Civil War, English

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Civil War, English (1642–45, 1648, 1651) Conflicts between Crown and Parliament. Following years of dispute between the King and State, essentially over the power of the monarchy, war began when the King Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham. Royalist forces were at first successful at Edgehill (1642) but there were no decisive engagements, and Parliament's position was stronger, as it controlled the se (including London), the navy, and formed an alliance with Scotland. Parliament's victory at Marston Moor (1644) was a turning point, and in 1645 Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell won a decisive victory at Naseby with their New Model Army. Charles surrendered in 1646. While negotiating with Parliament, he secretly secured an agreement with the Scots that led to the Second Civil War (1648). A few local Royalist risings came to nothing, and the Scots, invading England, were swiftly defeated. The execution of Charles I (1649) provoked further conflict in 1650, in which Scots and Irish Royalists supported the future Charles II. Cromwell suppressed the Irish and the Scots, the final battle being fought at Worcester (1651).

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English civil war

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