Kingdom of Hanover

Kingdom of Hanover Königreich Hannover (German)
1814–1866
Top: Flag (1814–1837); Royal standard (1837-1866) Bottom: Flag (1837-1866) Coat of arms
Motto: Suscipere et Finire "To Undertake and Finish"
Anthem: Heil dir, Hannover "Hail to you, Hanover"
The Kingdom of Hanover in 1815
Status	State of the German Confederation, in personal union with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1814–1837)
Capital	Hanover
Common languages	German West Low German
Religion	Protestantism (mainly Lutheranism,[1] but also Calvinism), Catholicism
Government	Constitutional monarchy
King
• 1814–1820	George III
• 1820–1830	George IV
• 1830–1837	William IV
• 1837–1851	Ernest Augustus
• 1851–1866	George V
Legislature	Assembly of the Kingdom of Hanover
History
• Congress of Vienna	12 October 1814
• German revolutions	13 March 1848
• Austro-Prussian War	14 June 1866
• Peace of Prague	23 August 1866
• Annexed by Prussia	20 September 1866
Currency	Hanoverian thaler (1814–1857) Hanoverian vereinsthaler (1857–1866)
Preceded by Succeeded by Electorate of Hanover Kingdom of Westphalia Province of Hanover
Today part of	Germany Netherlands[dubious – discuss]

The Kingdom of Hanover (German: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover,^[2] and joined 38 other sovereign states in the German Confederation in June 1815. The kingdom was ruled by the House of Hanover, a cadet branch of the House of Welf, in personal union with Great Britain between 1714 and 1837. Since its monarch resided in London, a viceroy, usually a younger member of the British royal family, handled the administration of the Kingdom of Hanover.

The personal union with the United Kingdom ended in 1837 upon the accession of Queen Victoria because semi-Salic law prevented females from inheriting the Hanoverian throne while a dynastic male was still alive. Her uncle Ernest Augustus thus became the ruler of Hanover. His only son succeeded him to the throne as George V. As he backed the losing side in the Austro-Prussian War, his kingdom was conquered by Prussia in 1866 and ceased to exist as an independent kingdom, becoming the Prussian Province of Hanover. In January 1871, along with the rest of Prussia, Hanover became part of the German Empire upon the unification of Germany. Briefly revived as the State of Hanover in 1946, the state was later merged with some smaller states to form the current state of Lower Saxony in West Germany.