Biography
Oliver Cromwell - English commander and statesman of the XVI-XVII centuries. He became the head of the British Revolution, headed the movement of the Independents who separated from Puritan, and in the later years of his political career, held the position of Lord General and Lord-Protector of England, Ireland and Scotland.
Oliver Cromwell's biography began on April 25, 1599 in the city of Huntingdon. His parents were poor English noblemen - Elizabeth Steward and Robert Cromwell. The latter was a younger son in a family, coming from Thomas Cromwell (the nearest king of Henry VIII, and its main assistant in the implementation of reforms). During the reign of this king, the ancestors of Oliver Cromwell have progressed a state due to the confiscation of church and monastic lands.
Oliver's primary education received in the parish school of his hometown. In the period from 1616 to 1617, he studied at Sydney Sussex College belonging to the University of Cambridge. This college was known to the Puritan spirit. Cromwell-Jr. began training at the Faculty of Law, but soon decided to leave his studies and married the daughter of the neighborhood.
The death of Father ached at such a step of Oliver: he had to give up education to help mother and sisters. During this period, he led the farm, as and should Squire: Cook beer, prepared cheese, sold bread and wool.
Politics
In 1628, Cromwell tried to start a political courier. He even managed to defeat the parliament from the hometown of Huntingdon. Oliver's first speech in the higher authority of the legislative power of England took place in February 1629. It was devoted to the protection of Puritan preachers. But in March of the same year, King Karl I dismissed the parliament, and Carlera Cromwell ended, did not have time to begin.
For the eleven subsequent years, Cromwell again led the life of an ordinary landlord. In the period from 1636 to 1638, he participated in motion for protecting the community rights of peasants. In a few years, Oliver Cromwell again appeared on the political arena of his country: in April and in November 1640 he was elected to a short and long parliament, respectively. Cromwell became a deputy from Cambridge. In his speeches, he, mainly, defended the interests of the new nobility and bourgeoisie.
English revolution
In August 1642, the British Revolution began (English civil war). The main opposing forces in the course of this revolution were King Charles I and Parliament. Oliver Cromwell fought on the side of the parliamentary army, in which he interpreted in the rank of captain.
He decided to recruit the soldiers not for coercion - instead, he wanted to find cavalry volunteers, for whom the Divine Justice and the fight against the king will be akin to convictions. Oliver Cromwell found such "ideological" subjects in the face of peasants-yomen who lived in East England.
They were Yary Puritans and performed decisively against feudal orders. The regiment of Cromwell, composed of these peasants, was nusted by Zheleznobokim for its exceptional discipline and resistance.
With his army, the commander was held a lot of fighting, gradually getting more and higher ranks. In 1644, he was granted the title of Lieutenant General. The most particular importance of his commander's art was in the battle of Martone Moore, which took place on July 2, 1644, and in the battle of Neuzby, which had a place to be June 14, 1645. These battles became decisive in the history of the English revolution, and without the regimental genius of Oliver Cromwell, they could pass otherwise.
The history of England after the victory of parliament in the first civil war went along the way to the transition to the constitutional monarchy from absolute. The dictatorship of the king, solely determining how the policy of the country will develop, went into the past. At the same time, it is the organizational abilities and the inexhaustible energy of Oliver Cromwell, confident that he fights for the right thing, largely led to the success of the parliament when confronting the king.
Soon after the completion of the British revolution, Cromwell demanded the transformation of the state army. In 1645, he contributed to the creation of the army of a new sample based on the detachments of Zheleznoboki. Cromwell used the experience gained over several years of war to create an effective army.
Civil War
Directly during the British Civil War, Oliver Cromwell represented the strength of revolutionary democracy. But after the parliament defeated the king's troops, the commander decided to move to a more moderate political position and refuse radical democratic views. Because of this, he had confrontation with Levellers, who were not satisfied with the result of the English revolution and demanded the continuation of battles.
In 1647, Oliver Cromwell turned out to be clamped between three serious political forces: the king, the army and representatives of Presbyterianism in the parliament, who had a majority vote. In such a situation from the bold and inspirational military leader, Cromwell turned into a deft and a quiet policy, based on the army and cruelly carriage-tired soldiers in the secret union with the king.
In the same 1647, the army took the king captured. Oliver Cromwell tried to settle the situation with the king talks about the conditions under which the monarchy could be preserved. Levellera, still demanding radical changes, saw betrayal in this. Nor tried a politician to unite the warring parties, to prevent the second civil war, which began in 1648, he failed.
In the course of this revolution, Oliver Cromwell opposed royalists and to strengthen his army, agreed to a union with Levelllers. During September and October 1648, he fought with royalists in Scotland and in the north of England. In early October, his detachments joined Edinburgh, where a victorious peace treaty was signed. In the next months, the commander, having come to London along with his army, achieved the cleaning of the House of Commons from the Yary Supporters of the Royalists.
In 1649, Cromwell agreed to the execution of the king, the destruction of the monarchy and the proclamation of England by the Republic. "Silk" independents turned out to be "silk", who headed Oliver Cromwell. He showed himself a rigid ruler: ruthlessly suppressed any attempts of the uprisings, initiated a bloody military expedition, during which his soldier did not care if Ireland learned about the cruelty, continued mercilessly smoothly romance of royalists.
last years of life
As the life of Oliver Cromwell rolled to the sunset, his rule had gained more conservative features. The once defender of the people, he began hostile to the desire of subjects to establish democracy, to their social requirements. In 1650, he became a Lord-General of the Republic, that is, the commander-in-chief of all its armed forces, which intended to be used to identify personal dictatorship.
In 1653, the commander accepted a new constitution, which was called the "Management Weapon". This document gave him the status of "Lord Protector" in England, Ireland and Scotland. The conduct of the internal policy of the state was difficult for him: in the country, the economic crisis was granted, acute social problems remained unresolved. At the same time, Cromwell was successful in foreign policy, capturing Jamaica, signing a trade agreement with Sweden and concluding peace with Holland at the terms favorable for England.
Although during the lifetime of Oliver Cromwell, the republic was not abolished, and his power was not doubted, the ineptful internal policy of the commander only brought the restoration of the monarchy. After his death in 1658, his son Richard became the successor of the Lord Protector, in a short time lost power.
Personal life
The only wife Cromwell was Elizabeth Burst, on which he married, leaving his studies at the university.
Eight children were born in this marriage: Sons Robert, Oliver, Henry and Richard, as well as daughters Francis, Maria, Elizabeth and Bridget.
Death
Oliver Cromwell died on September 3, 1658, the cause of death became abdominal typhoid and malaria. The funeral of the state leader passed magnificent and pompous, but soon after that the riots began in the country, chaos and the arbitrariness, with whom the successor of Cromwell was not able to cope - his eldest son Richard.
In 1659, the deputies, calling on the throne of Charles II (Karl I's son, agreement to the execution of which Oliver Cromwell once gave), exhumated the body of the commander on charges of the queuy, in order to fulfill the posthumous execution. The body made a few hours on the gallows, after which his head was placed on the pole near the Westminster Palace.
Interesting Facts
- There is a legend that in childhood the little Oliver Cromwell met the peer of Karl I, who was destined to become the king of England. During the game, the boys came up, and Cromwell even broke his nose.
- In 1970, the historic film "Cromwell" was removed, the executor of the leading role in which Richard Harris - received praise from film critics for the excellent embodiment of the character.
- In early childhood, Oliver had two brothers, but they died in infancy. As a result, the boy grew surrounded by the six sisters, with whom he had warm relationships.
- Until 41 years of age, Cromwell did not feel a special passion for revolutionary activities. Only when he scored a detachment of Zheleznoboki for his own money, this love for politics woke up in it and the desire to finish the history of his country.
- September 3 turned out to be a fateful date in the fate of Oliver Cromwell. It was on this day that he defeated the Scottish troops in Denbar, the Army of Charles I at Worker, it was on September 3, his first parliament began to work, and later this day began to be celebrated as Thanksgiving Day. Oliver Cromwell also died on September 3.