This podcast discusses the range of factors which caused the defeat of the royalists in England and Wales during the First Civil War of 1642-1646.
Its themes range from royalist structural weaknesses, their shortages of manpower and resources, to defeat in battle and the withdrawal of civilian support from the royalist cause. The decisive role of the New Model Army and its year of victories after Naseby is also considered. Other less well-known factors such as news management, military intelligence and side changing are also investigated. In particular, the podcast suggests that to some extent the royalists themselves were authors of their own demise, as the cult of honour among their officers worsened a destructive internal conflict within the royalist coalition. This hastened their downfall, especially once the fortunes of war turned against them in 1645.
