(born June 3, 1865, London, Eng.—died Jan. 20, 1936, Sandringham, Norfolk) King of the United Kingdom (1910–36). The second son of the future
Edward VII, he succeeded his father in 1910. Early in his reign, he faced problems resulting from the constitutional struggle to restrict the power of the House of
Lords. Respect for the new king increased during World War I, and he visited the front in France several times. After the war he faced both serious industrial unrest and, in 1923, the resignation as prime minister of Andrew
Bonar Law, who was replaced by
Stanley Baldwin. After the collapse of the pound sterling and the subsequent financial crisis in 1931, he persuaded James
Ramsay MacDonald to remain in office and form a national coalition government. He was succeeded successively by his sons
Edward VIII and
George VI.
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica
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