To what extent was the army mainly responsible for the changes in politics and government in the period 1648 1685?

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To what extent was the army mainly responsible for the changes in politics and government in the period 1648 – 1685?

The problems facing the governments in the period 1648 – 1685 were manifold. This meant that none of the governments during the interregnum could survive and caused difficulties for the Restoration government too. For all the governments during 1648 – 1660, radicalism was a major factor that they faced. The Rump failed as they were not doing enough to satisfy radicals. Each of the regimes was fatally flawed due to the difficulty of combining the radical reform with the return to stability. The politicised army made ruling England very difficult. In 1653 the army was a huge political force, which held great influence. The army’s opposition to the Rump had caused great difficulties for it; the army had demanded reforms which the Rump had failed to provide, which therefore led to the Rumps dissolution in April 1653. The opposition from the army led to the resignation of Richard Cromwell so subsequently the failure of the Protectorate in 1659.

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However, the Restoration in 1660 led to the end of radicalism as a problem for the government. The restoration settlement allowed religious toleration; however this later changed with the Cavalier Parliament and the Clarendon code 1661-65 which was an anti-puritan campaign. Leading to opposition from puritans and created great tension between Parliament and Charles II who wanted toleration. This was further enhanced with the Declaration of Indulgence 1672, which was forcibly counteracted with Test Act passed by an angry Parliament in 1673. This highlighted the problem of finance during Charles’ reign as he was forced to compromise some of his ...

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