital to the stability of the nation. While he was willing to accept certain social changes needed for continued growth - and was supportive of commoners being able to better themselves, championing a number of educational and other reforms to that effect - he was a firm opponent of ‘rule by the mob’, preferring to keep the franchise in the hands of property-owners.
In certain areas, interestingly, he would prove less reactionary, accepting his eldest daughter Victoria’s desire to become a Naval Officer (and overseeing a slow but definite expansion of the numbers of women ‘from good backgrounds’ in the military). Moreover, despite a degree of personal ambivalence about such relationships in general, on his grandmother’s death one of his first acts was to provide her lifelong ‘companion’ Maria, Duchess of Leeds, with a generous pension and other amenities for the remaining decade of her life.
Edinburgh Castle. This was chosen by King Wilhelm as the official headquarters of the Union Diet for the Anglo-Prussian Union, as a concession to Scottish pride.
The Union had been pending for some time, and would, after much debate and horse-trading, formally emerge as a political institution during the first year of Wilhelm’s reign. Under it, the constituent nations would maintain sovereignty and freedom of movement in many matters, but would have free trade between them, and key military, colonial and trade matters would be decided by the Diet. Britain and Prussia each chose twenty representatives for the Diet, while Ireland and the North American Colonies (not Cuba or Florida, as these were directly ruled from Britain each sent ten, with prospects for increased representation over time. The monarch, meanwhile, would act as a mediator over the Diet.
In addition to the above, while Britain and Prussia maintained distinct militaries, they would form a shared military command structure so that in time of war, officers of sufficient seniority would be able to command different forces easily. This measure provoked the strongest debate (British admirals were aghast at taking orders from Prussians at sea, while Prussian generals were less than pleased at the idea of Prussian regiments coming under British command) but the matter would ultimately be resolved).
The Union has had challenges over the years but, this far, it remains united and strong.
A
Gasthaus in Virginia c. 1806, built by a Prussian veteran. Even before the Three Years War, Prussian settlers had been joining British in North America, and the numbers would grow rapidly afterwards, as Prussian and British veterans - particularly those who had fought the Planters - were given land grants in return for service (they were considered potentially loyal, and often formed the backbone of post-war militias).