provisional government was created out of the two chambers and a Civil War loomed large on the horizon. So the second period of the bourgeois revolution (1642-1649) was a period of civil wars.
3.3.2 The Civil War (1642-1645) whole of England was divided into hostile camps. The distribution of forces was characteristic: the Royalists or «Cavaliers» as they were nicknamed for their aristocratic laxity and brilliance, fashionable bright clothes and long hair often elaborately curled, were popular in the industrially backward areas of the North, the West and South-West while the determined Puritans or «Roundheads» were ideological and economic masters of the industrial South, the industrial centres of the North and Midlands. This was the geographical distribution of the forces, the political distribution was in accordance: the new nobles, bourgeoisie, and the gentry supported by the yeomanry constituted the bulk of the Roundheads while the feudal aristocracy and the high Anglican clergy rallied round the king. The Parliament opposition had the support of the wide masses and the plebian layers of the towns.the Parliament army had great advantages: enjoying the support of the most wealthy regions of the country and the virtually unlimited financial backing of the wealthiest part of English society, the army did not have to rely upon marauding, the way the Cavaliers army did. Since the Roundheads, well paid and therefore well disciplined, did not rob the peasants and the townsmen of the places where they were billeted they did not alienate the population the way the royalist army did (in fact, wealthy peasants got organized into what they called clubmen outfits to fight any body of soldiers indiscriminately defending their possessions from the marauding royalist soldiers). Besides, the Parliament army enjoyed the support of the navy and the ports so that no help from outside could reach the Royalists while the Roundheads were well supplied. What «s more, the whole of London was on the side of the Parliament army, and the city militia force called the train bands were already a well organized nucleus. The Parliament army in general suffered from the lack of experience while the king »s warlike northerners and westerners, feudal nobles used to hunting and fighting which was only natural for the« drones », were ready for armed conflicts. So at first the Royalist forces were victorious and it is hard to say whether the Earl of Essex, commander-in-chief of the Parliament army, the timid presbyterian, was sad or glad when the king «s army scored successes and took possessions of Oxford, York, Bristol. Historians mention ten battles fought by the two armies.only the lack of experience was to blame for the puritan failure of the first years of the Civil War, but the presbyterians » desire of compromise with the king. It was the independents « influence that rallied the masses of yeomanry, petty bourgeoisie and the town poor. [3, pp.103-104] Parliament army was headed by Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658). He came of a gentry family, was brought up as a strict puritan, first elected to Parliament in 1628, then to the Long Parliament in 1640. As soon as military action began, he became well known as a talented military organizer; his first command was a detachment of militia troops, the yeomanry and artisans of the east counties. After the Parliament defeats he insisted on a reorganization of the army introducing...
