Civil war video

• English Civil Wars 1642-1651


  Sequence of destructive battles that took place in the middle of the 17th century
• English Civil Wars


  • Power struggle between King Charles the First and Parliament
  • Drawn across deep and intricate political, religious and economic divisions
• King James death, Charles the First ascended to the throne

  1625
• Within four years after Charles crowning, numerous unpopular measures most notably the ship money tax had brought the long-standing religious political and social disputes in the british isles into a climax
• Charles' personal rule or 11-year tyranny

  1. Dismissed all his members of parliament

  2. Ruled England without a parliament for the next 11 years
• From the late 1630s Charles attempted to develop a more english-style religious practice in scotland drawing severe opposition from the scottish presbyterians
• First Bishops War


  1. King Charles the First's army arrived in Scotland

  2. Quickly overwhelmed by the experienced Scottish army

  3. King forced to sign a peace treaty at Berwick
• King refused to concede the Scots victory and recalled a special session of parliament to finance another war
• Short Parliament


  1. Assembled in April 1640

  2. Dismissed after only three weeks
• Without the money to fight, the King's army was defeated disastrously in the second Bishops War in the summer of 1640 and the Scots successfully occupied northern England
• Demoralized and humiliated, the King had no choice but to negotiate and recall a new parliament which became the Long Parliament
• During the political instability in London, the Catholic majority in Ireland revolted massacring hundreds of Protestants
• The violence heightened tension in England as Charles and Parliament did not see eye to eye on how to settle the rebellion
• Parliament presented a list of grievances against the King known as the Grand Remonstrance to Charles in December 1641
• King's response


  1. Tried but failed to arrest his leading opponents in Parliament

  2. Parliament took control of the London militias and the Tower of London

  3. King escaped London for northern England and urged his allies to prepare for war
• King Charles the First raised his royal standard at Nottingham, officially marking the onset of the First Civil War

  22nd of August 1642
• First Civil War 1642-1646


  • Fought between the Royalists (Cavaliers) and the Parliamentarians (Roundheads)
  • Commanded by Robert de Varue, the Third Earl of Essex
• First major battle


  • Edge Hill, southern Warwickshire, England in October 1642
• The battle was inconclusive and the King's army then marched on London but was stopped at Turnham Green by Essex's expanded force
• Small-scale fighting occurred later that year during which the King established his headquarters at Oxford
• Fighting was widespread mainly by smaller forces in regional areas resulting in Royalists holding all of northern England and Parliamentarians controlling the south east including London
• After gaining victory in the Battle of Adwolt and Moore, the King held two-thirds of England and Wales and appeared to be gaining the upper hand with the Irish troops joining the Royalists
• Decisive victory for Parliamentarians

  1. Significant alliance between the Parliamentarians and Scotland

  2. Strong Scottish force entered the fight

  3. Decisive victory at Marston Moor, west of York

  4. Collapse of the Royalist cause in the North

  5. Reform of the Parliamentary armies with the creation of the New Model Army under Fairfax and Cromwell
• The New Model Army moved against the Royalist forces and scored a decisive victory at the Battle of Naseby, effectively destroying the Royalist forces
• Charles the First was handed over to the Parliamentarians, marking the end of the First Civil War
• Second Civil War 1648


  • Despite defeat, Charles refused to surrender
  • Exploited his opponent's religious and political differences
• Second Civil War


  1. Charles concluded a peace treaty with leading Scots

  2. Series of armed uprisings began in spring and summer of 1648 in favor of the King

  3. Cromwell and the New Model Army crushed revolts

  4. Battle of Preston ended with decisive defeat and surrender of the Scots
• Charles was found guilty of high treason and was executed by beheading in Whitehall, London on the 30th of January 1649
• Third Civil War 1649-1651


  1. Republican government created in England supported by the New Model Army's military might

  2. Cromwell's army launched a victorious reconquest of Ireland

  3. Scots signed the Treaty of Breda with the executed King's eldest son, Charles II

  4. Charles II gathered an army of English and Scottish Royalists

  5. Cromwell invaded Scotland, defeated Charles II at Worcester
• The English Civil Wars were long and deadly battles that shattered society at all levels, dividing families, villages, cities and counties across the kingdom
• The conflict resulted in massive amounts of injury, death, psychological suffering, pillage and destruction in many parts of England
• Up to 200,000 civilians and soldiers died as a result of warfare and diseases carried by marching forces, accounting for 4.5 percent of the population, proportionally as great as that of the First World War in 1914