22. A desert called peace

22. A desert called peace

This is the chapter where we reach the Third English Civil War. We've seen that though their concerns may have been mainly English, the civil wars were by no means limited to England. They were, indeed, wrapped up in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. So far, I've tended to ignore Ireland a bit, and this episode will put that right. Especially as Cromwell's actions in Ireland are a major element of his career, showing him to be once more a victorious general, but not a particularly humane rules, or even a merciful one.

That being said, there's no need to overstate the horrors associated with his campaign in Ireland. There's certainly been exaggeration down the centuries. But, frankly, the truth of what happened in Ireland during Cromwell's campaign is quite horrific enough anyway.

In a long history marked by terrible moments, Cromwell's campaign in Ireland was one of the bleakest in the relations between Britain and that long-suffering island.


Illustration: Oliver Cromwell by Robert Walker Oil on Canvas, circa 1649
National Portrait Gallery 536
Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

Jaksot(274)

265. War in a unipolar world

265. War in a unipolar world

By the latter part of the twentieth century, the world had become unipolar. The Soviet Empire collapsed even more rapidly than the British one had after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. China was not yet...

26 Loka 202514min

264. Ethics, votes and wars

264. Ethics, votes and wars

We saw in the last episode, that Britain’s involvement in the NATO intervention in Kosovo could be regarded as part of an ‘ethical foreign policy’, since its objective, many felt, was humanitarian, th...

12 Loka 202514min

263. Tragedy at home, ethics abroad

263. Tragedy at home, ethics abroad

Divorce, contrary to what many believe, was not permitted by the Church of England. Henry VIII didn’t divorce two wives, he had the marriages annulled, declaring in effect that they’d never happened. ...

5 Loka 202514min

262. Uncool

262. Uncool

In the early years of Blair’s premiership, his supporters liked to refer to Britain as ‘Cool Britannia’, in a play on the title of the song ‘Rule Britannia’. Last week, we talked about some of the coo...

28 Syys 202514min

261. Cool Britannia

261. Cool Britannia

The Blair government threw itself into action as soon as it was formed.Rather confirming the existence of a deal between them, something they’ve never confirmed, Blair quickly appointed Gordon Brown C...

21 Syys 202514min

260. New Dawn

260. New Dawn

It was a new dawn. Or at least so Tony Blair said, as he emerged from his landslide victory in the 1997 General Election. It’s what he would say, isn’t it?Still, there was some truth to the claim. It ...

14 Syys 202514min

259. Major error, major success, Major’s out

259. Major error, major success, Major’s out

We’re just about ready to move on from John Major but, before we do, we need to spend a few moments on two major events of his second premiership. One was a significant breakthrough, in Ireland, even ...

7 Syys 202514min

258. Major’s bastards and Labour’s deal

258. Major’s bastards and Labour’s deal

By winning the 1992 general election, John Major had gained his own mandate to form a government, instead of imply inheriting Margaret Thatcher’s. He’d shown himself capable of leading the Conservativ...

31 Elo 202514min

Suosittua kategoriassa Historia

olipa-kerran-otsikko
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
mayday-fi
huijarit
mystista
rss-ikiuni
tsunami
konginkangas
totuus-vai-salaliitto
rouva-diktaattori
rss-subjektiivinen-todistaja
rss-i-dont-like-mondays-2
rss-peter-peter
rss-sattuu-sita-suomessakin
sotaa-ja-historiaa-podi
historiaa-suomeksi
rss-kirkon-ihmeellisimmat-tarinat
maailmanpuu
apinan-vuosi
tiedetta-ja-sirkushuveja-vanhojen-aikojen-podcast