Having a huge impact on the fate of England, Scotland and Ireland.
Pre-revolutionary Britain: features of economic and social development The most important factors that influenced the economy and the mood of the people of Britain were the demographic boom and rising prices for consumer goods. More than 80% of the population lived in rural areas, but rural economy was incapable of occupying an ever-increasing number of people. Another consequence of population growth was galloping inflation. In the 1620s and 1630s, the incomes of the population dropped sharply. This was mitigated by the fact that in England most of the townspeople kept cattle, had vegetable gardens and orchards. In addition, employers often partly paid workers with products. The landlords also sought to increase the efficiency of land use: driving holders from it, they reduced individual plots into one large field, drained the soil, fertilized it, put new areas into circulation, draining swamps and swamps. The peasants, forced to sell their plots under the pressure of landlords and economic difficulties, replenished the army of landless workers who moved around the country in search of employment. Migration, a feature of everyday life, and frequent riots by the dispossessed created a general sense of danger and instability. The authorities and society took measures to reduce the number of poor and homeless vagrants. City officials licensed the right to collect alms; The Poor Acts, passed by the English (1571, 1598, 1601) and Scottish (1579, 1597) parliaments, ordered church parishes to collect payments from wealthy citizens to support the poor. Rising prices for agricultural products allowed landlords, enterprising kryons and urban residents employed in the agricultural sector to receive high incomes. Profitable sectors of the economy were also the extraction, transportation and sale of coal, the production of iron, glass, shipbuilding, and cloth making. In the XVI century. the largest and fastest fortunes were made in the field of maritime and ocean trade, which was monopoly engaged in trading companies. In the first half of the XVII century. conditions for foreign trade turned out to be less favorable than before. Its total volume stopped growing due to the crisis in the cloth industry. Dutch merchants dominated the Baltic and the Spice Islands. Amsterdam has become the main trading platform in Europe. The merchants and financiers of the City have repeatedly asked the Stuarts to change their economic policy, to abolish restrictions on the export of money, to impose a ban on the transport of English goods on foreign ships, to demand from the Republic of the United Provinces a reduction in duties on English cloth, to impose fishing limits for the Dutch off the British coast. Since foreign trade was in the hands of monopoly companies or individuals who obtained patents due to their proximity to the court, their opponents demanded greater freedom of trade and the abolition of monopolies. The criticism of monopolies in Parliament in 1621 forced the government to abolish the most odious of them and bring to justice those who abused monopoly rights. Politics After the death of Elizabeth I (1603), the crown passed to the King of Scotland, James VI Stuart, who began to rule in England and Ireland under the name of James I. England, Scotland and Ireland differed significantly from each other - economically, socially, culturally and confessionally. England was the most economically developed, had a centralized system of government, its entire population spoke English and professed predominantly Protestantism. Scotland was less centralized. The inhabitants of its highlands spoke Gaelic and were largely faithful to Catholicism. There was a clan system. The royal administration in Edinburgh found it difficult to control the clans. The inhabitants of economically and culturally more developed lowland Scotland spoke a dialect similar to English, professed Calvinism and were wary of the "wild" highlanders. The most complex and heterogeneous country was Ireland. Its population consisted of three culturally and ethnically distinct communities. The largest ethnic community was the Celts or "Old Irish", who spoke Gaelic and lived in clans (here they were called "septs"). The exchange between the "old Irish" was very often still not monetary, but in kind. Another significant group of the population were the so-called old English, the descendants of the Norman conquerors, who began as early as the 12th century. colonization of Peil (Eastern Ireland), and then established themselves in other regions. The main city of Peil, where the English administration was located, was Dublin. In Peila, the English three-field agricultural system was used. The land belonged to the lords of the manors, who leased it to the peasants for holding. In the XVI - early XVII century. London actively contributed to the resettlement of English and Scots who professed Protestantism to Ireland. They were allocated "plantations" - territories taken away from the Irish. Protestant enclaves were also called upon to serve as a support for the central government on the island. Thus, a third group of the population was formed - the "new Englishmen". In the political sphere, the main result of Tudor rule was the strengthening royalty. The Privy Council, created in 1540, which included the heads of the most important departments headed by the chancellor, the secretary of state, and the ministers of the royal court, became the center of government, and where the most significant domestic and foreign policy decisions were worked out. In order to increase its influence on legal proceedings and introduce religious uniformity, the crown created emergency courts - the Star Chamber and the High Commission. However, the most authoritative body of power in England was Parliament. Without asking his consent, the king had no right to tax his subjects. Due to inflation, the crown's income from other sources decreased by 40%, so parliamentary grants were of great importance to the treasury. In pre-revolutionary England, the relations of the Stuarts with the chambers often did not work out. Among the major domestic political problems that fell to the Stuarts was the unfinished Reformation. Although the dogma of Anglicanism absorbed the ideas of Calvin, the church retained the episcopate, hierarchical structure, and magnificent vestments of priests adopted in Catholicism, which provoked criticism from supporters of more radical Protestantism - the Puritans, who insisted on continuing the Reformation and deepening church reforms. The ideal for one part of the Puritans (Presbyterians) were the communities of early Christianity and the Calvinist churches of Geneva and Scotland, which excluded the presence of bishops, the hierarchy of spiritual positions and the subordination of the Church to royal authority. According to the Presbyterians, at the level of parishes, meetings (consistory) of spiritual pastors (presbyters) and secular elders should support the true faith, and at the level of dioceses, assemblies or synods of elected priests and elders should lead the Church. In England, from the 1580s, there were even more radical Protestants - Independents, who rejected any officially established religious order and opposed intervention. secular power into spiritual things. The Stuarts tried not to bother the powerful Scottish magnates. Scotland had its own parliament and a special legal system based on the norms of Roman law. In Scotland the position of the Presbyterian Church was very strong. Protestantism won there on the initiative of secular persons who established the Presbyterian Church - Kirk. As a result, Presbyterian consistories played a largely defining role in the religious and social life of the lowlands of Scotland. The episcopate was formally retained, but was removed from solving church issues. The administration of the Church was carried out by the General Assembly of elected representatives of the consistories, among whom there were many secular persons. The English kings owned Ireland by right of conquest. After the Reformation began in England, and the Irish Celts and the "old English" remained faithful to Catholicism, the English crown, faced with resistance and uprisings of Catholics, began to strengthen its military presence on the island. The Stuarts legally abolished the clan system in Ireland, depriving the chiefs of judicial power. All residents were declared free subjects of the king. Irish peasants had to pay their lords only fixed annuities and duties. Ireland was subject to English law and institutions similar to those of the mother country were created. In 1607, the crown confiscated lands in six counties in the northwest of the island and began their accelerated colonization. The "new English" quickly grew rich and sought to dominate the system of government, causing the envy of the "old English" and the hatred of the Irish. Conflicts between King and Parliament under Charles I The short history of Charles I's relationship with Parliament is full of conflicts. In 1628, the deputies adopted the "Petition for the Right", condemning forced extortions from the population and arbitrary arrests. From 1629 the king ceased to convene parliament. In search of a source of replenishment of the treasury, the government in 1634 ordered to begin collecting "ship money" for the needs of the fleet. Many did not want to obey. The religious policy of Charles I also caused sharp rejection in society. He placed Archbishop W. Laud, a follower of the Dutch theologian J. Arminius, at the helm of the Anglican Church. The Arminians tried to reconcile the Calvinist doctrine of predestination with the Catholic doctrine of free will. Such theological innovations reinforced the suspicion that had already arisen under James I that the Stuarts were condoning Catholicism. The change split the Anglican clergy. The religious balance that existed in the Church and society was disturbed, and the Puritans acquired in the eyes of the people the image heroic defenders true faith. Lod strongly promoted doctrinal and ritual uniformity, considering the established liturgy to be better than an impromptu sermon. The clergy Lod considered standing above the rest of the people. Under him, many old symbols of worship were restored. Lod had no intention of restoring Catholicism, but the Puritans accused him of doing just that. An extremely unsuccessful move by the crown was the attempt to introduce an Anglican church system in Scotland instead of the Presbyterian one. The king announced his intention to regain control over the lands transferred during the Reformation to secular persons, to introduce a specially composed prayer book into the church liturgy. In 1637 the Scots revolted and abolished the episcopacy altogether. Nobles, priests and commoners signed the National Covenant, demonstrating their determination to fight "for the true faith and ancient liberties." The king began a war with Scotland, which was very ruinous for the treasury and extremely unpopular in England. To receive subsidies, the king was forced to convene parliament. The "Short Parliament" (April 13 - May 5, 1640) was immediately dissolved for outright obstinacy, and some of its members were even arrested. The Scots, meanwhile, occupied the northern counties of England. The constitutional period of the revolution (1640-1642) The beginning of the A. p. dates from November 1640, when the sessions of the parliament, later called "Long", opened. An opposition group was formed in it, headed by Presbyterian J. Pym, who set the tone for the work of deputies. Parliament adopted a number of laws that significantly limited royal power. A three-year act established the frequency of parliamentary sessions - once every 3 years, regardless of the desire of the monarch. The Star Chamber was abolished, High Commission, Councils of the North and Wales, abolished illegal taxes, suspended the right of the Crown to dissolve Parliament. The king's closest advisers are the Earl of Strafford and the Archbishop. Lod were arrested. In the spring of 1641 Strafford was convicted and executed. In October 1641, an uprising broke out in Ireland, information about which reached London, acquiring rumors of hundreds of thousands of brutally murdered Protestants and the readiness of the Irish to invade England. Parliament and the king agreed that to put down the rebellion, an army should be raised and paid for with funds from loans received against future land confiscations in Ireland. In November 1640, the House of Commons passed the Great Remonstrance, demanding that the king reform the Church in the Presbyterian manner and continue to appoint officials with the consent of Parliament. In January 1642, Charles I made an unsuccessful attempt to arrest 5 leaders of the House of Commons - Pym, Hampden, Hezlrig, Gollis and Strode, after which he left the capital. In February Parliament subdued the militias of the counties. On July 12, Parliament ordered the recruitment of the army to begin. On August 22, the king raised the standard over Nottingham, which marked the beginning of the civil war. Supporters of the king in it were called "cavaliers", adherents of parliament - "round-headed". First Civil War (1642-1646) Starting a struggle with the king, Parliament imposed monthly payments on the population and introduced extremely unpopular excises on consumer goods. First military clash, which occurred at Aggihill (October 1642), did not bring victory to either side. In the winter of 1642-1643, the parties strengthened their armed forces. Influential aristocrats recruited soldiers for the king, who then commanded these units, and often kept them. By the beginning of 1643, Parliament had 2 armies - in London under the command of Essex and in the southern counties under the command of Waller. Independent detachments also arose, headed by those who recruited them. field commanders . Neighboring counties united in associations to form the armed forces. This is how the army of the Eastern Association appeared under the command of the Earl of Manchester, in which T. Fairfax and O. Cromwell began their military career. During the summer campaign of 1643, the initiative belonged to the royalists, who gained the upper hand in a number of local clashes. In September 1643, the Long Parliament and the Scottish Presbyterians concluded the Solemn League and Covenant, an agreement under which England pledged to introduce the Presbyterian Church in exchange for military assistance from Scotland in the fight against the king. The Committee of the Two Kingdoms was established to coordinate military operations. Scotland's entry into the war shifted the balance of power in favor of Parliament. 07/02/1644 the combined forces of the Scottish and Parliamentarian army defeated the royalists at Marston Moor. In turn, the Royalists defeated Essex's army in Cornwall. In Scotland, the Marquis of Montrose, who fought on the side of the king, led the highlanders and the Irish who landed to help them, in the autumn of 1644 - in the winter of 1645 inflicted a number of defeats on the Covenanters. After the second battle of Newbury (10/22/1644), in which the Earl of Manchester did not heed the calls of Cromwell and did not complete the defeat of the king's army, there was a disengagement in the parliamentary camp. Manchester, Parliament, the Presbyterians and the Scottish Covenanters began to lean towards a compromise with the king. As early as 1643-1644, the English Presbyterians, in accordance with an agreement with the Covenanters, embarked on a church reform. They removed the episcopate from power, banned those who did not accept the Covenant from holding leadership positions in the church, and tried to convince parliament to refuse to interfere in church affairs. The Independents, including O. Cromwell, strongly opposed the imposition of religious uniformity by the Presbyterians. They stood for broad freedom of religion and worship, extending to numerous dissent (from the English dissent - “sectarian”, “schismatic”, “dissenter”) sects that have arisen in large numbers since the beginning of the revolution. In December 1644, the Independents passed through Parliament the Ordinance of Self-denying, which forbade combining the posts of an army officer and a parliamentarian. And soon many of the former commanders - Presbyterians - chose to leave the army. In January 1645, Parliament, at the suggestion of the Independents, passed the Ordinance on the creation of a professional army, which the royalists ironically called "the army of a new model." From now on, the army units were supported by taxes and were not subordinate to their regional lords, but to a single command. The reform put at the head of the army people who did not belong to the aristocracy but distinguished themselves on the battlefields with the royalists. The civil war temporarily weakened the influence of local elites, who were pushed aside from civil and military administration. However, the emerging system, due to its extraordinary nature and high cost, could not exist for too long. T. Fairfax became the commander-in-chief of the new, united army, and O. Cromwell became the commander of the cavalry. On June 14, 1645, the “New Model Army” utterly defeated the royalists at Nazby and decided the outcome of the war in favor of Parliament. In August 1645, the Covenanters defeated Montrose's detachments in Scotland. In 1646 Parliament passed a law abolishing the rights of the king as supreme overlord over the land. The institution of knightly holding, on the basis of which landlords owned land, was abolished, and possessions were turned into freely alienable property. In the same year, the episcopate was abolished, and the bishops' lands were put on sale. In 1646 Parliament passed the Ordinance for Presbyterian Government in the English Church. Left without troops, the king surrendered to the Scots in May 1646, who at the beginning of 1647 handed him over to the British for 400,000 pounds. The political crisis of 1647 The end of the war inspired hopes for the restoration of peace and order. The harvests of 1646 and 1647 were meager. The provinces demanded that Parliament cut taxes. The Presbyterians, who dominated parliament, which had a large debt in paying the salaries of soldiers, decided in February 1647 to disband a significant part of the army and use newly recruited soldiers to suppress the Irish uprising. The generals and army "lower classes" were categorically opposed to this. In the spring and summer of 1647, the army formed the General Council from the soldiers' delegates (agitators) and senior officers (grands) and acted as an independent political force. A cavalry detachment under the command of cornet Joyce captured the king (June 1647), making him a prisoner of the army, which entered London on 08/03/1647. Before marching on the capital, the General Council of the Army adopted the "Heads of Proposals" - a plan for resolving the political crisis. It proposed reforming the electoral system, ending the persecution of religious dissenters, and dissolving the Long Parliament. It soon became clear that in the army itself there was no unity between its “tops” and “bottoms”. Among the latter, the ideas of the radical grouping of the Levellers (“equalizers”) and their leaders J. Lilburn, R. Overton and W. Walvin. The Levellers proclaimed the people the source of power, demanded equal suffrage, legal reform and a fair redistribution of taxes. In October and November 1647, the grandees and representatives of the “lower classes” of the army held several meetings in Petney, near London, where they tried to work out an electoral reform plan acceptable to both sides. 11/11/1647 Charles I escaped from prison. In mid-November 1647, a mutiny broke out in one of the Leveller regiments, which was immediately suppressed. In December 1647, Charles I concluded a secret agreement with the Scots, who did not like the behavior of the English army, which was out of control of Parliament, and promised to introduce Presbyterianism in England in exchange for military assistance. Second Civil War (1648) The missed opportunity to restore peace caused a wave of discontent in the provinces, where royalist sentiments intensified. Riots broke out in the north, in Wales, Kent, Essex, but by the summer of 1648 the army had crushed almost all pockets of resistance. In July, the Scottish army, led by the Duke of Hamilton, invaded England, but already in August, the troops of Cromwell and Lambert utterly defeated Hamilton and the English royalists who joined him. 10/04/1648 Cromwell captured Edinburgh. While the army was at war, parliament resumed negotiations with the king. In November 1648, the General Council of the Army sent to the parliamentarians a "Remonstration" composed by Ayrton, declaring the only source of power to be the people with whom the king had broken the treaty. The existence of an alliance between the army and God was also declared, a demand was put forward to end the negotiations, judge the king, dissolve the Long Parliament and change the system of parliamentary elections. Parliament rejected the Remonstrance. On December 1, the army re-entered the capital. On December 6, a detachment of commander T. Pride carried out a “cleansing” of the Long Parliament from Presbyterians. The remaining deputies, nicknamed the "rump", handed over Charles I to a specially created tribunal, which sentenced the king to death. 01/30/1649 Charles I was executed. First English Republic (1649-1653) The coup of late 1648 - early 1649 was prepared and implemented by a politically active army and parliamentary minority. The execution of the legitimate, God-anointed monarch horrified the country. Such a turn of events did not meet the desires of the capital and provincial elites, which initially made the position of the "rump" and the new regime rather precarious. In February 1649 the House of Commons abolished the House of Lords and the monarchy, and in May England was proclaimed a republic. All executive power was transferred to the State Council. Ireland and Scotland did not recognize the new English power, declaring the son of the executed monarch King Charles II. The most serious domestic opponents of the Republic were the Presbyterians and the Royalists. Its main support was the army, and its main allies were numerous Protestant sects: millenarians, "people of the fifth monarchy", diggers, Baptists, ranters, Quakers. These sects no longer considered the Bible the most direct and simple way to God, but believed that the Lord directly affects every person. Through the grace of God, the uneducated commoner can know the truth better than the greatest theologian. The sectarians did not see the need for a state Church, prelacy, often promoted social equality and advocated the socialization of the lands. They lived in anticipation of the speedy second coming of Christ, who for the next 1000 years will rule on earth together with the resurrected righteous. A number of senior army officers shared the beliefs of some of the sects and longed for further change. However, the powerful elites of the counties and cities made it clear to Cromwell that they needed stability. His politics in the 1650s were characterized by religious tolerance and maneuvering between these two extremes in search of a stable political and administrative order. Cromwell was aware that the sectarians, or "saints" as they were called, did not make up the majority of the country's population, but he hoped that in time they would prevail in numbers. The victorious republic proceeded to conquer Ireland. In August 1649 Cromwell's army landed on the island. In March 1650 the capital Kilkenny capitulated. In May 1650 Parliament recalled Cromwell to England. In August 1652, the Act for the Establishment of Ireland was passed. 40% of the land remaining with the Irish and the "old English" was confiscated. The proceeds from its sale were used to pay off loans and pay the army. All Catholic landowners were evicted from six Irish counties, and their property was transferred to the "new English", i.e. Protestants. In July 1650, Cromwell moved his troops into Scotland against the combined forces of the Royalists and the Scots. On December 3, 1651, Scotland capitulated. The Republic pursued an equally aggressive foreign policy. In 1651, Parliament passed the Navigation Act directed against Holland, which forbade the importation of goods into England and its North American colonies on ships from three countries. Anglo-Dutch relations escalated, the war of 1652-1654 began (see Anglo-Dutch Wars), from which England emerged victorious. Holland had to come to terms with the Navigation Act. In 1649 a decision was made to sell the lands previously owned by the crown, and in 1651 to sell the lands of the royalists. As a result, a significant part of the confiscated real estate fell into the hands of prominent parliamentarians and leaders of the revolution. The level of confidence in the republic and deputies among the vast majority of the population fell even more, and on April 20, 1653, Cromwell dispersed the "rump" with the help of military force. Now Republican Independents have been added to the discontented Presbyterians and Royalists. Cromwell's protectorate (1653-1658) After the dissolution of the "rump" was convened in June 1653, in fact, a constituent assembly of 140 people, among whom were many radical sectarians. They declared themselves a parliament and announced their intention to codify law, abolish tithes, replace church marriage with civil marriage and free debtors from prison, but they could not translate their ideas into real laws. Cromwell did not want new upheavals, and on 12/12/1653 the assembly was dissolved, which partly parted Cromwell from the radical sectarians. Then the officers, led by Lambert, drafted a constitution called "Instrument of Government." The position of Lord Protector was established, which was received by Cromwell with a scope of powers that exceeded royal ones. He ruled with a unicameral parliament and between parliamentary sessions he could issue ordinances that had the force of law. Cromwell and the State Council did not seek to change the economic and social system . A society consisting of ranks that differed in the degree of nobility, income and regulated complicity in management seemed to them correct. Order, the Lord Protector believed, was impossible where there was no social and political hierarchy. Such principles corresponded to the ideas of the gentry and wealthy citizens. In order not to increase the number of enemies of his regime, Cromwell pursued a moderate religious policy. The Lord Protector pursued an active foreign policy. Having completed the war with Holland in 1654, he, in alliance with France, declared war on Spain (see Anglo-Spanish Wars). Military expenses were paid for by direct and indirect taxes, the magnitude of which had long surpassed the previous demands of the Stuarts and caused widespread public discontent. In April 1654, a union was proclaimed between England and Scotland. In the first Parliament convened by Cromwell (09/03/1654-01/22/1655), Republican deputies tried to revise the ordinances of the Lord Protector and some provisions of the constitution, and also demanded a halving of the army, the main pillar of the regime. Cromwell dissolved Parliament. In 1655, the royalists raised an uprising, which, although it was easily crushed, nevertheless showed that the regime needed to be reorganized. The Lord Protector divided England into 12 administrative and military districts, headed by major generals, who proceeded to liquidate the royalist underground, confiscate the possessions of supporters of the monarchy and impose a special tax on them. The second protectorate parliament (09/17/1656-02/04/1658) turned out to be as obstinate as the first. Already at the very beginning, about 100 Republican deputies were forcibly removed from it, and the parliament began to look for a way to move from military rule to a more predictable and stable civilian one. As a result, a new constitutional document, "The Most Humble Petition and Council" (May 1657), proposed that Cromwell accept the title of king, recreate the upper house and rule along with the Council appointed by him. Cromwell refused the monarchical title, agreed with the rest of the proposals and received the additional right to appoint a successor to himself. Thus, it was not possible to find a form of government that would be mutually acceptable to all. The stability of the regime was completely dependent on the personal authority of Cromwell, but the Lord Protector died on 09/03/1658. The Second English Republic (1659) Richard Cromwell, the successor and son of the deceased Lord Protector, came into conflict with the generals and was forced to resign from his post in May 1659. The republic was restored for some time, headed by the newly assembled deputies of the Long Parliament. In February 1660, an army under the command of J. Monck returned from Scotland to London, who actually assumed supreme power and entered into negotiations with Charles II. 04.04. 1660 Charles II issued a declaration in Breda (Flanders), promising in the event of his return a general amnesty to the participants in the revolution, with the exception of those who condemned his father to execution, freedom of religion and inviolability of the property that changed owners. On April 25, the so-called Parliamentary Convention was convened in London, which on May 1, 1660 restored the monarchy with Charles II at the head. The results of the revolution Usually, "revolution" is understood as a decisive break with the past, produced through violence, and the establishment of a new social order. However, with regard to events in Britain in the mid-17th century. one can certainly speak, perhaps, only of violence and rupture. During the years of the civil war, at least a quarter of a million people died in battles and from disease. The social and economic changes that followed such dramatic events were not so radical and not so obvious. The abolition of royal suzerainty over land and the abolition of some other former legal norms contributed to the formation of the land market, accelerated the concentration of arable land and pastures in the hands of landlords and the dispossession of peasants. But these processes began even under the Tudors, by the beginning of the revolution the population adapted to them to a certain extent, and, moreover, they then continued throughout the entire 18th century. The transfers of landed property during the revolution were quite large-scale, but after the Restoration, most of the alienated lands returned to their former owners. The final abolition of monopolies opened up prospects for a freer development of industry and trade, but on the whole the economic structure and social order did not undergo significant changes. Moreover, negative memories of empty and utopian promises of the imminent establishment of the Kingdom of God and general justice, in a certain sense, contributed to the conservation of the hierarchical social order. After the revolution, the economic development of Britain accelerated significantly, and the British economy a century later became the leading economy in the world, but this country could probably achieve without a civil war. In politics, the republican experiment did not justify itself, and there was a return to the monarchical form of government. Up to the first half of XIX in. the electoral system of England remained archaic, and the real participation of the majority of the population in electoral procedures was minimal. The revolution did not contribute to the strengthening of the union between Scotland and England, which will happen after almost half a century. Most notable were the institutional changes. Henceforth, the English monarchs could no longer manage without a parliament. IN public consciousness the idea of a balance of powers was gradually consolidated. The formation of political parties began, the institutions of a standing army and direct taxation were established. The mechanism of turnover and circulation of political elites began to take shape and function, excluding to a large extent the possibility of a repetition of the revolution. After the revolution, the religious sphere began to gain greater independence from the authorities. The Presbyterians in England had almost disappeared, but the number of various sects, which had adherents among the most diverse social strata, remained significant. The idea of tolerance and freedom of conscience, overcoming cultural stereotypes, became more and more relevant, despite the fact that the restored Anglican Church continued to stubbornly insist on uniformity. There was no other period in the history of Britain when such large masses of the people were in motion, driven by the mixed feelings of the social. discontent, confessional, legal and political infringement, religious exaltation and hope for the establishment of universal freedom and justice. At the same time, the revolution instilled in the British strong immunity from utopian calls for a rapid reorganization of the world. It contributed to the formation of a society in which respect for traditions, legality and the public domain received from the ancestors coexists with the ideas of individualism, freedom and popular sovereignty.
Russian Historical Encyclopedia
England- the country of "classical capitalism", it belonged to important role in the political life of Europe. With colonies, she had big influence and outside the European continent. Therefore, the revolution in England had a profound and lasting impact on the process of establishing capitalism not only in Europe but also on other continents.
main reason The English bourgeois revolution was a conflict between the dominant feudal system and the capitalist system that was gaining strength, a conflict between the bourgeois strata and the feudal-absolutist regime.
supporters of the revolution- the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie, the new nobility, artisans and most of the peasants who want to get land. Opponents- the old nobility and the Anglican clergy, headed by the king. Since the Anglican Church served as a pillar of feudalism and absolute royal power, the political struggle on the eve and during the years of the revolution took on religious forms.
Formed religious-political parties and movements which influenced the course of events in different ways.
Royalists- the old nobility and the Anglican clergy. Their leader is the king Charles I Stuart. They wanted to preserve the old order.
Presbyterians- representatives of the big bourgeoisie and the big new nobility. The political ideal is a parliamentary monarchy. For a compromise with the king.
Independents- a radical, revolutionary party - the interests of the middle bourgeoisie and the middle new nobility. For a republic without a king and the independence of every religious community. Leader - Oliver Cromwell.
Levellers- representatives of the petty bourgeoisie and the petty new nobility, part of the peasants. The main demands are to abolish medieval estates and privileges, equal rights for all. Leader - John Lilborn.
Diggers("diggers") - the most radical movement of the Levellers. They demanded to abolish private ownership of land and make it public.
Stages of the revolution:
1. The stage of the "parliamentary revolution" of 1640-1642, when the development of the revolution proceeded within the framework of parliamentary forms of struggle. Parliament declared that it was no longer subject to the king and would pass laws on behalf of the people. In fact, England embarked on the path of a parliamentary monarchy. The king has lost absolute power. Medieval workshops, regulations, monopolies were abolished - everything that hindered the development of entrepreneurship and free trade.
2. Stage of the civil war 1642-1648 On the one hand, the royalists, led by the king, on the other, the revolutionary army, led by O. Cromwell. At the beginning of 1642, the king went to the north loyal to him, where he gathered an army and declared war on parliament. The civil war went on with varying success, but in the end ended with the victory of parliament and the capture of the king. Parliament declared itself the bearer of supreme power in England.
3. Independent Republic (1649-1653) and Cromwell's protectorate (1653-1658). On January 30, 1649, the king was executed publicly, in March the House of Lords was abolished, and on May 19, Parliament proclaimed England a republic. The power in it belonged to the party of independents. Cromwell suppressed by force the opposition from the right (Royalists, Presbyterians) and from the left (Levelers, Diggers). In 1653, he finally disbanded Parliament and proclaimed himself the "Lord Protector" of England, united Ireland, Scotland and England.
4. Restoration of the Stuarts and the coup of 1688 (Glorious Revolution). After the death of Cromwell in 1658, there was a struggle between republicans and monarchists. Tired of bloody wars, desiring the establishment of "solid power", the bourgeoisie and the new nobility compromised with the remnants of the feudal nobility. In 1660 - the restoration of the monarchy and the Stuart dynasty. Religious tolerance was promised, the inviolability of landed estates acquired during the years of the revolution, government together with parliament. The Stuarts also promised that they would not carry out reprisals against the participants in the revolution, but they did not fulfill the promise.
There are political proto-parties: the government (“party of the court”) and the opposition (“party of the country”). Since 1679, they have been assigned names - Tories and Whigs. Tori- the party of the landed and financial aristocracy, supported the prerogatives of the king. vigi- representatives of the new nobility and the upper strata of the bourgeoisie - advocated limiting the prerogatives of royal power, seeking to strengthen parliament.
Parliament managed to achieve control over the country's finances. An important achievement was the recognition of the principle of responsibility of ministers to parliament. The destruction of internal monopolies, the lack of control over fencing, the patronage of overseas trade - all this contributed to the revival of the economy and the accumulation of capital.
Unwilling to return to the old order, in 1688. the bourgeoisie and the new nobility organized a coup d'état. Parliament handed over the royal throne to a sister dynasty of the Stuarts. 1689 - William III of Orange.
In order to continue to prevent manifestations of absolutism, Parliament adopted " Bill of rights" according to which the legislative power belongs only to him. The royal power lost its independence from parliament: firstly, in the form of a lifetime income (the income of the king was determined by parliament), and secondly, in the form of a standing army. The dominance of Protestantism in the country was also consolidated. England became a bourgeois parliamentary monarchy. The right of the party that won the parliamentary elections to form the government became the norm, and its leader became the head of the cabinet of ministers.
Outcome- a compromise between the bourgeoisie and the new nobility. The foundations of the political system of Great Britain began to take shape, a significant part of which has survived to this day. The practice of the existence of a parliamentary system and the separation of the prerogatives of the king and parliament began to be developed, a separate, and at the same time interconnected existence of three branches of power was formed: representative-legislative, executive and judicial.
The monarchy survived, but began to gradually transform into a symbol of the nation, when "the king reigns, but does not rule." Large landowners gained control of the upper house of parliament - the House of Lords, and the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie began to dominate the lower house - the House of Commons, which makes laws and forms the government.
The events of the English Revolution became the initial phase of the modernization of English society, which created the ground for the industrial revolution. It started in England. Thanks to modernization, England has taken a leading position, turned into a state that for a long time set the general pace of development of the entire Western civilization. It has become a kind of standard by which the rest were equal. And the fact that England took this path earlier than others ensured her unconditional and long-term leadership in world affairs, which continued until the beginning of the 20th century.
Introduction
I have chosen the theme "The Main Stages of the English Bourgeois Revolution". It is of great interest and makes it possible to get acquainted with this era, which is a truly heroic period in the history of the English people, who enriched the treasury of the world-historical experience of the liberation struggle with their revolutionary creativity. From this treasury of revolutionary thought and revolutionary action, historical lessons social and political thinkers of subsequent times, and not only in England, but also far beyond its borders.
That is why this topic is relevant, the first social revolution on a European scale proclaimed the political principles of a new, bourgeois society that was replacing the feudal old order.
Until the middle of the 19th century, the social upheaval that took place in England in the 40s of the 17th century remained in the interpretation of historians as an event of almost exclusive national, British history.
The purpose of my work is to consider the main stages of the Great Bourgeois Revolution in England.
To do this, it is necessary to turn to the prerequisites of the revolution, consider the main stages of its development, and also trace its role in world history.
Chapter 1. The main stages of the revolution
.1 Prerequisites - the beginning of the revolution (constitutional stage)
At the beginning of the 17th century, developing under favorable conditions, England looked in some respects a country much more bourgeois than feudal serfdom. Enclosures and dispossession of land managed to disintegrate the rural community and proletarianize a significant part of the peasantry. Industry and maritime trade achieved great success. In the century preceding the revolution, England increased the extraction of coal 14 times, the second - the extraction of iron ore, etc. Shipbuilding is developing widely. The main export item was no longer wool, but finished cloth. Large trading companies, organized in a capitalist way, arose and quickly grew rich. It was not uncommon for enterprises to employ hundreds of employees under one roof.
Nevertheless, the bourgeoisie was dissatisfied. It was weighed down by the typical feudal government control over the production of goods and their sale, the limitation of the number of apprentices and apprentices, the preservation of the guild system, and the obstacles that were created for manufacturing production. The open extortion of money, which the government engaged in under the guise of arbitrary taxes, then with the help of new duties, or forced loans, caused constant irritation.
The system of governance of the country becomes the subject of sharp criticism: extrajudicial justice, concentrated in political tribunals; constant violence against common law courts; soldiers' quarters in the homes of private individuals; the miserable state of the armed forces, especially the military navy; ignoring parliament; the abuses of the all-powerful and dishonest favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, etc.
Deep dissatisfaction with the existing order seized the English countryside, especially the copyholders, who made up at least half of the peasantry. By enclosing and arbitrarily increasing ground rent, exorbitant amounts of payments collected upon the transfer of land by inheritance (fines), landowners either completely drove the peasants off the land, or turned them into sharecroppers working on someone else's land for part of the harvest. At the same time with the copyholders there were also farm laborers - cotters - the most humiliated and exploited part of the English peasantry.
The revolutionary army that overthrew the king and opened the way for the bourgeois development of England was predominantly a peasant army, an army of the "iron-sided".
Signs of a revolutionary situation were found everywhere - in peasant uprisings and workers' "riots", in open resistance to taxation, in the activities of various religious sects that insisted on a break with the official church. The crisis situation was revealed with all its sharpness in the parliament. The opposition that has developed here is going on the offensive against the government.
So, the first signs of the opposition to the crown ripening in parliament appeared back in last years of the reign of Elizabeth 1. In full voice, this opposition declared itself already in the first parliament of its successor - James 1, where the core problem of the constitution turned out to be the subject of discussion - the boundaries of the prerogative, i.e. exclusive rights of the crown, and the privileges of Parliament. James 1 was inclined to consider parliament only as an auxiliary institution, which arose and functions by the grace of the king, who has absolute power of divine origin. The answer to these claims was the "Apology of the House of Commons" - a document drawn up by the House of Commons for the "information" of the king - a stranger, quite unequivocally stating that the King of England is neither absolute nor independent of Parliament head of state, the constitutional structure of which is based on the recognition of Parliament the supreme body of the country, headed by the king, but by no means one king, acting independently of parliament. Resolutely rejecting the very principle of the divinity of royal power, the House of Commons emphasized that the power of a mortal king is neither divine nor individual.
In 1614 Parliament was dissolved before the deadline, four of its members were imprisoned. When reminded of the "rights of Parliament", the king replied that there were only favors that could be given and could be taken away. Stormy scenes accompany the parliamentary session of 1621. The king personally rips out a protest page from the parliamentary minutes, cracking down on the leaders of the opposition.
The main contradictions between the policy of the king and the interests of the commercial and entrepreneurial strata of the proprietorial classes represented in parliament, which constituted opposition to this policy in the parliament of the commons, consisted in the question of the boundaries of the royal prerogative, around which a struggle was waged in almost all parliaments of James 1 and was reduced to the area domestic policy to the following: does the king have the right to introduce new duties and compulsory taxes without the knowledge and consent of parliament and collect them? And in the realm of foreign policy, should the king "consult" Parliament before taking any step in international affairs?
The answer of the opposition was unequivocal: the supreme power does not belong to the king outside the parliament, but to the king in the parliament, i.e. supported by both chambers. James 1, on the contrary, in accordance with his doctrine of the absolute power of the king, considered it his “indisputable” right to do without the “advice” of parliament in both cases and, moreover, confirmed this doctrine in practice, without convening after the dissolution of parliament in 1611 until 1621 . not a single parliament. It was essentially a new form of absolute monarchy for England, which imitated the "French model".
The parliamentary session of 1628 becomes especially memorable. As soon as it meets, the parliament adopts the “Petition on the Right”, containing the idea of a bourgeois constitutional monarchy: no taxes without parliament, no arrests except by law, the abolition of all and any emergency courts. Having accepted the petition and first giving a positive answer to it, the king soon interrupted the session of parliament, motivating this act with the content of the Petition “unacceptable for the royal prerogative”.
Then in March 1629, expressing open defiance of the king, who ordered the adjournment of the parliamentary session, the lower house announced that anyone who introduces an innovation in religion, who "induces to impose and collect" duties not approved by parliament, who voluntarily contributes or pays such duties, should be recognized as "a traitor to the liberties of England and an enemy of the fatherland." Without discussion, the chamber unanimously accepted these proposals, and its members left the meeting room.
In response to this revolutionary action, Charles dissolves the parliament so that, as he hoped, not to collect it at all.
Religious contradictions became the most important prerequisite for the socio-political conflict. The policy of the absolutist government was aimed at strengthening the position of the Anglican Church and practically forcing the public to participate in the cult of the state church. The composition of the powers of the High Commission was expanded, it received the right to consider any religious cases in general, censorship issues, from 1613 even wives' complaints about their husbands' infidelity. The coercion of religious policy extended to foreigners, which led to a gap in financial and trade relations with Holland, so important to England at that time.
At the same time, from the XVI century. in England, especially in the north, in Scotland, the trend of Protestantism and Calvinism was strengthened. There was a special ideology - religious and political at the same time - of puritanism, the adherents of which did not accept the state-controlled church and priests, insisted on the complete church self-government of the communities and, as a result, proclaimed at least a partial release of the citizen from the power of the state. A series of unsuccessful political decisions by James and Charles, attempts to reconcile with Spain on a dynastic basis, a marriage alliance with Catholic France, including secret agreements on indulgences at the English court for Catholic priests - all this caused an unprecedented increase in public opposition.
The crisis of relations between the absolutist statehood and society acquired a specific form of confrontation between the crown and parliament.
James and Charles consistently defended the prerogatives of the crown and the priority of the principles of absolutism to the detriment of the historical constitution of England. The practical influence of parliament on state affairs weakened: from 1611 to 1640, parliament did not sit in total for two years. The crown preferred to do without parliament, because it met with constant opposition. And she could not do without taxes and subsidies approved by Parliament, because the opposition population refused to pay taxes, and the courts took an ambivalent position in this, following the principles of "common law".
In October, elections were held for a new parliament, and on November 3, 1640, its sessions opened. This Parliament was destined to become Long. With the beginning of its meetings, in fact, a new chapter in English history began - the history of the Great Social Revolution.
1.2 First Civil War
August 1642 the king raised his standard at Nottingham. In England, openly divided into two camps: supporters of the king - cavaliers and supporters of parliament - roundheads, a civil war broke out. Cavaliers and Roundheads opposed each other in almost every county. Only in the course of the war did a more or less distinct territorial delimitation of the hostile sides take place. The economically backward and sparsely populated counties of the North and West supported the king, the wealthy, economically most developed counties of the South East and Central England were equally unanimous in favor of Parliament. The feudal nobility with their vassals and court servants, the state Anglican church, court officials and monopoly financiers associated with the court acted with the motto "For God and the King!"; on the contrary, the bourgeoisie and the new nobility, having led the popular masses - the yeomanry, the urban petty bourgeoisie and the plebeians, became the backbone of parliament.
People belonging to two hostile camps fought each other not only in separate counties, but often in separate villages. Detachments of militia gathered everywhere, a struggle for mastering the armories began. In just one day, about 5 thousand volunteers joined the London police. A large number of weapons, money, jewelry were collected in favor of the parliament. Large indemnities were levied from open adherents of the king. But the royalists (supporters of the king) also vigorously organized their forces. Many lords equipped and brought entire regiments under the royal banner at their own expense. The Earl of Glamorgen expended for this purpose a colossal sum of £918,000. Art.
The First Civil War (1642-1646) is divided into two phases:
from 1642 to the summer of 1644, when the military initiative was chiefly in the hands of the king, and Parliament was predominantly on the defensive;
from the summer of 1644 to 1646 - the period when the initiative in hostilities completely passed into the hands of parliament.
Rice. 1 - English bourgeois revolution of the 17th century. (period 1642-1646)
Already at the first major battle at Edgegill on October 23, 1642, the commander of the parliamentary army, the Earl of Essex, showed a clear unwillingness to strike the king a decisive blow, although there was ample opportunity for this. As a result, the king fortified himself in Oxford - only 50 miles from London. In the same battle, the superiority of the royalists in the then decisive branch of the army, the cavalry, was revealed. But the main reason for the weakness of the parliamentary army was that it consisted mainly of mercenaries, ready to serve anyone for money. This was understood by Oliver Cromwell, who fought near Edgegill at the head of a detachment of several dozen peasant cavalrymen he had recruited himself.
The attitude of the Presbyterian majority in Parliament towards the Civil War was best shown in a letter from Parliamentary General Waller to the royalist Hopton, written on the eve of the forthcoming battle between them. “My disposition towards you,” wrote the Presbyterian military leader, “remains so unchanged that even the front line cannot destroy my friendly feelings for you. The great God knows with what disgust I went to this service and with what hatred I look at this war without an enemy.
Such sentiments had a detrimental effect on the state of the parliamentary troops and in the end could lead to the death of the cause of the revolution. Indeed, by the summer of 1643, the position of Parliament became critical. The parliamentary army of Essex, slowly moving towards the residence of the king - Oxford, was melting before our eyes from desertion and epidemics. Meanwhile, Charles I was building up his forces; the queen, who left for France in 1642, returned with people, equipment and significant sums of money. Waller's parliamentary army, blockading the royalists in the West, was almost completely destroyed. On July 26, 1643, the second largest port of the kingdom, Bristol, surrendered to the royalists. In the North, the royalists inflicted a major defeat on the parliamentary forces under the command of Ferdinand and Thomas Fairfax. All of Yorkshire was in the hands of the Cavaliers. By the autumn of 1643, the king had a plan for a concentric attack on London from three directions: the army of the Duke of Newcastle was to attack from the north, Cornish detachments from the west, and troops under the command of the king's nephew Prince Rupert in the center. The revolution was in mortal danger. However, the masses of the people once again barred the way for the counter-revolution and thus created the preconditions for the victory of the Parliament.
Rice. 2 - Atrocities of gentlemen. Engraving from a 1644 pamphlet
The London militia, which consisted mainly of the metropolitan plebs, approached the walls of Gloucester, besieged by the royalists, with unprecedented speed, and the city was saved. At the same time, in the so-called Eastern Association (an association of five eastern counties - Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge, Hertford, which arose at the end of 1642), cavalry yeomen led by Cromwell distinguished themselves in battles with cavaliers. They not only repelled the threat of an invasion of the Cavaliers within the boundaries of the association, but, going on the offensive, won a significant victory at the battle of Winsby (October 11, 1643), as a result of which all of Lincolnshire was soon cleared of royalists. Finally, Scotland came out on the side of Parliament, sending an army of 20,000 to help him. The English parliament, for its part, undertook to introduce, following the example of Scotland, a state Presbyterian church and took over the Scottish army for its maintenance.
The campaign of 1644 again reflected both tendencies in the military policy of Parliament. In one of the largest battles in the civil war - at Marston Moor, near York (July 2), the parliamentary army, thanks to Cromwell's military talent and the courage of his "iron-sided" detachments, won a brilliant victory, capturing numerous prisoners and military trophies. But the vicious tactics of prolonging the war, carried out by the Presbyterian military leaders in the South and West, nullified the results of this victory. Waller's newly manned army suffered a second defeat; Essex's army was routed, and Essex himself barely escaped capture. His closest assistant, the Earl of Manchester, who had about 20 thousand people under his banner in the Eastern Association, did not even move. “The named earl,” Cromwell declared in parliament, “always had a negative attitude towards battles, was against the end of the war by force of arms ...”. Manchester has openly declared more than once: “If we defeat the king 99 times, he will still remain king, like his offspring after him. If the king beats us even once, we will all be hanged, and our descendants will be made slaves. Such military tactics of the Presbyterians endlessly dragged out the war, aroused the distrust of the masses of the people in Parliament and threatened the revolution with death.
The calamity of the people, which increased during the course of the war, and the growth of their discontent, for a time weakened the position of the Presbyterians in Parliament. Taking advantage of this, the Independents, led by Cromwell, achieved the adoption by Parliament of a plan for a radical reorganization of the army. Instead of territorial militia detachments and detachments of mercenaries, it was planned to create a single regular army of a “new model”, recruited from volunteers in counties subordinate to parliament, with a single, centralized command and maintenance of troops at the expense of the state budget. All members of Parliament who were in the army were required to relinquish their positions of command by virtue of the so-called Self-Repudiation Bill of December 9, 1644.
This plan was carried out by the spring of 1645. The "new model" army of 22,000 men, including a 6,000-strong cavalry detachment, which included Cromwell's "iron-sided", became the strike force of Parliament. She was seized with revolutionary impulse and puritanical enthusiasm. It was led by officers, among whom there were many people from the people: Colonel Pride - a former cab driver, Colonel Hewson - a former shoemaker, Colonel Fox - a former boilermaker, and others. tyrant. The 33-year-old Thomas Fairfax, who previously led the parliamentary forces in the North, was appointed commander of the “new model” army. All Presbyterian military leaders, including the commander-in-chief, the Earl of Essex, were removed from the army on the basis of a law on self-renunciation. An exception was made only for MP Oliver Cromwell, who by that time had earned the glory of the most talented and devoted to the revolution military leader. He remained in the army as commander of the cavalry and assistant to Fairfax. Thus, the command of the army passed into the hands of the Independents.
The "new model" army, popular in its composition, centralized and disciplined, decided the outcome of the civil war in favor of parliament. In the battle of Nazby (in Northamptonshire) on June 14, 1645, she dealt a crushing blow to the cavaliers. An outstanding role in this battle was played by the Cromwellian cavalry of the Ironsides, which fell on the flank and rear of the royalist infantry. The royalists lost 5,000 prisoners, all the artillery and the convoy. The king himself barely escaped. Military action after Nazby was reduced mainly to the systematic cleansing of royalists from certain areas and fortresses in the West and North-West. The king fled to the North and on May 5, 1646 surrendered to the Scots, hoping to play on the Anglo-Scottish contradictions. But the Scots considered it more advantageous to hand over Charles to the English Parliament, for which the latter undertook to pay them £400,000. Art. (officially as reimbursement for military expenses). Thus ended the first civil war.
Rice. 3 - Cromwell cuts down the royal oak. Royalist caricature from 1649
1.3 Second civil war and king's execution
While the Grandee Independents and Presbyterians flirted with the king, the latter was preparing a new civil war. His hope for a final victory in the conditions of strife and strife in the parliamentary camp seemed to be justified. The Scottish Presbyterians went over to his side. The fear of the independent performance of the popular lower classes brought the English Presbyterians more and more closer to the cavaliers.
The presence of a royalist conspiracy became apparent when the king fled parliamentary captivity to the Isle of Wight, where he hoped to win over the commandant of Carisbrooke Castle. Fearing the dominance of the Presbyterians, the independent "grands" took a hostile attitude towards the king.
Rice. 4 - English bourgeois revolution of the 17th century. (period 1648-1651)
In connection with the threat of a new rebellion of the Cavaliers, a temporary alliance of the Independents and the Levellers is again established. At a meeting of the leaders of the army in Windsor in April 1648, a historic decision was made with the participation of "agitators": "Karl Stuart, a man stained with blood, must be called to account for the blood shed by him and for the gravest crimes against the cause of God and this poor nation ". The fate of the king was sealed. He was officially recognized as a criminal. This has long been demanded by the Levellers.
In the spring of 1648, the second civil war began. Military operations unfolded in three isolated areas: in the South-East, in the West (including Wales) and in the North. Having suppressed the rebellion of the Presbyterians in the South East and the rebellion of the reactionary gentry in the West, the parliamentary army, led by Cromwell, moved north against the Scots, who now came out on the side of the king. While Hamilton's Scottish army of 20,000 was moving south through Lancashire, Cromwell turned west and unexpectedly appeared on her flank. With only 8,600 men under arms, on August 17, 1648, under the cover of dense fog, he attacked from the flank a column of Scots, stretching on the march from Wigan to Preston. The Scottish defeat was disastrous. Ten thousand were captured, the rest fled to the North. By the end of August, the second civil war was effectively over. Its end, inglorious for the royalists, testified to how decisively the masses of the people turned their backs on the monarchy.
Despite this, the Presbyterian Parliament with great haste resumed negotiations with the king, demanding only minor concessions from him: the transfer of the militia under the control of Parliament for three years and the establishment of the Presbyterian order of the church until the convening of a national church synod. But the deal between the Presbyterians and the king was thwarted by renewed cooperation between the Levellers and the Independents. On December 2, the parliamentary army again entered the capital. At the same time, her messengers captured the king and transported him from the Isle of Wight to a secluded castle on Hearst Rock. On December 6, 1648, after a detachment of dragoons under the command of Colonel Pride occupied the entrance to Parliament, the House of Commons was purged of Presbyterians. About 150 deputies were expelled from parliament, some of them were imprisoned. The Independents now have a majority in Parliament.
On December 1648, Parliament adopted a decree on the trial of the king, and on January 4, 1649, it proclaimed itself the bearer of supreme power in the country. England has become a republic.
Appointed by Parliament Supreme Court consisting of 135 people - members of parliament, lawyers, military men, etc. - after strong hesitation and under direct pressure from the revolutionary army, sentenced the king to death. January 30, 1649
Charles I Stuart was executed in the square in front of the royal palace of Whitehall with a huge gathering of people.
1.4 Restoration of the monarchy
An attempt to partially restore the former order was already the parliamentary elections of 1658. They were held not according to the norms of the "Instrument of Government", but according to historical legislation. Parliament was dissolved by the Military Council. In its place, the “rump” of the Long Parliament was restored in its rights, which was also dissolved in October 1659. Power in the country finally passed to the Security Committee, which represented the Army Council and a very narrow circle of the radical Independent leadership. Under these conditions, the commander and governor of one of the largest Scottish military districts, General Monk, with troops loyal to him, carried out a military coup. His troops entered London to establish political control over the shattered power, and the general had previously established contact with the heir to the throne.
April 1660 gathered a new constituent parliament - the convention, in which the majority were Presbyterians and gentlemen. The convention sanctioned the return of the Stuarts, and a month later Charles II solemnly entered London.
The monarchy was restored.
King Charles II solemnly confirmed the Great Charter of 1215, the Petition for Right, the tax rights of Parliament, promised to rule only in agreement with Parliament, not to persecute the leaders of the revolution and not to revise the right to land ownership, as it developed during the revolution. None of these promises were kept. Cromwell's corpse was dug out of the grave and hung, the living "regicides" were executed or forced to flee the country.
The restoration of the monarchy entailed the restoration of the former electoral system, the former House of Lords, the English Church, etc.
Charles II and his brother Jacob, who succeeded him, were in general miserable politicians. Unaware of the significance of the changes, they harbored hopes for a return to the pre-revolutionary order.
The first reason led to the division of the ruling class into two parties - Tories and Whigs. The Tories united in their ranks conservative-royalist elements associated with large land ownership; Whigs represented mainly the interests of English industry and trade.
Both parties were not institutionalized, did not gather at congresses, did not have elected bodies. They had a more or less visible organization only in parliament. There were not so much “members” of parties in the country as their supporters. The transition from one faction to another was commonplace.
The emergence of the Tory and Whig parties lays the real foundation for the bourgeois two-party system, and in a more narrow sense- two and now existing parties of England; conservative (former Tories) and liberal (former Whigs).
Chapter 2. Peculiarities of the English Bourgeois Revolution
The bourgeois state and law of England arose in the course of two English revolutions of the 17th century, which received the names "Great Revolt" and "Glorious Revolution". The ideological shell of the movement was formed by the slogans of the reform of the dominant church and the restoration of "ancient customs and liberties", characteristic of the social movements of the Middle Ages. At the same time, in the English bourgeois revolution, for the first time, the main patterns of development of the bourgeois revolutions of modern times were clearly manifested, which made it possible to call it the prototype of the Great French bourgeois revolution.
The main features of the English bourgeois revolution are due to a peculiar, but historically natural for England, alignment of socio-political forces. The English bourgeoisie came out against the feudal monarchy, the feudal nobility and the ruling church not in alliance with the people, but in alliance with the "new nobility". The split of the English nobility and the transfer of its greater, bourgeois part to the camp of the opposition made it possible for the English bourgeoisie, still insufficiently strong, to triumph over absolutism.
This union gave the English revolution an unfinished character and led to the limited socio-economic and political gains.
The retention of large landownership by the English landlords, the solution of the agrarian question without allocating land to the peasantry is the main indicator of the incompleteness of the English revolution in the economic sphere. In the political sphere, the bourgeoisie had to share power with the new landed aristocracy, with the latter playing a decisive role. The influence of the aristocracy affected the formation in England of such a variety of bourgeois, constitutional monarchy, which, along with the representative body, retained feudal institutions, including strong royal power, the House of Lords, and the Privy Council. Followed in the XVIII and XIX centuries. the agrarian and industrial revolutions ultimately ensured the dominance of capitalist production relations and the leadership of the industrial bourgeoisie in the exercise of political power. During this time, the semi-feudal, aristocratic political system of Britain slowly and gradually turned into a bourgeois-democratic one.
On the eve of and during the revolution, two camps were defined, representing opposing political and religious concepts, as well as different social interests. Representatives of the "old", feudal nobility and the Anglican clergy were the backbone of absolutism and defended the preservation of the old feudal order and the Anglican Church. The camp of opposition to the regime united the new nobility, the gentry, and the bourgeoisie under the general name of the Puritans. Opponents of absolutism in England advocated bourgeois transformations under the banner of "purification" of the Anglican Church, the completion of the Reformation and the creation of a new church independent of royal power. The religious shell of the socio-political demands of the bourgeoisie, many of which were purely secular character, was largely explained by the special role of the Anglican Church in defending the foundations of absolutism and in suppressing opposition by the church bureaucratic apparatus.
At the same time, the revolutionary camp was not united either socially or religiously. In the course of the revolution in the camp of the Puritans, three main currents were finally determined:
prosbyterian,
independents,
levellers.
The Presbyterian movement, which united the big bourgeoisie and the top gentry, constituted the right wing of the revolution. Their ultimate demand was to limit royal arbitrariness and establish a constitutional monarchy with strong king power. The religious and political program of the Prosbyterians provided for the cleansing of the church from the remnants of Catholicism, its reform according to the Scottish model and the approval of presbyters from the most wealthy citizens at the head of the church administrative districts. The Prosbyterians seized and held power during the period 1640-1648, which was accompanied first by a peaceful or "constitutional" development of the revolution, and then by the transition to civil war.
The Independents, whose political leader was Oliver Cromwell, were mainly representatives of the middle and petty nobility, the middle strata of the urban bourgeoisie. They sought, at a minimum, the establishment of a limited, constitutional monarchy. Their program also provided for the recognition and proclamation of the inalienable rights and freedoms of subjects, primarily freedom of conscience (for Protestants) and freedom of speech. The Independents put forward the idea of abolishing the centralized church and creating local religious communities independent of the administrative apparatus. The Independent Current was the most varied and heterogeneous in composition. The "Independent", radical, stage of the revolution (1649-1660) is associated with
the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Republic (1649-1653), which then degenerated into a military dictatorship (1653-1659), which, in turn, led to the restoration of the monarchy.
In the course of the revolution, the so-called Levellers emerged from the Independent current and began to enjoy the greatest support among artisans and peasants. In their manifesto "People's Agreement" (1647), the Levellers put forward the ideas of popular sovereignty, universal equality, demanded the proclamation of a republic, the establishment of universal male suffrage, the return of fenced lands to the hands of the communities, and the reform of the complex and cumbersome system of "common law". The ideas of the Levellers occupied an important place in the further ideological and political struggle against the feudal system. At the same time, in advocating the inviolability of private property, the Levellers bypassed the main demand of the peasantry to abolish the copyhold and the power of the landlords.
The most radical part of the Levellers were the Diggers, who represented the poorest peasantry and the proletarian elements of the city and countryside. They demanded the abolition of private ownership of land and consumer goods. The socio-political views of the diggers were a kind of peasant utopian communism.
2.2 Changing the form of the state
The English Revolution developed in the form of a traditional confrontation between the King and Parliament. A significant part of the state-legal program of the revolution was prepared by the parliamentary opposition as early as the 1920s. XVII century, as the economic and political crisis of absolutism worsened. In the Petition of Right of 1628, a number of demands were formulated, dressed in the old feudal form, but already having a new, bourgeois content. After enumerating the abuses of the royal administration and referring to the Magna Carta, Parliament asked the King that:
No one was henceforth compelled to pay taxes and fees to the royal treasury "without the general consent given by an act of Parliament."
Not a single person was imprisoned for refusing to pay illegal taxes.
The army was not housed in the houses of the inhabitants.
No persons were endowed with special powers that could serve as a pretext for putting subjects to death "against the laws and liberties of the country."
Thus, the main political issue of the revolution was reflected in the document - the rights of the king in relation to the life and property of his subjects. In addition, the most important social issue was raised - the inviolability of private property. The protection of property, as stated in the Petition, is the true purpose of law and justice. The demands of the parliamentary opposition led to the dissolution of parliament and the long, non-parliamentary rule of Charles I (1629-1640). During this period, the king single-handedly introduced new fees and fines to replenish the treasury, suppressing discontent in the country with the help of emergency courts. However, in the context of the outbreak of war with Scotland, the king was forced to turn again to Parliament.
In the parliament convened in 1640, called the Long (1640-1653), the Prosbyterians occupied a dominant position. During 1640-1641. the parliament obtained from the king the approval of a number of important legal acts. First of all, at the initiative of the House of Commons, the main advisers of Charles I, Earl Strafford, Archbishop Laud, were condemned. Thus, the right of parliament to impeach senior officials was approved. Further, according to the Triennial Act of February 16, 1641, parliament was to be convened at least once every three years, and if the king did not agree to do this, he could be convened by other persons (peers, sheriffs) or convene independently. These provisions were supplemented by a law that prohibited the interruption, adjournment, and dissolution of the Long Parliament except by an act of Parliament itself. This ruled out the possibility of a return to non-parliamentary rule. Finally, in July 1641, two acts were adopted that limited the powers of the Privy Council in the field of legal proceedings and provided for the destruction of the system of emergency tribunals, primarily the Star Chamber and the High Commission. A series of acts passed in the summer of 1641 proclaimed the inviolability of the property of subjects and deprived the king of the right to arbitrarily impose various fines. The program document of the revolution was the Great Remonstration, adopted on December 1, 1641. It contained, in particular, a new requirement that the king henceforth appoint only those officials whom parliament had reason to trust. This meant, in fact, the political responsibility of officials to parliament and was perceived by the king as an intrusion into his prerogative, the executive power. The king refused to approve the Great Remonstrance.
The Acts of Parliament of 1641 were aimed at limiting the absolute power of the king and meant a transition to a certain kind of constitutional monarchy. However, in fact, this form of the bourgeois state did not have time to establish itself with the outbreak of civil wars between the king and parliament (1642-1647 and 1648-1649).
During the war, two warring and independent authorities were established in the country, which controlled the various territories of the English kingdom and enjoyed full legislative and administrative powers in them. The main activity of the king and parliament during this period was the organization of their own army. Parliament, which united in its hands the legislative and executive powers in the controlled territory, issued a number of laws and ordinances providing for the reform of the existing military system. In 1642, the parliament several times approved the “Ordinance on the Militia”, which was never signed by the king, according to which the commanders of the people's militia were appointed only with the consent of the parliament and bore full responsibility before the parliament. The King responded by issuing a Proclamation forbidding people's militia act at the will of parliament without the consent of the king. In the so-called "Protest", adopted in the summer of 1642, the parliament again demanded the approval by the king of the "Ordinance on the Militia" and its demands put forward earlier regarding the exercise of certain executive prerogatives: the appointment of all senior officials with the consent of parliament, the irremovability of judges " as long as they do not behave inappropriately”, on the expansion of the judicial competence of Parliament in the field of criminal justice. The refusal of the king to accept all these proposals led to the outbreak of direct hostilities. Already during the civil war, the Ordinance on the new model of 1645 was adopted by Parliament, which was directed to the formation of a standing army instead of the militia of individual counties. It had to be supported by the state. The rank and file was recruited from free peasants and artisans. Officer positions were filled regardless of origin, according to ability. These measures led to the transformation of the parliamentary army into a combat-ready force, which inflicted a number of decisive defeats on the army of the king.
During the period of the first civil war, the Long Parliament carried out a number of other important reforms, which testified to the deepening of the revolution "under the control" of the Presbyterian-Independent elite. In 1643, the episcopate was abolished and the Presbyterian structure of the church was introduced. The lands of the bishops and royalists were confiscated as state property and put on sale. As a result of these measures, a significant part of the landed property passed into the hands of the bourgeoisie and gentry. The Act of 1646 on the abolition of the system of feudal knightly holdings and turning them into free holdings "on common law", that is, in fact, into the private property of the owners, was called upon to consolidate the new status of these lands. Thus, a unilateral solution of the agrarian question was carried out, beneficial only to the bourgeoisie and the new nobility. The former knightly holdings were exempted from the conditions of feudal land tenure (vassal duties), however, copyhold as a form of holding was retained. Peasants-copyholders did not become owners of the land, but remained in land dependence on the landlords. In addition, the bulk of the peasants could not purchase land, as it went on sale at very high prices. Finally, the parliament confirmed the legality of enclosing peasant lands.
The end of the war and the capture of the king was accompanied by an intensification of the struggle in parliament between the Prosbyterians and the bulk of the Independents. The open action of the Presbyterians in support of the king led to a second civil war. In December 1648, taking into account the "Leveller" sentiments of the bulk of the army, the Independent leadership purged Parliament of active Presbyterians. Political power passed into the hands of the Independents. On January 4, 1649, the House of Commons declared itself the bearer of the supreme power in England, whose decisions have the force of law without the consent of the king and the House of Lords. After the trial of the king and his execution at the end of March 1649, the royal title and the upper house were abolished. The constitutional consolidation of the republican form of government was completed by an act on May 19, 1649. It proclaimed the formation of a republic, and the "Representatives of the People in Parliament" were declared the supreme authority in the state. The State Council, which was responsible to the Parliament, became the supreme body of executive power. However, the actual leadership of it was carried out by a military council headed by Cromwell.
The establishment of a republic - the most democratic form of government under existing conditions - was the pinnacle of the revolution. However, after the establishment of the republic, the social struggle did not weaken, but, on the contrary, took on more acute forms. New confiscations of royalist lands, sale of royal lands (act of 1649) and conquest in Ireland in the early 1650s. turned a significant part of the Independents into large landowners who sought to stop the revolution. In the army, which consisted mainly of the middle peasantry and artisans, the influence of the Levellers continued to grow. Under these conditions, the leaders of the Independents, relying on the army elite, resorted to establishing a dictatorship regime, which was covered by the proclamation of a "protectorate".
The executive power in the state was entrusted to the Lord Protector and State Council, the number of members of which could vary from 13 to 21. The Lord Protector was endowed with broad powers. He commanded the armed forces, with the consent of the majority of the council, he could declare war and make peace, appoint new members of the supreme executive body and officers appointed at the head of administrative districts. The main support of the protector remained the army. For its maintenance and to cover other expenses of the government, an annual tax was introduced, which could not be abolished or reduced by Parliament without the consent of the Lord Protector. Thus, the financial prerogatives of the Lord Protector became practically uncontrolled, like those of an absolute monarch.
Chapter 3 Historical meaning revolution
bourgeois revolution monarchy cromwell
The main achievement of the English bourgeois revolution was the establishment of a constitutional system in the country, the legal expression of which was manifested in the adoption of three laws that were of a constitutional nature (the Habeas Corpus Act, the Bill of Rights, the Dispensation Act).
Habeas Corpus Act (Act to better ensure the freedom of the subject and to prevent imprisonment overseas), adopted in 1679, was intended to limit the possibility of the secret reprisal of the king against supporters of the opposition, but acquired a much broader meaning. According to the law, any subject detained for a criminal act, excluding high treason and a serious criminal offense, had the right to apply to the court (in person or through representatives) to issue a Habeas Corpus order. The judge had to issue such an order to the arrested person through the official (jailer, sheriff) in charge of the arrested person. Having received the order, these persons had to deliver the prisoner to the court within 24 hours, indicating the true reasons for the arrest. Further, the judge was instructed to release the prisoner on bail and bail with the obligation of the latter to appear at the next session of the court to consider the case.
A person released on the orders of Habeas Corpus could not be arrested and re-imprisoned pending trial for the same crime. It was also forbidden to transfer a prisoner from one prison to another or to keep without trial in the prisons of the overseas possessions of England.
For non-compliance with the provisions of the law, judges and officials were provided with large monetary fines and removal from office.
Later, the Habeas Corpus Act acquired the significance of one of the main constitutional documents of England, containing a number of legally effective guarantees of the inviolability of the individual.
The "Bill of Rights" (1689) affirmed the supremacy of parliament in legislative and financial policy, this was its main purpose. The bill forbade: 1) to suspend the operation of laws or their execution without the consent of Parliament; 2) collect taxes and fees in favor of the crown without the consent of Parliament; 3) to maintain a standing army in peacetime without the sanction of Parliament. The bill established freedom of speech and debate in parliament, freedom of elections to parliament, the right of citizens to petition the king.
The "Deed of Dispensation" adopted in 1701, in addition to resolving the issue of the order of succession to the throne after the childless William of Orange, contained two more important provisions. First, the so-called countersignature principle was introduced, according to which acts issued by the king are valid only if the corresponding minister has the signature. Secondly, the principle of irremovability of judges was established. Since that time, it was possible to remove a judge from office only by decision of the Parliament. In essence, this meant the separation of the court from the executive branch.
Thus, by the 18th century in England the basic principles of the bourgeois state were laid down, such as: the supremacy of parliament in the field of legislative power, the exclusive right of parliament to vote the budget and determine the size of the military contingent, the principle of the irremovability of judges. The further development of the bourgeois state in England followed the path of constitutional reforms.
The most important feature of the English constitution was that it did not constitute a single piece of legislation. Along with individual written laws, its most important part is made up of unwritten conditional rules, which have established themselves as a "constitutional precedent." The most important of those established in the 18th century were: the king's failure to attend cabinet meetings; the formation of a government from the party that won the election; collegial responsibility of the cabinet of ministers; waiver of the king's right to veto.
Conclusion
English bourgeois revolution of the 17th century. was a thunderous blow, heralding the birth of a new social system that replaced the old order. It was the first bourgeois revolution of pan-European significance. The principles proclaimed by her for the first time expressed not only the needs of England, but also the needs of all of Europe at that time, the historical development of which led objectively to the establishment of bourgeois orders.
The rich ideological heritage of the English Revolution served as an arsenal from which all opponents of the obsolete Middle Ages and absolutism drew their ideological weapons.
But the English Revolution was a bourgeois revolution, which, unlike the social revolution, only leads to the replacement of one mode of exploitation of the working people by another, to the replacement of the rule of one exploiting minority by another. In it, for the first time, with complete clarity, the basic patterns inherent in all bourgeois revolutions were revealed, and the first of them is the narrowness of the historical tasks of the bourgeoisie, the limitedness of its revolutionary possibilities.
It seems to me that the English Revolution was not carried through to the end. The reason for this should be seen in the fact that the English bourgeoisie did not unite with the people, but with the new nobility.
The English bourgeois revolution made a great contribution to the development of parliamentarism. the central organ of the revolution, at the first stage, became the parliament, in which the overwhelming majority represented the interests of the bourgeoisie. During the years of the revolution, the English parliament adopted many important acts: the Great Remonstrance; the bill of insolvency of the existing parliament; Apologia for the House of Commons; Law petition. The adopted documents limited royal power and contributed to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy - i.e. the supremacy of the parliament, exercising power in the country together with the king.
The English state system after the bourgeois revolution is nothing more than a compromise between the unofficially but actually ruling bourgeoisie in all decisive spheres of bourgeois society and the officially ruling landed aristocracy.
List of sources and literature
1.Reader on the general history of state and law, edited by K. I. Batyr and E. Polikarpov. v. 1, M. 1996.
2.Constitutions and legislative acts of the bourgeois states of the 17th - 19th centuries. M. 1957
.Reader on the general history of state and law. Textbook edited by Professor Z.M. Chernilovsky, M. 1996
.Z.M. Chernilovsky, general history of state and law, M. 1983
.A.I. Kosarev, History of State and Law foreign countries, M. 2002
.V.G. Grafsky, General History of Law and State, M. 200
.History of the state and law of foreign countries, edited by K.I. Batyra, M. 2005
.History of the state and law of foreign countries, parts 1,2, edited by O.A. Zhadkov and N.A. Krashennikova, M. 2001
.O.A. Omelchenko, General history of state and law vol. 1.2, M. 1988
.K.E. Livantsev, History of the bourgeois state and law, LGU publishing house, 1968
.E.V. Gutnova The Emergence of the English Parliament, M., 1960
.D.Sh. Gallan Political system in Great Britain, M., 1995
.K. Marx, Elections in England. Tories and Whigs, Marx K. Engels F. Op. 21 edition vol. 8.
.R.A. Noryshkin, Sources of civil and commercial law of bourgeois countries, M., 1965
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TOPIC 12. THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION
MIDDLE S XVII ZEKA
§ 25. Causes and beginning of the revolution. Civil War
1. Socio-economic and political background revolution
By the beginning of the XVII century. feudal orders in England began to hamper the development of industry, trade and agriculture more and more. All land was considered the property of the king. The nobility had to pay a certain amount of money to the royal treasury when transferring land by inheritance or selling it. Nobles (they were still called knights in the old way) were considered holders of the royal land, but not
London in the 17th century
Its full owners. To turn into full (private) owners of the land, to dispose of it at their own discretion - such was the desire of most of the English nobility, who by that time had turned their lands into commercial (for the market) farms.
An obstacle on the way to the transformation of the earth from conditional, "by the will of the king"(feudal) property into private (capitalist) property was the royal power of the new Stuart dynasty (since 1603). Relying on the old nobility and the Anglican Church, the Stuarts tried to establish a classical a form of absolutism(similar to the one that has developed in France and Spain). This led to a conflict between the royal power and parliament, a representative body that had existed in England since the 13th century.
In the lower house of parliament - the House of Commons - formed opposition(protesting group) representatives of the bourgeoisie and bourgeois ("new") nobility. An increase in taxes, the introduction of exactions and a clear desire to rule without a parliament, a foreign policy that runs counter to the interests of the bourgeoisie and the "new" nobility, caused an increasingly loud and decisive protest from the opposition. The conflict between absolutism and parliament on the most important issues of domestic and foreign policy was the main prerequisite for the revolution. At a certain stage of this conflict, the bourgeois opposition was forced to abandon parliamentary methods of struggle (protests, speeches, statements, etc.) and take up arms.
By the beginning of the XVII century. British industry has made great strides. For 1540-1640. booty hard coal rose from 200 thousand to 1.5 million tons per year. During the same time, production iron ore increased 3 times. There were 800 smelting furnaces in the country. Each gave 3-4 tons of metal per week. Production increased 6-8 times lead, tin, copper.
A special place in the industry was occupied by the production of cloth, the basis of which was sheep breeding. At the beginning of the XVII century. wool processing spread throughout the country. England began to supply only finished woolen products to the foreign market. At the same time, new industries developed - the production of cotton and silk fabrics, glass and paper, etc.
The guild system of urban crafts was still alive and defended the old forms of production, but the decisive role was transferred to a new form of labor organization - manufactory.
Enclosures, which deprived the peasants of land, contributed to the emergence of more and more new manufactories. Landless peasants became workers scattered (work at home) manufactory. There were many centralized manufactories in which a large number of workers worked under one roof. Large manufactories were created in mining, shipbuilding, weapons and other industries.
England in the 16th century found itself at the crossroads of major trade routes. The volume of trade with other countries grew rapidly. In the XVI century. enterprising people who had money begin to unite and create "companies" to trade with certain areas of the world (Moscow, Moroccan, Ost-Zey-sky, East Indian and etc.). The creation of companies was evidence of the growing power and activity of the English merchant bourgeoisie. She equipped overseas expeditions, which brought good profits, and this attracted money people - nobles, financiers, owners of manufactories.
The demolition of the feudal system in the English countryside began much earlier than in the city. The countryside has long been firmly connected not only with the internal, but also with the external market. Sheep breeding has long been developed here - the raw material basis of cloth making;
the first scattered manufactories arose here;
there were no those restrictions and prohibitions on production that were still in effect in the guild system of cities. The production of wool attracted the capital of wealthy citizens. It allowed you to quickly get a good income.
Capitalism, gaining ever stronger positions in agriculture, industry and trade, changed the structure (structure) of English society. New people come to the fore.
The structure of English society at the beginning of the XVII century.
What determined the alliance between the bourgeoisie and the "new nobility"?
The highest, titled stratum of the nobility (dukes, counts, barons, etc.) is "old" nobility. The basis of his life was the feudal right to land, the supreme owner of which was considered the king. In the absence of royal support (positions, pensions, donations, etc.), the old nobility was ruined. True, part of him began to understand that it was dangerous to sit idly by in his locks, and began to invest in entrepreneurship.
The overwhelming majority of the nobility (middle and small) was formed in the 16th century. "new" nobility. It actively adapted its holdings to the needs of the market. But the new nobleman was not limited to agriculture or sheep breeding. His novelty lay precisely in the fact that at the same time he aspired and was a businessman, a shareholder of a company, a shipowner, an industrialist, etc. Being a nobleman in his class position, he acted like a bourgeois in economic and financial affairs. His main goal was to make as much profit as possible. Therefore, long before the revolution, there was alliance of the new nobility with the bourgeoisie(entrepreneurs, merchants, craftsmen, etc.). The bulk of the English peasants were personally free, but land dependent on the owner of the land (landlord) copyholders(holders of the land under the agreement; they had a copy of this agreement in their hands). Their complete dependence on the noble landlords made them staunch enemies of feudalism.
2. Charles 1. Long Parliament and its activities
The decisive role in the defense of the old system was played by the Stuart dynasty, which began to rule from 1603. Her first representative to the English throne Jacob I not wanting to reckon with the rights of the English Parliament, he entered into a long conflict with him. His domestic and foreign policy revolted the bourgeoisie and the new nobility.
After the death of James I (1625), his son took the throne Charles I (1600-1649). Frivolous and self-confident, he further strained relations with parliament. He soon dispersed parliament and established the regime of his "personal domination" (1629-1640). However, this left Charles I without money, since taxes in England were approved by Parliament. Finding means, co-Carl 1 role and his assistants began to flagrantly violate the customs and traditions of the country. This contributed to the growth and strengthening of opposition (resistance) to royal power.
Having started a war with Scotland with his "advisors" and suffered a defeat in it, Charles I was forced to convene parliament. They called him "Long" because meeting in the autumn of 1640, he sat for 12 years. Opening day of its meetings (November 3, 1640) is considered the day of the beginning of the English Revolution.
The first two years of the Long Parliament can be called "peaceful". With active support
ke of the people, the bourgeoisie and the new nobility (they formed the majority in the lower house of parliament - the House of Commons) adopted a series of laws that made it impossible for the king to rule without cooperation with parliament. It was forbidden to collect taxes that were not approved by Parliament. The punitive organs of absolutism ("High Commission" and "Star Chamber") were destroyed, and the king's chief advisers (Earl Strafford and Archbishop Laud) were sent to the scaffold.
An important moment in the activity of the Parliament was the adoption "Great Remonstrance"(protest), in which, in 204 articles, the abuses of the king were listed. The document was aimed at substantiating the bourgeois principle of the inviolability of the person and his property. It also spoke of the right of parliament to control the activities of the ministers of the king, which was already an element constitutional monarchy.
At the beginning of 1642, Charles I left disobedient London and went to the north of the country (the majority of the old nobility sat there) and began to form an anti-parliamentary army from his supporters - royalists. Parliament began to raise its army. The country split into two camps. The supporters of the king were named "cavaliers"(from the English word cavalier horse). In the royalist army, the main striking force was the cavalry. The supporters of parliament were named "round-headed"(for the shape of the hairstyle).
In the first battles that began in the autumn of 1642, civil war(war between citizens within one state), the parliamentary army, formed from mercenaries, began to suffer defeat. This was due not only to the higher military skills of the royalists. At the head of the parliamentary motley troops were noble generals. Although they were opponents of absolutism, they did not want the complete defeat of Charles I. Their goal was compromise(agreement) with the king on concessions in favor of the bourgeois nobility. Their defensive strategy(waging war) threatened parliament with defeat.
3. Creation of a "new model" army »
In the current conditions, the Parliament resolutely decided to create an army "new pattern". Qualitatively new parts of the peasants began to form. These formations were distinguished not only by painstaking study of military affairs, high discipline, but also by a deep conviction in the rightness of the cause for which they fought. They called their military work "God's work", and themselves "God's people".
Leading role in new army began to play a brave officer, a talented commander and politician, a typical representative of the new nobility Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658). Thanks to him, a galaxy of talented officers from the people advanced. Cromwell's cavalrymen (the "Ironsides," as the royalists called them) went on the attack singing prayers.
He did not want to negotiate with Parliament. The fleeting second civil war (1648) ended unsuccessfully for him. January 30, 1649. Charles I Stuart "tyrant, traitor, public ruthless enemy of the English state" (so it was said in the verdict) was beheaded in London.
During the civil war, Parliament confiscated the land of the king, the feudal nobility and the possessions of the church. They were sold in large plots, so that the peasants could not buy them. Almost all of these lands were bought up by the "new" nobility and bourgeoisie.
What role did the peasantry play in the defeat of the royalists?
Parliament did not abolish the peasants' dependence (copyholding) on the new owners of the land. Nothing has changed in the position of the peasants. For them, the land did not become private property. They still paid for the land, only now not to the “knight”, but to the capitalist landowner. But that didn't make it any easier for them.
conclusions
After the victory of the Dutch Revolution in 1609, an anti-feudal explosion began to brew in England. There was a rapid development of capitalism in agriculture and industry. In addition to the bourgeoisie, a significant part of the nobility embarked on the path of entrepreneurship. This "new" nobility, in alliance with the bourgeoisie, came into conflict with absolutism, which escalated into a civil war. The creation of an army consisting of peasants allowed Parliament to defeat the royal troops and overthrow the power of the Stuarts. The main achievement of the revolution was the abolition of the feudal system of land tenure. Land became private (personal, not royal) property. The peasantry remained dependent, but now dependent on the bourgeois proprietors.
Questions
1. What was the main cause of the revolution in England? Who was interested in it and why?
2. Why did the bourgeoisie and the "new nobility" turn out to be allies?
3. Why did Parliament's army fail at first?
4. What allowed parliament to defeat the king? 4. How did the revolution solve the agrarian question, and how was this to be reflected in the fate of the peasantry?
Documents and materials
From the "Great Remonstrance" (November 22, 1641)
We see the root of all these misfortunes in a malicious and disastrous intention to undermine the basic laws and principles of government on which the religion and the court of the kingdom were firmly based. The culprits and inspirers of this were: 1) Jesuit papists ... 2) bishops ... 3) those advisers and courtiers who, out of personal motives, undertook to contribute to ... the death of his majesty and their own state ...
A source: New history in documents and materials.-
M.1934.- 4.1.- P.24.
Questions for the document
1. Why did the bourgeoisie and the new nobility opposed
Anglican church?
2. Recall whose views Puritanism expressed?
3. How did parliament deal with the "advisers" of the king?
Remember the dates
1640-1660 ~ English Revolution in the 17th century 1645 - Battle of Naseby - Parliamentary victory
Glossary of terms
A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY -(monarchy - gr.
Monarchia - autocracy) - the power of the monarch is limited by the constitution, legislative functions are transferred to parliament, executive functions are transferred to the government, i.e. the monarch "reigns but does not govern".
STRATEGY -(gr. strategia - stratos - army + ago - lead) - the art of conducting major operations, campaigns and war in general.
§ 26. Restoration of the Stuarts and the coup of 1688
BUT General Monk's conspiracy. Transfer of the crown to Charles P
Shortly after the execution of Charles I, England was proclaimed a republic, the power of which was in the hands of the army generals, led by O. Cromwell. The most important achievement of the revolution was secured by a special law. Large (landlords) and other nobles - landowners ceased to be holders of land by the will of the king and became its full (private) owners.
However, the old feudal obligations of the copyholder peasants were not abolished, and they remained completely dependent on the new, bourgeois owners. Enclosures, accompanied by the dispossession of peasants, continued, but on a much larger scale. Passive protest, expressed in attempts to develop vacant land "diggers"(diggers), was immediately suppressed by the generals.
The bourgeoisie needed a strong government. The English Republic very soon took the form of a protectorate (protector - guardian) of O. Cromwell. It was a dictatorship based on the great authority of this outstanding politician and statesman. He led an active foreign policy. Ireland was conquered and Scotland annexed. However, when Cromwell died (1658), a struggle for power began between the generals.
In this unstable political environment, events were accelerated by General George Monck (1602-1670) commander of the English forces in Scotland. Understanding the mood of the new owners, Monk began secret negotiations with the son of the executed king, Prince Welsh located in Holland. It was about the restoration (restoration) of the Stuarts.
In February 1660, Monck's army entered London unopposed. Elections were held for Parliament, the new composition of which invited the Prince of Wales to the English throne, and soon proclaimed him King Charles II. He returned to his parental throne, no longer an absolute monarch. His return was stipulated by the treaty. Charles II confirmed the rights won by the new nobility and bourgeoisie. He was deprived of royal lands, but was assigned an annual allowance (1.2 million pounds. St.). The king did not have the right to create a standing army.
2. Reign of Charles P and Jacob P
The restoration of royal power in England did not happen because the "cavaliers" were stronger. The mood of the new and now the main owners has changed. The bourgeoisie freed itself from restrictions in industry and trade. The "new" nobility was satisfied with the transformation of their land into private property, protected by law. Now they needed a strong government capable of ensuring normal conditions for the development of capitalism in England.
It seemed that under the circumstances the Stuarts (Charles II and his brother the Duke of York, the future James II) had to comprehend and take into account the lessons of six decades and forever abandon attempts to restore absolutism. But the sad fate of their father taught them nothing. The brothers showed a desire to restore the old order.
Charles II and his government began to break promises made to Parliament. Part of the lands confiscated during the revolution was returned to their former owners. But it was impossible to restore the former property in full. The new owners tenaciously held on to their land acquisitions. When Charles II tried to restore Catholicism, the bourgeoisie knew they had to act. Parliament responded by passing a law prohibiting officials from practicing Catholicism. In general, the bourgeoisie began to fear that the Stuarts would bring England with their policy to a new revolution, which she did not need.
In the last third of the XVII century. in England there was a rapid strengthening of industrial and commercial capital. The volume of industrial production, trade and tonnage of the marine fleet more than doubled. Neither England itself nor others knew such a rapid pace of development. European countries. The king could break all this with his policy. But the bourgeoisie did not want new bloodshed, and they took a different path.
In the 70s. two political parties began to form (the two-party system in England successfully exists to this day). One of these parties tory(later - conservatives) at first acted as "party of the court". Another party - Whigs(later - liberals) was "party of parliament". Although there were separate disagreements between the parties, both of them expressed the interests different groups the same class of new owners.
In February 1685, the “merry”, as he was called by the people, Charles II died. His younger brother succeeded to the throne under the name James II. Although he was known as an ardent supporter of Catholicism, his rise to power was not met with much opposition. The uprisings that broke out (in Scotland; in the southwest) were quickly and brutally suppressed by James II, and this turned his head, a short-sighted man.
Taking advantage of the obedience of parliament, the disorganization of the young parties, the fear of the bourgeoisie before a new revolution, YakovP created 40 thousand. army and openly led the cause to restore absolutism and Catholicism. But this created a threat to the possessions of many nobles, because. these were the lands of Catholic monasteries, taken from them back in the 16th century. at Henry VIII. And in general, for many reasons, Catholicism was unacceptable to the entire English society.
The Catholic and absolutist danger rallied various political and religious currents. The Tories and the Whigs found a common language and began to act as a united front against James II.
3. Invitation to the throne of William of Orange
Summer 1688 Dutch Stadtholder William of Orange(he was the husband of the daughter of James II Mary) an offer was made. He was advised to gather an army, come to England and, together with his wife, take the royal throne. William did just that, recruiting mercenaries in the autumn, landed with them in England. James II had a larger army, but no battles took place.
Wilhelm was supported by the majority of the bourgeoisie and nobles, the government, the commander-in-chief of the royal army, and even members of the royal family. Abandoned by all, Jacob II decided to flee and no one bothered him in this. It just suited everyone. Undetained, the last Stewart moved to France under protection Louis XIV.
These events were coup d'état. However, it was carried out by "family rearrangement" of the reigning persons in compliance with the law. Everything was achieved peacefully and was called "glorious revolution".
At the beginning of 1689, the Dutch stadtholder became the English king Wilhelm III. And in the fall of the same year, Parliament adopted the famous "Bill of Rights"(bill - bill), which finally laid the foundation for a new form of statehood - constitutional monarchy. The affirmation of the principle "the king reigns, but does not rule" meant that all the most important issues would be decided in a parliament consisting of representatives of the bourgeois parties. The party that wins the majority of seats in the House of Commons forms the government headed by the Prime Minister.
4. The meaning of the revolution
The English revolution of the 17th century, with its "non-peaceful" (1640-1660) and "peaceful" (1688-1689) stages, was major event first period of modern history.
The revolution decisively put an end to the feudal order and thereby opened up scope for the development of a new mode of production and new social relations. The bourgeoisie, in alliance with the new nobility, with the active support of the people, won a victory not only on the battlefields.
Long before them, she won in the minds and hearts of people, creating a new type of person - bold and energetic. After the political revolution, this man during the 18th century made the next revolution - the industrial one, and brought England to the first place in the world, turning it into a "workshop of the world."
The English Revolution served as a model and example for subsequent revolutions. The experience of the revolution in England was appealed to by those who prepared and carried out American (1775-1783) and French (1789-1799) revolutions.
conclusions
The bourgeoisie and the new nobility, after their victory in the revolution, needed strong power. The generals (after the death of O. Cromwell) could not protect the new (private) property. On the basis of a compromise, the Stuarts returned to the throne (restoration). The second generation of this dynasty (Charles II, James II) did not abandon attempts to establish an absolutist order on the basis of a return to Catholicism. This policy again came into conflict with the interests of the rapidly developing bourgeoisie and the bourgeois nobility. A new conflict arose, which in 1688-1689. was resolved peacefully. The last Stewart - Jacob II - fled. In England, a constitutional monarchy was established. In the course of the political struggle, a two-party system (Tory and Whig) developed, which showed considerable resilience.
Questions
1. Why did the new owners go for the restoration of the Stuarts?
2. What made it necessary to finally remove the Stuarts from power? What did they interfere with and what threatened their rule?
3. What was the difference between the events of 1688-1689. from the events of 1642-1649? Why are they called "glorious revolution"?
4. What is the essence of the constitutional monarchy regime? What system exists in England today?
5. What is the reason for the durability of the two-party system? How many parties are active now in Ukraine?
Documents and materials
From the "Bill of Rights" (1689)
4. That the collection of dues in favor of ... the king without the consent of parliament ... is illegal. 6. That the recruitment or maintenance of a standing army ... in time of peace, otherwise than with the consent of Parliament, is against the law. 7. That subjects of the Protestant confession may bear arms. 8. That elections for members of Parliament should be free. 9. That the freedom of speech, debate, and acts in parliament should not be hindered... 13. That in order to stop all abuses and to improve, strengthen, and protect the laws, parliament should be convened often enough.
Famous in England (1642-1660) is known in our country under this name thanks to Soviet textbooks, which focused on the class struggle in English society of the 17th century. At the same time, these events in Europe are known simply as the "civil war". It became one of the key phenomena of its era and determined the vector of development of England over the following centuries.
Dispute between king and parliament
The main cause of the war was the conflict between the executive and On the one hand was King Charles I of the Stuart dynasty, who ruled England as an absolute monarch, depriving the citizens of their rights. It was opposed by the parliament that had existed in the country since the 12th century, when the Magna Carta was granted. The House of Representatives of different estates did not want to put up with the fact that the king takes away her powers and conducts a dubious policy.
The bourgeois revolution in England also had other important prerequisites. During the war, representatives of various Christian movements (Catholics, Anglicans, Puritans) tried to sort things out. This conflict was an echo of another important European event. In 1618-1648. in the territory of the Holy Roman Empire raged Thirty Years' War. It began as a struggle for Protestants for their rights, which was opposed by Catholics. Over time, all the strongest European powers, except for England, were drawn into the war. However, even on an isolated island, a religious dispute had to be resolved with the help of weapons.
Another feature that distinguished the bourgeois revolution in England was the national opposition of the British, as well as the Scots, Welsh and Irish. These three peoples were subjugated by the monarchy and wanted to achieve independence by taking advantage of the war within the kingdom.
The beginning of the revolution
The main causes of the bourgeois revolution in England, described above, must sooner or later lead to the use of weapons. However, this required a good reason. He was found in 1642. A few months before this, a national uprising began in Ireland, the local population of which did everything to expel the English interventionists from their island.
In London, they immediately began to prepare to send an army to the west in order to pacify the disaffected. But the start of the campaign was prevented by a dispute between parliament and the king. The parties could not agree on who would lead the army. Under recent laws, the army was subordinate to Parliament. However, Charles I wanted to seize the initiative in his own hands. In order to intimidate the deputies, he decided to suddenly arrest his most violent opponents in parliament. Among them were political figures such as John Pym and Denzil Hollis. But they all fled from the guards loyal to the king at the last moment.
Then Charles, frightened that because of his mistake he himself would become a victim of a backlash, fled to York. The king remotely began to test the waters and convince moderate members of parliament to go over to his side. Some of them really went to Stuart. The same applied to part of the army. Representatives of the conservative nobility, who wanted to preserve the old ways of absolute monarchy, turned out to be the layer of society that supported the king. Then Charles, believing in his own strength, went to London with an army to deal with the rebellious Parliament. His campaign started on August 22, 1642, and with it the bourgeois revolution began in England.
Roundheads vs. Cavaliers
The supporters of parliament were called roundheads, and the defenders of royal power - cavaliers. The first serious battle between the two warring forces took place on October 23, 1642 near the town of Edgehill. Thanks to their first victory, the Cavaliers managed to defend Oxford, which became the residence of Charles I.
The king made his nephew Rupert his chief military commander. He was the son of the Elector of the Palatinate, Frederick, who started the Thirty Years' War in Germany. In the end, the emperor expelled Rupert's family from the country, and the young man became a mercenary. Before coming to England, he had gained a wealth of military experience through service in the Netherlands, and now the king's nephew led the Royalist troops forward, wanting to capture London, which remained in the hands of the supporters of Parliament. Thus, during the bourgeois revolution, England split into two halves.
The roundheads were supported by the emerging bourgeoisie and merchants. These social classes were the most enterprising in their country. They kept the economy, thanks to them, innovations developed. Due to the indiscriminate internal politics of the king, it became more and more difficult to remain an entrepreneur in England. That is why the bourgeoisie came out on the side of parliament, hoping, in case of victory, to receive the promised freedom in the conduct of their affairs.
Cromwell's personality
He became a political leader in London. He was from a poor landowning family. He earned his influence and fortune thanks to cunning transactions with church real estate. With the outbreak of war, he became an officer in the parliamentary army. His talent as a commander was revealed during the Battle of Marston Moor, which took place on July 2, 1644.
In it, not only the round-headed, but also the Scots opposed the king. This nation has been fighting for its independence from its southern neighbors for several centuries. Parliament in England made an alliance with the Scots against Charles. Thus the king found himself between two fronts. When the Allied armies united, they set off towards York.
The battle of Marston Moor involved a total of about 40 thousand people from both sides. The supporters of the king, led by Prince Rupert, suffered a crushing defeat, after which the entire north of England was cleared of royalists. Oliver Cromwell and his cavalry were nicknamed "iron-sided" for their stamina and endurance at a critical moment.
Reforms in the Army of Parliament
Thanks to the victory at Marston Moor, Oliver Cromwell became one of the leaders within Parliament. In the autumn of 1644, representatives of the counties, who were subjected to the highest taxes (to ensure the normal functioning of the army), spoke in the House. They reported that they could no longer contribute money to the treasury. This event was the impetus for reforms within the Roundhead army.
The first two years the results of the war were unsatisfactory for the Parliament. The success at Marston Moor was the first victory of the Roundheads, but no one could say with certainty that luck would continue to accompany the opponents of the king. The army of Parliament was notable for its low level of discipline, since it was replenished mainly by inept recruits, who, among other things, were also reluctant to fight. Some recruits were suspected of having connections with the Cavaliers and betrayal.
Army of a new type
Parliament in England wanted to get rid of this painful situation in their army. Therefore, in the autumn of 1644, a vote was held, according to the results of which control over the army solely passed to Cromwell. He was instructed to carry out reforms, which was successfully done in a short time.
The new army was called the "army of a new model." It was created on the model of the regiment of "ironsides", which from the very beginning was led by Cromwell himself. Now the parliamentary army was subject to severe discipline (alcohol was forbidden, playing cards, etc.). In addition, the Puritans became its main backbone. It was a reform movement, completely opposed to the monarchical Catholicism of the Stuarts.
The Puritans were distinguished by a harsh life and a sacred attitude to the Bible. In the New Model Army, the reading of the Gospel before battle and other Protestant rituals became the norm.
Final defeat of Charles I
After the reform, Cromwell and his army faced a decisive test in battle against the cavaliers. On June 14, 1645, the Battle of Nesby took place in Northamptonshire. The royalists suffered a crushing defeat. After this, the first bourgeois revolution in England entered a new stage. The king was not just defeated. The Roundheads captured his convoy and gained access to secret correspondence in which Karl Stuart called for the help of the French. From the correspondence it became clear that the monarch was ready to literally sell his country to foreigners, just to stay on the throne.
These documents soon received wide publicity, and the public finally turned away from Karl. The king himself first fell into the hands of the Scots, who sold him to the English for a large sum of money. At first, the monarch was kept in prison, but he had not yet been formally overthrown. They tried to negotiate with Charles (parliament, Cromwell, foreigners), offering different conditions for returning to power. After he escaped from the cell, and then was captured again, his fate was sealed. Carl Stewart was put on trial and sentenced to death penalty. On January 30, 1649, he was beheaded.
Pride purge of Parliament
If we consider the revolution in England as a conflict between Charles and Parliament, then it ended as early as 1646. However, in historiography, a broader interpretation of this term is common, which covers the entire period of the unstable state of power in the country in mid-seventeenth century. After the king was defeated, conflicts began within the parliament. Different groups fought for power, wanting to get rid of competitors.
The main feature by which politicians were divided was religious affiliation. Presbyterians and Independents fought among themselves in Parliament. These were representatives of different people. On December 6, 1648, the Pride purge of parliament took place. The army supported the Independents and expelled the Presbyterians. A new parliament, called the Rump, briefly established a republic in 1649.
War with the Scots
large-scale historical events lead to unexpected consequences. The overthrow of the monarchy only increased national strife. The Irish and Scots tried to achieve independence with the help of weapons. Parliament sent an army against them, led again by Oliver Cromwell. The reasons for the bourgeois revolution in England also lay in the unequal position different peoples, therefore, until this conflict was resolved, it could not end peacefully. In 1651, Cromwell's army defeated the Scots at the Battle of Worcester and ended their struggle for independence.
Cromwell's dictatorship
Thanks to his success, Cromwell became not only popular, but also an influential politician. In 1653 he dissolved Parliament and established a protectorate. In other words, Cromwell became the sole dictator. He assumed the title of Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.
Cromwell managed to calm the country for a while thanks to his harsh measures against opponents. In fact, the republic found itself in a state of war, which was the result of the bourgeois revolution in England. The table shows how power has changed in the country over the course of for long years civil war.
End of the Protectorate
In 1658, Cromwell died suddenly of typhus. His son Richard came to power, but he was the complete opposite of his strong-willed father in character. Under him, anarchy began, and the country was filled with various adventurers who wanted to seize power.
Historical events happened one after another. In May 1659, Richard Cromwell voluntarily resigned, yielding to the demands of the army. Under the circumstances of chaos, Parliament began to negotiate with the son of the executed Charles I (also Charles) to restore the monarchy.
Restoration of the monarchy
The new king returned to his homeland from exile. In 1660, he became the next monarch from the Stuart dynasty. Thus ended the revolution. However, the restoration led to the end of absolutism. The old feudalism was completely destroyed. The bourgeois revolution in England, in short, led to the birth of capitalism. It enabled England (and later Great Britain) to become the world's leading economic power in the 19th century. Such were the results of the bourgeois revolution in England. An industrial and scientific revolution began, which became a key event for the progress of all mankind.
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