His long reign (1760 to 1820) was dominated by war.
The Seven Years War (1756 to 1763) with the French, which England won, shifted the balance of power in Europe for over 25 years.
But the next battle splintered George's empire. The rebellion of England's American colonies led to the birth of the United States of America. George was quick to accept the new reality. 'I was the last to consent to the separation,' he said, 'but I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power.'
After the French Revolution in 1789, Britain was soon embroiled in new conflict with the post-revolution government in Paris and and its successor, dominated by a man who wanted all of Europe for himself. A Corsican named Napoleon Bonaparte, who was born nine years after George had ascended to the throne.
England's long war with the French finally ended on the battlefield of Waterloo, with Napoleon's defeat at the hands of the Duke of Wellington, who had earned the spurs of battle in India as Arthur Wellesley, fighting the Tiger of Mysore, Tipu Sultan.
George oversaw the unification of Great Britain and Ireland, forming the United Kingdom, before he grew increasingly instable. The slide into insanity was brilliantly chronicled in Nicholas Hynter's memorable movie, The Madness of King George, starring the awesome Nigel Hawthrone as the British monarch.
From 1810, his eldest son George, the future George IV, ruled the United Kingdom as Prince Regent.
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