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Why did parliament win the First Civil War (Parliaments Superior Resources…
Why did parliament win the First Civil War
Parliaments Superior Resources
Parliament controlled London- access to tax rolls
Ports of London brought in customs
London most richest, economically advanced city- supplied parliament with finances for victory
London trained bands provided parliament with 12,000 soldiers
Control over rich, economically developed areas such as the main ports and iron making areas of the south east
Control of Sussex granted them ships and weapons as it was a big iron producer and had supply of gunpowder in the armouries
Charles Lack of Resources
Limited financial resources due to him being unwilling to subvert the social and political order- would not seize parliamentarians' estates because he stood for the old order
Sequestration of royalist estates by parliament- deprived the royalists of their income their estates produced in parliaments areas
Did not have access to taxes- relied on traditional elite and legal measures, relied on his own revenues as well as his noble and gentry supporter s and contributions from foreign allies - insufficient
Once gold and silver from private sources had been used up, the king had no real taxation base and no regular supply.
Lost control of customs- resulted in shortages of supplies and of troops as the war progressed
Parliaments Acquisition of Superior Troops
December 1643- Solemn League and covenant- signed by parliament- 20,000 Scottish troops marched into England in 1644
July 1644- Battle of Marston Moor- Scottish army of 20,000 defeated Royalist army of 10,000
February 1645- New Model Ordinance approved- Assembled best units of existing armies into one New Model Army led by Fairfax -22,000 men- largest single force in the country and was properly trained, equipped, uniformed and led
June 1645- Battle of Naseby- Kings forces outnumbered 2 to 1- Crushing victory for New Model Army- Charles army completely destroyed and his correspondence captured
Parliaments Effective leaders
Pym passed a series of measures to ensure that parliament had money and resources securing their victory
Pym introduced Weekly Assessments which meant each county under parliaments control given fixed tax assessment- raised money for parliament
Pym introduced Excise duty (type of purchase tax) particularly on beer
Pym introduced the right to sequester royalist property
Battle of Marston Moor in July 1644- victory rested heavily on Cromwell's cavalry which proved its quality and discipline
Fairfax led the New Model Army which achieved numerous victories such as the battle of Naseby
Charles' Ineffective Leadership
Royalist leadership was divided- bitter rivalries between civilians and soldiers, Digby and Rupert, and moderates such as Hyde and hard-liners- King failed to impose own unified leadership on these divisions
Regional divisions prevented the King from unifying his forces- meant King unable to convince his forces to unite centrally and advance on London
October 1642- Battle of Edgehill- armies were uncoordinated and failed to produce a swift decisive victory-Royalist cavalry commanded by Rupert shattered Essex's left flank but began looting parliaments camp rather than rallying and returning to battle
Charles could not rally his forces together to capture London- Charles and Newcastle detained in besieging towns and Hopton only one ready for the advance