Pitt, William, the Younger (1759–1806)

English statesman and prime minister, William Pitt the Younger. Serving a long tenure in power during the turbulent years of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, the younger Pitt negotiated three European coalitions against France with little success on land, but oversaw the foundation of British naval supremacy after the Battle of Trafalgar.

British Tory prime minister 1783–1801 and 1804–06. He raised the importance of the House of Commons, clamped down on corruption, carried out fiscal reforms, and effected the union with Ireland. He attempted to keep Britain at peace but underestimated the importance of the French Revolution and became embroiled in wars with France from 1793; he died on hearing of Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz.

Son of William Pitt the Elder, he entered Cambridge University at the age of 14 and Parliament at 22. He was the Whig prime minister William Shelburne's chancellor of the Exchequer 1782–83, and with the support of the Tories and king's friends became Britain's youngest prime minister 1783.

Pitt was born at Hayes, Kent, studied law at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, and was called to the Bar in 1780. In Parliament, his maiden speech, in favour of Edmund Burke's bill for economic reform, on 26 February 1781, drew extravagant praise from Burke, Fox, and North. Pitt was able to form his first administration when the coalition ministry between North and Fox collapsed in December 1783. However, leading a minority government, his position was not secure until he went to the country the following year, and secured a large majority. In this election, he was returned for Cambridge University, which he represented for the rest of his life. One of the most important financial measures that he introduced in his first term of office was a sinking fund to reduce the national debt. During the Revolutionary Wars against France, the British navy was successful in its battles, but the coalition's land armies suffered severely, and a general clamour arose for Pitt's resignation, which he tendered in 1801. He was succeeded by Henry Addington, whose administration he at first supported, and he spoke in support of the Peace of Amiens. When war broke out again in May 1803, it was evident that the Addington ministry could not prosecute it effectively, and a year later Pitt was again called to lead the country. He formed the third coalition of nations against Napoleon, but this was fatally weakened when Spain joined France, and destroyed by Napoleon's great military victories in 1805–06.