Introduction

The history of Oliver Cromwell’s short-lived Commonwealth is a tale of regicide, dictatorship, internal conflict and war in seventeenth-century Britain.

Establishment of the Commonwealth

After defeating King Charles I in the English-British Civil Wars, Oliver Cromwell established the Commonwealth of England. Under this unique experiment in the governance of Britain, the Three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in the Protectorate, with Cromwell as Lord Protector, 1649 to 1660. But this ambitious new state would soon collapse.

Challenges and Collapse

Cromwell faced turbulence and problems from all sides. There were political, religious, and constitutional dilemmas at home and military threats from abroad—even from the Dutch, the Protectorate's natural ally. Finally, with Cromwell's death in 1658 and the succession of his son, the hapless Richard Cromwell, the failed state collapsed with the restoration of the Stuart dynasty in 1660. Thus Britain returned to royal, aristocratic and gentry rule.