Oliver Cromwell

3 Pages 820 Words

Cromwell was more responsible for the overthrow of the Stuarts than any other man, and as the commander of a large, well-trained army, he had the power to establish a dictatorship. However, he was no ordinary military conqueror who sought civil power, and the real tragedy of his career was that he was forced to assume a political role in order to protect the ideals for which he and his men had fought. Although he was one of the greatest military commanders in history, he had little political imagination. He stumbled form one expedient to another in search of some form of government which a majority of Englishmen would support, but the painful truth was that the opponents of the Stuarts could agree on no alternative to Stuart rule.

At first, Cromwell left civil affairs in the hands of the Rump-the unpurged members of Parliament-and an appointed council. He turned to Ireland, where he suppressed a rebellion with great cruelty, and then to Scotland, where he put down a Stuart uprising. The mercantile element in Parliament brought England into a war with the Dutch and passed measures designed to help big-city merchants. At the same time, Parliament was lax in the payment of troops, and some of its members were accused of accepting bribes. To ensure their continuance in power, they even decided to fill vacant seats by nomination instead of election. Cromwell could stand it no longer In April, 1653, he ordered his troops to disperse the Rump. As the members of Parliament departed, the general shouted: "It's you that have forced me to do this, for I have sought the Lord night and ay that he would slay me rather than put me upon the doing of this work." With the arrogant certainty of one who is convinced that h!
e is doing God's will, Cromwell had now destroyed both king and Parliament.

God was less helpful in revealing to Cromwell what alternate form of government should be established. At length, he was persuaded that the best way to s...