ENGLISH REVOLUTION (1642): CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2024

The English Revolution of 1642 was a historical period that encompassed the two civil wars that raged in the United Kingdom between the royalists and the parliamentarians. The Parliamentary side also featured forces from other kingdoms of the British Isles, such as the Irish Confederates and the Scottish Covenanters.

The civil war broke out in August 1642 in England, after King Charles I unilaterally decided to assemble an army to fight the rebels in Ireland. Parliament had not approved this move by the king, which triggered a civil war between both sides.

Background

Differences between the king and Parliament

Charles I was the son of James VI, who was King of Scotland but inherited the English thunder after the then king's death. James was a pacifist but somewhat flamboyant king.

His extravagance meant that the English Parliament did not give him much money to carry out the reforms he wanted. However, when it was Charles I's turn to inherit the throne, trouble began.

Parliament always had reservations about Charles I. The king's policies were not always the right ones and Parliament refused to confer on him rights that had been given to previous kings. These first differences began in 1625.

While there was friction between Charles and Parliament by then, when the members of the Parliament itself changed in 1626, the measures against the king were tougher, greatly increasing the problems between the two parties.

From then on everything got worse, until in 1629 Charles I dissolved Parliament and ruled for 11 years himself. This was the main antecedent of conflict between the British Crown and the English Parliament.

Causes

Rebellion in Scotland

Charles I wanted to unify religious beliefs across the UK, and he applied a measure to change the way the Church in Scotland was structured. This generated great discontent in the country, which led to a rebellion in Edinburgh in 1637. In 1639, a conflict called the War of the Bishops broke out.

The Scots who rose up were called Covenanters, as they supported the National Covenant, which was a national pact in which established religious traditions were supported.

By 1640 the reign of Charles I was going through an economic crisis. The king decided to reinstate Parliament as a measure that he thought would help him obtain more funds. However, the re-established Parliament took a hostile position against the king, and he dissolved it shortly afterwards.

The king decided to attack the rebels in Scotland on his own account. His troops lost the battle hard, which led to the Scottish Covenanters to invade England. During this time the rebel troops occupied two English provinces.

Reestablishment of Parliament

Charles I was in a rather desperate financial position by the time the Scots took over the north of England. The king was pressured to re-establish Parliament, as his economic measures were not strong enough to generate money on their own.

The new Parliament was quite hostile against the king, even more than with the previous one. He took advantage of the precarious situation that he was going through to pass several laws that harmed the then king.

After a series of countless differences between the king and the new Parliament, Charles I went with 400 soldiers to where the Parliament was meeting. The king's mission was to arrest five important figures for instigating a revolution, but the head of Parliament refused to give him their location.

This last event and the negative general opinion that a large part of the people had about the king, led to civil wars that lasted until 1651.

Consequences

British bloodshed

The number of deaths that the English Revolution brought with it was one of the most shocking consequences of the civil war. In fact, it was the bloodiest internal conflict (within the British Isles) in the history of this European nation.

Although it is difficult to estimate the number of deaths in such an old war, an approximate figure of 85,000 killed in battle is handled, while the numbers of people killed in confrontations of another nature is much higher, around 130,000. these, approximately 40,000 were civilians.

Although the casualties were lower in Ireland and Scotland, the percentage of the population decreased much more significantly in these countries, as they had fewer inhabitants than England. In Scotland about 15,000 civilians were killed, while in Ireland (which had less than 1/5 the population of England) about 140,000 died.

Total casualties are around 200,000 (including civilians and soldiers). It was the last internal war to be fought on English soil and it left a permanent legacy in the history of Great Britain. Since this conflict, Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland have not had confidence in the military movements of neighboring nations.

Execution of the king

After the end of the war, Charles I was accused of high treason and crimes against England. At first, the king refused to acknowledge the sentence imposed on him because the law dictated that a monarch cannot be indicted by a court. He refused to respond to the crimes he was accused of in court.

On January 27, 1649, the king was sentenced to death. He was asked to be executed as a tyrant, traitor, murderer and public enemy. The execution took place on January 30. After the king's death, a republic was established to rule England.

The banishment of Charles II

After the execution of Charles I, Parliament named his son the new King of England. However, soon after the Commonwealth of England was established and the country became a republic. Charles II tried to fight Oliver Cromwell, who shortly after was in charge of the Commonwealth.

After the defeat of his troops, Charles II fled to other European countries. He lived in exile in France, Holland and Spain the period of nine years in which the United Kingdom was a republic.

The establishment of the Commonwealth of England

Following the execution of Charles I, the Commonwealth of England was established. This lasted until 1660 and was a stage in which the United Kingdom stopped being led as a monarchy and started to be managed as a republic. In its beginnings, it was only made up of England and Wales; then Scotland and Ireland joined it.

From 1653 to 1659 this regime had a hiatus, as Oliver Cromwell was appointed lord protector of the United Kingdom. This allowed for a military dictatorship for six years, until democracy was reestablished in 1660.

After Oliver Cromwell passed away, his son took over the Commonwealth. However, they did not have the necessary confidence and, after a series of internal conflicts, it was decided to reinstate the monarchy. The person in charge of taking over the throne was Charles II, son of the previous monarch, who returned from exile.

Prominent figures

Charles I

Charles I had been the King of the Scots and was the King of England when the revolution broke out. His unilateral actions were one of the main causes of the uprising that led to a nine-year hiatus in the British monarchy.

His execution in 1649 ushered in the reign of his son and was the beginning of the end for the monarchy free of parliamentary power in the United Kingdom.

Oliver Cromwell

Cromwell was a political and military leader of the United Kingdom. He acted as head of state and army during an important part of the period in which the Commonwealth of England was in force.

He was in charge of commanding the English troops to Ireland to put an end to the civil conflict that continued after the end of the English Revolution. In addition, he was one of those in charge of issuing the execution order against Charles I.

He is widely regarded as a dictator and regicide, but there are also historians who see him as a hero of freedom.

Richard Cromwell

Richard was the son of Oliver Cromwell and was commissioned to run the Commonwealth after his father's death in 1658. However, he had little authority and was not respected, as was the case with his father.

In the absence of a figure emanating the authority that Oliver Cromwell did have, the government lost a great deal of legitimacy and power. This led to the eventual restoration of Charles II to the throne of England.

Charles II

The monarchy was reestablished in 1660, with Charles II on the throne. He was the son of Charles I and, unlike his father, he was one of the most worshiped kings in the history of the United Kingdom. He was in charge of returning the country to normal after a decade of constant internal conflicts. After his death, his brother inherited the throne.

References

1. English Civil War, Jane Ohlmeyer, March 22, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
2. Charles I, Maurice Ashley, (nd). Taken from Britannica.com
3. English Civil War, History Channel Online, (nd). Taken from history.com
4. The English Civil War (1642-1651), English History, (nd). Taken from englishhistory.net
5. English Civil War, Wikipedia in English, March 21, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
6. Commonwealth of England, Wikipedia in English, February 15, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
7. Oliver Cromwell, Wikipedia in English, March 24, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
8. Richard Cromwell, Wikipedia in English, March 19, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org