Thursday, November 19 Things Fall Apart

Thursday, November 19 Things Fall Apart

Civil Wars “The statue of Saddam Hussein topples in Baghdad's Firdos Square on April 9, 2003.” Unknown U.S. military or Department of Defense employee Killing the leader of a country rarely ends a war. Groups that worked together to overthrow a ruler don't necessarily all have the same goals and opinions Often, a civil war will continue as the groups that were once allies begin fighting each other Other times, the reasons for the war are deeper than the actions of a single leader, and so conflict continues

Ireland Ireland. Satellite image, from NASA Earth Observatory. (11 October 2010) Ireland had been in rebellion since 1641 It was mostly controlled by the Irish Confederate forces, who were trying to gain independence After Charles' arrest, the Confederate forces were increasingly threatened by the forces of Parliament The Irish allied with the English Royalists In 1649, Oliver Cromwell landed in Ireland with an army to put down the rebellion Cromwell's invasion of Ireland still remains a controversial historical memory in Irish- English relations

Scotland King Charles I's son, Charles II, claimed the throne, and tried to raise forces to press his claim and fight Parliament The Scots didn't agree with the execution of Charles I, and were worried about what changes the Puritan Parliament might impose on their Presbyterian churches The Scots who had been fighting against the Royalists then allied with Charles II Charles II had the unified forces of the Royalists and their former opponents, making him the biggest threat to Parliament King Charles II John Michael Wright (c )

End of the Civil War Cromwell took most of his army from Ireland to fight the Scottish threat After arriving in July, 1650, Cromwell and the New Model Army had control of most of Scotland by the end of the year Charles II and the Scottish army marched into Northern England, but did not find as much support as they had hoped. Charles II was defeated at the battle of Worcester on Sep He famously escaped the Roundheads by hiding in an Oak Tree. Charles II escaped to France, ending the civil wars in the Three Kingdoms A descendant of the Royal Oak, at Boscobel House Photograph by Wikipedia user “Oosoom”, June

Cromwell in Ireland Cromwell's invasion of Ireland is remembered for several acts of atrocities Cromwell's involvement in them is still argued by some historians Cromwell is still a hated figure in Ireland today

Drogheda During the Siege of Drogheda, Cromwell ordered “no quarter” would be given – no prisoners would be taken, and anyone who resisted would be killed Cromwell's troops killed about 3500 people, of which about 800 were civilians Cromwell's troops accepted the surrender of some Irish troops, and then executed them once they had given up their weapons They set fire to a church in which soldiers had taken refuge They killed any Catholic clergy they found in the city Surviving soldiers were deported to Barbados as slaves

Wexford The town of Wexford was the site of another massacre. Cromwell's troops broke into the town, killing about 2000 soldiers and 1500 civilians, looting the town and burning much of it to the ground Cromwell had actually been in negotiations for Wexford's surrender at the time the troops broke in. Some historians argue he did not try to reign his troops in during the massacre. The treatment of Drogheda and Wexford strengthened resistance among the Irish. The Royalists attempted to use the massacres as propaganda against Parliament Many Irish Catholics were convinced they would be killed even if they surrendered Any property owned by Catholics was also confiscated by Parliament

Effects of the Civil War After the official end of the rebellion in Ireland in 1650, guerrilla resistance continued for a number of years Because English convoys were constantly attacked, Cromwell's lieutenants ordered food supplies to be destroyed and forcibly evicted civilians This caused a period of famine, which was made worse by an outbreak of Bubonic Plague. In England, about 190,000 people died during the wars, out of a population of 5 million. (3.7% of the population.) About 100,000 was due to disease In Scotland, about 60,000 people died, out of 1 million. (6%) In Ireland, about 600,000 people died, out of 1.5 million. (41%) Most of them (about 2/3rds) was due to disease. This does not include the 40,000 people deported to the Americas as slaves.

Exit Slip How is history interpreted differently by different people? What makes people interpret history differently?