Pitt, William, the Younger (1759-1806), was a British statesman. He became chancellor of the exchequer (chief financial officer) of Britain (later the United Kingdom) at the age of 23 and prime minister at 24. He was the youngest person ever to hold either post. Pitt served as prime minister from 1783 to 1801 and from 1804 to 1806. He also dominated British politics between those two terms. He was the son of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who was also a leading British statesman.
William Pitt the Younger was born on May 28, 1759, in Kent and entered Cambridge University at the age of 14. After graduation in 1776, he studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1780, but his main interest lay in politics. In January 1781, Pitt entered Parliament. Almost immediately, Pitt began to press for parliamentary reform and the reduction of the influence of the king. He quickly gained favor with older politicians. He served as chancellor of the exchequer in 1782 and 1783.
In December 1783, Pitt became prime minister. He held this office for the next 17 years. During the first three months, he experienced great difficulty in the House of Commons because he single-handedly had to meet the attacks of the opposition, led by Charles James Fox, Edmund Burke, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and Lord North. In March 1784, however, Pitt called for a new election and scored a great triumph. This provided him with a majority in the House of Commons.
Pitt then turned his attention to improving the British economy. He increased government revenue, funded the national debt, improved the government’s credit, and negotiated a free-trade treaty with France. He extended the authority of the British government over India. But Pitt also had troubles. King George III suffered from a disease—probably porphyria—that, beginning in 1788, made him appear to be mentally ill. Pitt had to struggle against a Whig party campaign to name the Prince of Wales as regent. Pitt feared that if the Whigs succeeded, they would take over the government. George’s recovery in 1789 relieved the situation.
A more important problem—the French Revolution—soon challenged Pitt. At first, he failed to sense its significance. But his attitude changed when France declared war on Britain in 1793. Pitt organized a vast coalition of European countries to fight France. After some successes, the alliance suffered military defeats. Several nations left the alliance. After the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte in France, the situation steadily grew worse. Pitt entered into peace negotiations with the French government, but was unsuccessful. The coalition came to a dismal end when Napoleon’s triumphs over Austria brought about Austria’s withdrawal from the coalition.
Britain remained at war with France, and Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798 to destroy British trade with the Middle East. But after Napoleon had arrived in Egypt, a British fleet destroyed his fleet in the Battle of the Nile. Pitt then helped form a second coalition of nations against France, and the coalition defeated the French army in Italy. But Napoleon returned to France and, in 1800, scored a decisive victory against the coalition.
Pitt resigned from office in March 1801 after his failure to persuade George III to allow Roman Catholics to enter Parliament at the time of the Act of Union. The Act of Union had formed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland earlier in 1801. Pitt returned to office in 1804 to organize a third coalition of nations against Napoleon.
This coalition also fell before the French, and its failure proved disastrous to Pitt. He was sadly troubled already because of the king’s worsening health problems and his own poor health and disorganized finances. Pitt died on Jan. 23, 1806.
