Interregnum

Time between 1649 and 1660 when England was a republic.

What happened

On 30 January 1649, Charles I was executed and on 6 and 7 February the House of Lords and the monarchy were abolished. On 19 Mai 1649, England became a Commonwealth or Free State. Now, the administration lay in the hands of the Privy Council. The executive power was lead by Oliver Cromwell. Whereas before law texts mentioned the king, they now spoke of the "Keepers of the Liberties of England" (Haan 1993: 182). But the republic remained a republic without republicans.
On 20 April 1653, the core of Parliament was dissolved, in December the Puritans were included as the Parliament of Saints where they tried to influence politics according to their religion. A few days later, Cromwell was declared "Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland" (Maurer 1997: 205). He tried to stabilise England through a written constitution. Cromwell was responsible for administration, foreign policy; he had a fixed budget and an army, but he was nevertheless dependent on the Parliament, which had to come together at least every three years. The following year, England, Ireland, and Scotland were united. The Parliament was dissolved but had to be recalled for the war against Spain. In that way, Oliver Cromwell tried to continue the naval power that England had under Elizabeth I.
On 3 September 1658 Oliver Cromwell died and his son Richard Cromwell could not keep his function up as he lacked the support of the army. The generals Fleetwood and Lambert forced him to abdicate and summoned the core Parliament again. As it tried to cut down the army, it was dissolved. Finally, as everything else failed the monarchy was restored in 1660 and Charles II became king, the House of Commons and the House of Lords as well as the State church were reestablished.

Aims

The first aim was to secure the power and the second to expand it. This lead to a more active foreign policy. Leveller groups were dissolved and rebellions in Ireland and Scotland were defeated.

Ireland and Scotland

The republic had a standing army of 44.000 men and thus possessed the greatest military power at that time, which it directed towards Ireland. Ireland's position was the total opposition towards England. Several incidents in Ireland (e.g. in Drogheda and Wexford) where many civilians were killed stirred up the hatred against England even more. Then, Cromwell directed his power towards Scotland. He triumphed in Dunbar and Edinburgh. After Charles II and his troops were defeated in England, he fled to France and Scotland lost its independence for nine years.

Religion

In religious matters, a relative pluralism occurred: the parishes were left to decide how mass should be held. Thus, the Uniformity of the 16th century lapsed. For the first time since the middle ages, Jews were allowed to come to England from 1656 on. There was not obligatory mass on Sunday, but on the other hand the decision of what to do on Sundays was limited by strict rules that forbid every kind of amusement (including dance, sports, game and visiting inns).

Trade

In 1651, the Navigation Act was introduced, which lead to the war against the Netherlands. From 1652 to 1654, England was successful in several naval battles.

Why did it fail

The military power did not help to consolidate the new system as the public did not stand behind it. And furthermore, the core of the Parliament was represented by a minority. Some parts of the country were not represented at all. But it did not really matter who was on top as long as the result was still a financial burden. The republic did not fail because of powerful opposition but mainly because it lacked the acceptance of the political nation.

Sources

• Haan, Heiner; Niedhart, Gottfried. Geschichte Englands vom 16. bis zum 18. Jahrhundert. München: C.H.Beck, 1993.
• Maurer, Michael. Kleine Geschichte Englands. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1997.