ABSTRACT
The early years of George's reign were years of political achievement. The accession of George in 1714 added a new British dimension to this process of actual or possible kaleidoscopic rearrangement. George's accession took this option dramatically forward as the prospect of Anglo-Austrian co-operation appeared more obvious as George had been a wartime ally of Charles. Moreover, his Whig ministers were eager to look to Austria to counteract the Tory France alignment. Drawing on far more than nostalgia, there was talk in Whig circles of reviving the wartime Grand Alliance against France. The Whig ministry sought to recreate the Grand Alliance with Austria and the United Provinces, a policy designed to oppose France and to drive a wedge between France and Austria. George reconstituted the ministry in order to ensure support for his Hanoverian policy. He moved Stanhope from the Southern to the crucial Northern Department, and demoted Townshend from that post to the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland.
