2E - The Second Civil War and the reasons for its outcome | AQA A-Level History

The Second Civil War was a series of uprisings and a Scottish invasion, rather than a simple replay of two national armies fighting from established capitals. Trace the campaign of 1648 and weigh the organisation of the New Model Army against the weaknesses of the coalition supporting Charles.

The coalition for renewed war

Charles's Engagement with Scottish representatives in December 1647 created the prospect of armed intervention to restore him. Scottish Engagers believed that a restored king accepting temporary Presbyterian arrangements could protect religion and Scotland's interests. Other Covenanters opposed the bargain because they doubted Charles's commitment and condemned its religious compromises. Scotland did not enter the war as a united nation.

In England and Wales, support for revolt also combined different motives. Some people remained committed Royalists. Others resented taxation, billeting, military interference or the local committees that had governed during the war. Religious conservatives feared sects, and some Presbyterians regarded the army as a greater threat to order than a restrained monarchy. These grievances enabled Charles's cause to attract support beyond his original adherents, but did not create a single well-directed campaign.

A coalition could agree that the existing authorities should change without agreeing what should replace them. Charles depended on a combination of local uprisings and the Scottish army placing too much pressure on the New Model Army to resist. The plan's weakness was timing: isolated rebellions could be suppressed before the main invasion arrived. The Engagement itself records the political bargain behind this attempt.

The local uprisings of 1648

The New Model Army faced serious threats in several regions, but could assign commanders to deal with them separately. In South Wales, forces associated with John Poyer, Rowland Laugharne and Rice Powell resisted the authorities. Cromwell's campaign culminated in the surrender of Pembroke in July. Opposition among troops whose service and pay were disputed shows why the war cannot be reduced to a revival of traditional Royalist loyalties.

In Kent, petitioning and resistance escalated into revolt. Fairfax defeated the rebels at Maidstone at the end of May and beginning of June. Some withdrew into Essex, where Royalist forces became trapped in Colchester. Fairfax's siege ended with their surrender on 28 August. Hard treatment of the defeated leaders reflected the victors' belief that renewed resistance had unnecessarily prolonged suffering after an earlier war had already been settled by force.

Northern Royalists secured Berwick and Carlisle as potential entry points for the Scots. There were also disturbances elsewhere and defections in the fleet. These events forced Parliament to fight on several fronts, but they never produced a coordinated national force joining all rebels at the crucial moment. By the time the Scottish invasion developed, the New Model Army had made substantial progress in suppressing the southern threats. The Battlefields Trust's campaign account gives the sequence from local rising to invasion.

Continue this lesson.

You’re previewing NovaLearn without an account. Create a free account to read the rest.

Create free account

Last Accessed

Historical skills

Component 1 option 1A — The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1204

Component 1 option 1B — Spain in the Age of Discovery, 1469–1598

Component 1 option 1C — The Tudors: England, 1485–1603

Component 1 option 1D — Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy, 1603–1702

Component 1 option 1E — Russia in the Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment, 1682–1796

Component 1 option 1F — Industrialisation and the people: Britain, c1783–1885

Component 1 option 1G — Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Component 1 option 1H — Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855–1964

Component 1 option 1J — The British Empire, c1857–1967

Component 1 option 1K — The making of a Superpower: USA, 1865–1975

Component 1 option 1L — The quest for political stability: Germany, 1871–1991

Component 2 option 2A — Royal Authority and the Angevin Kings, 1154–1216

Component 2 option 2B — The Wars of the Roses, 1450–1499

Component 2 option 2C — The Reformation in Europe, c1500–1564

Component 2 option 2D — Religious conflict and the Church in England, c1529–c1570

Component 2 option 2E — The English Revolution, 1625–1660

Component 2 option 2F — The Sun King: Louis XIV, France and Europe, 1643–1715

Component 2 option 2G — The Birth of the USA, 1760–1801

Component 2 option 2H — France in Revolution, 1774–1815

Component 2 option 2J — America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877

Component 2 option 2K — International Relations and Global Conflict, c1890–1941

Component 2 option 2L — Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945

Component 2 option 2M — Wars and Welfare: Britain in Transition, 1906–1957

Component 2 option 2N — Revolution and dictatorship: Russia, 1917–1953

Component 2 option 2O — Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918–1945

Component 2 option 2P — The Transformation of China, 1936–1997

Component 2 option 2Q — The American Dream: reality and illusion, 1945–1980

Component 2 option 2R — The Cold War, c1945–1991

Component 2 option 2S — The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007

Component 2 option 2T — The Crisis of Communism: The USSR and the Soviet Empire, 1953–2000

Component 3 — Historical investigation

2E - The Second Civil War and the reasons for its outcome

The coalition for renewed war

The local uprisings of 1648

Continue this lesson.

Learn faster with Nova