8.

Oliver Cromwell
When Queen Elisabeth died the country had reached a turning point. It depended on the will of a single
person: the monarch. The Stuarts were not capable.
James 1
st
was a popular king and he brought the country together but he was driven by the idea that the
king was above everything. He didnt encourage Catholicism so the Catholics tried to kill him. The
puritans were unhappy as well since they were disturbed by the Anglican Church so they moved and set
up a colony in America. King James was in a constant conflict with the parliament and with his people as
well.
After he died, his son Charles 1
st
inherited the crown. He was very inflexible and he decided to rule the
country by himself with the help of his two ministers: Strafford and Loud. He brought the Church of
Scotland into the Body of Anglican church so the scots rose in rebellion. The king didnt have a
parliament and the scots moved in the North England and took the city of York. Charles was forced to
summon the so called Short Parliament (1 month) but the parliament wanted the king to respect the
Magna Charta. He summoned the Long Parliament (20 years) but encountered the same issue. The king
accepted that his ministers be tried for treason and Strafford was executed. In 1622 the kings arrests some
members of the Parliament and the country is now in state of Civil War.
In the first state it went well for the king but then he decided to surrender to the scots and he was held in
relative captivity on an island. Thats when a riff appeared between the Parliament and its own army.
Oliver Cromwell was a devoted Calvinist who showed authentic genius for military organization. People
were fanatically loyal and because of his success he reorganized the Parliament Army. He invents the
army that we have today (politicians had to stop running the army) and he introduces military discipline.
In 1648 Cromwell and the army put the king on trial (they didnt have any juridical foundation). The king
was accused of treason and died in 1649. Charles 2
nd
was proclaimed as king. In 1649 the Rump of the
Long Parliament decided that England should be governed as a Commonwealth and Free State. During
the following years Cromwell is a military dictator and in 1653 he becomes Lord Protector so the
Protectorate is established.
Cromwell lost due to the fact that he was not popular among people. He was an extreme puritan and a
very strict person. He had a reckless attitude towards Ireland and he couldnt bring the country together.
He died in 1658 without his place being taken by his son. During his reign the political parties that would
rule England were born.