Editing Kingdom of Great Britain (section)

====George I: 1714–1727====
During his reign, George I spent only about half as much of his time overseas as had William III, who also reigned for thirteen years.<ref name="ODNBGeorgeI">{{Cite ODNB|title=George I|last=Gibbs|first=G. C.|date=21 May 2009|volume=1|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/10538}}</ref> [[Jeremy Black (historian)|Jeremy Black]] has argued that George wanted to spend even more time in Hanover: "His visits, in 1716, 1719, 1720, 1723 and 1725, were lengthy, and, in total, he spent a considerable part of his reign abroad. These visits were also occasions both for significant negotiations and for the exchange of information and opinion....The visits to Hanover also provided critics with the opportunity...to argue that British interests were being neglected....George could not speak English, and all relevant documents from his British ministers were translated into French for him....Few British ministers or diplomats...knew German, or could handle it in precise discussion."{{Sfn|Black|2016|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XdQGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT44 44–45]}}

George I supported the expulsion of the Tories from power; they remained in the political wilderness until his great-grandson George III came to power in 1760 and began to replace Whigs with Tories.{{Sfn|Williams|1962|pages=11–44}} George I has often been caricatured in the history books, but according to his biographer [[Ragnhild Hatton]]:
{{Blockquote|...on the whole he did well by Great Britain, guiding the country calmly and responsibly through the difficult postwar years and repeated invasions or threatened invasions... He liked efficiency and expertise, and had long experience of running an orderly state... He cared for the quality of his ministers and his officers, army and naval, and the strength of the navy in fast ships grew during his reign... He showed political vision and ability in the way in which he used British power in Europe.<ref>{{Citation |last=Hatton |first=Ragnhild |title=England's Rise to Greatness |date=1983 |pages=213–255, quoting p. 241 |editor-last=Baxter |editor-first=Stephen B. |chapter=New Light on George I |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-04572-9 |ol=3505103M |author-link=Ragnhild Hatton |editor-link=Stephen Baxter (author)}}</ref>}}