Congress of Hanover

rdf:langString Congress of Hanover

rdf:langString The Congress of Hanover took place in the Electorate of Hanover in 1752. It was convened by the British government who wished to agree up a schedule for the election of the next Holy Roman Emperor. All of the eight voting German electors were invited to attend, as was a representative of France. The Congress lasted, intermittently, from June until October 1752. The British wanted a swift election of their favoured candidate, the Austrian heir apparent Joseph, Duke of Lorraine. The British Secretary of State the Duke of Newcastle had travelled to the continent with George II of Great Britain to oversee the Congress. The French were represented by Count Vergennes a young diplomat. The British had agreed to pay some of the smaller electors subsidies in order to gain their votes. Saxony received a yearly payment of £48,000. The French perceived this as an attempt to forge a pro-British alliance of the German states to create a military coalition in any future war. They saw the sudden British interest in the election as a smoke screen behind which they were advancing their own interests in Germany. In response France applied pressure on Austria to try to block the scheme while Vergennes attempted to appear co-operative with Newcastle at the Congress. The Congress finally concluded with the intention to elect the Austrian candidate.