Political Violence

The English civil war started in 1642. It was a war over religion. Previously the monarchs of England were going back and forth from making the state religion Anglican or Catholic. King Henry VIII was a staunch Catholic, and was even named a Defender of the Faith by the Pope. However, his wife was not producing an heir, and the Pope would not allow him to get divorced, so he set up his own church. The Church of England was different from the Catholic church in that it made King Henry the top authority in State matters and religious matters. His son, Edward VI continued with the Anglican church, through 1553, but then Mary I came to the throne. She was not a fan of the Anglican church in any way, and she changed the state religion back to Catholicism. She actually killed 300 Protestants for not believing. Elizabeth took the throne in 1558 and switched the church back to Anglicism once again. She killed 300 Catholics for not believing during her reign. She made the Elizabethan settlement, which established the Church of England as the official church with a several laws. Attendance to church was mandatory and ever clergyman was required to preach in favor of the bible and against Catholicism every month, all ceremonies came from the Book of Prayer, etc. When she died King James the VI came over from Scotland and took over as King James I. He is the one that gives us the King James bible today. His son Charles married a Catholic princess, and Parliament was not very happy with that. He dissolved Parliament many times because they would not give him the funds he needed to rule the country. Civil war broke out and Oliver Cromwell, a Protestant took over the country once Charles was out of the way. Charles was killed during the war and his son was exiled.

According to Comparative Politics by David J. Samuels the definition of a civil war is “armed conflict within the boundaries of a sovereign state between parties that are subject to common authority at the start of hostilities.” (259) Previous to the civil war starting everyone in the country was under the authority of King Charles I, so we have the common authority. The war all happened within the boundaries of the UK, and it was a sovereign state.

The question that we are left with is what the difference between a civil war and a revolution is. A revolution is when a group of people hold claim to a significant number of the people and claim their government, the opposing side usually holds claims to the rest of the population. A revolution also implies the idea that they succeed, that they are able to break off from the original country. If they do not succeed, and end under one government again then it is simply a civil war. In a civil war each side lays claim to the entire population. This is what happened in England. Obviously the King held claim to the people, as he ruled over them before. However the rebels also claimed the people, and wanted a different government.

The result was civil war, after which a new type of government was implemented. Oliver Cromwell ruled for several years before Charles II was brought back in.

The English Civil war fits the definition that is given quite well, it was a conflict between one state and it ended as one state in the end. 

Samuels, David J. Comparative Politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1967. Print.