Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader best known for making
England a republic and leading the Commonwealth of England. Cromwell's actions
during his career seem confusing: he supported Parliament against the King, yet he
ordered his soldiers to break up parliament. Under his rule, the Protectorate said that
people's religious beliefs should be respected, but people who went against what most
people believed were sometimes tortured and imprisoned.

Cromwell was the first ruler of England to be a Puritan.

He was also a very talented military leader. In a short space of time after joining the army,
he was put in charge of the 'Horse' of the cavalry of the Parliamentary Army, which
contributed to Parliamentary success in the first period of civil war. Then, he helped to
create the 'New Model' Army - a centralised fighting force which won Parliament many
victories such as at the Battle of Naseby. By the final phase of civil war, Cromwell had
become the Lord General of the Parliamentarian army. He was hated by royalists for his
role in the trial and execution of Charles I. He was also unpopular with many
parliamentarians who disliked the 'tyranny' of the army and after realising he could not
work with them, Cromwell disbanded the Rump Parliament. In one sense, he replaced a
monarchical regime with a puritanical republic. His ideal of religious toleration was
viewed suspiciously by his contemporaries. And his destructive Scottish and Irish
campaigns have blackened his historical reputation as statesmen.(According to
historians, Cromwell and his army used massacres, starvation, and threats of execution
to force the Irish to leave)