What did William Pitt the Younger have to do with the French Revoltion?

Answer 1

William Pitt, the Younger (28 May 1759 -- 23 January 1806) was aBritish politician of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24. He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death. He is known as "William Pitt the Younger" to distinguish him from his father, William Pitt the Elder.

The war with France was extremely expensive, straining Great Britain's finances. In 1797, Pitt was forced to protect the kingdom's gold reserves by preventing individuals from exchanging banknotes for gold. Great Britain would continue to use paper money for over two decades. Pitt was also forced to introduce Great Britain's first ever income tax. The new tax helped offset losses in indirect tax revenue, which had been caused by a decline in trade. Despite the efforts of Pitt and the British allies, the French continued to defeat the members of the First Coalition, which collapsed in 1798. A Second Coalition, consisting of Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire, was formed, but it, too, failed to overawe the French. The fall of the Second Coalition with the defeat of the Austrians at Marengo (14 June 1800) left Great Britain facing France alone.