As Professor Peter Gaunt describes, short-lived regimes rapidly followed each other as different political and religious factions struggled for supremacy. Meanwhile the Army was engaged in the bloody and costly conquest of Ireland and a bitter war in Scotland, which supported King Charles II.
Finally in December 1653, the Army’s leadership – the Grandees – dissolved Parliament and established Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector until his death on 3 September 1658. As Britain settled into a brief period of stability at home, an aggressive land and sea foreign policy led to conflicts with Spain in the Caribbean and Europe.
But the Protectorate’s life was short-lived after Oliver Cromwell’s death. His successor and son, Richard, did not have the support of the Army, and he was replaced by a Council of State on 25 May 1659.
In October, General George Monck lead the Army from Scotland and marched unopposed into London, where the Long Parliament was restored, and Charles II was proclaimed King, returning triumphantly to London on 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday.
The British Civil Wars were ended, but their consequences continued to shape the future of Britain.
