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Question: What do British people think of Cromwell!?
My perception of the guy after taking several history courses on British History is that the guy was kind of a tool!. He was basically a worse version of the King who he had beheaded!. Except in the process he destroyed hundreds of years of British historical artifacts (But I kind of have a negative view of Calvinism so I might be biased!.)
But I was just wondering what British people are taught about him and how he generally looked at by the society!? Is he thought of as a cool guy who did good things!? Do people not like him!? Or is he just kind of forgotten about!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
bit of a nutter really!. did a lot of good things, helped britain establish something reasonably close to a democracy (well, for those days anyway)!. but on the other hand he was a brutal murderer who killed a heck of a lot of people!. irish bloke above is right, murderer who was far to fond of letting his troops massacre civilians!. also he was a bit of a religious extremeist, and i personally really really really hate them quite a lot!. hence i dont like cromwell very much!. still, many of our rulers before cromwell were as bad in many respects!.
cant speak for all british people, i dont like him!.
have a good oneWww@QuestionHome@Com
According to "1066 and All That", essential light reading for every history buff, "Cromwell !.!.!. was unwilling [to take the Crown] and declared it was a Crowning Mercy when he found that it would not fit, having been designed for a Cavalier King!. Soon after, Cromwell died of a surfeit of Pride, Purges, Warts, and other Baubles!."
The Cavaliers were Wrong but Wromantic, and the Roundheads were Right and Repulsive!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I dont know what the British people think but the Irish people will never forget the name Cromwell, he was a bloodythirsty murderer who tried to outlaw the Catholic church to surpress the Irish people, he murdered innocent people by the thousands, men women and children even known to have cut open pregnant womens stomachs!. Altogether no a cool guy!Www@QuestionHome@Com
I've visited the Cromwell Museum in Huntingdonshire!. There are people who believe that like so many others, Oliver Cromwell did some things for the right reasons!. Check out the sources I've given, some of which are from the U!.K!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I have an Irish buddy, and whenever anything goes wrong he says!.!.!.!."God is an Englishman, and his name is Oliver Cromwell"
That should tell you somethingWww@QuestionHome@Com
Which Cromwell!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Unless you are a history buff, he is mostly kind of forgotten about!. I wouldn't say that Oliver Cromwell is someone who is remembered particularly fondly in Britain, such as Admiral Nelson or Elizabeth I!. It would be hard to celebrate him too much, seeing as Britain is still a monarchy and he was a regicide!.
However, according to a BBC poll done in 2002, Cromwell was the tenth "greatest" figure in British history, so someone out there obviously likes him!.
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/100_Greates!.!.!.
"1066 and All That" about gets it right!. Today the Cavaliers are regarded as romantic (though wrong), and the Roundheads as kind-of dull, unattractive, self-righteous bores (though basically right)!.
Personally I think that, by today's standards, Cromwell was very un-English!. The religious passions of the 17th Century seem totally ridiculous today, when Britain is a highly secular country!. The Puritans are the most ridiculous of the lot: not just fanatical, but desperately earnest about it at the same time!. Ugh!.
Obviously it is hypocritical to overthrow the king and then set yourself up as supreme, hereditary ruler!. This is exactly what Napoleon did after the French Revolution, and in Britain Napoleon has always been regarded as a military dictator and tyrant!. Under Cromwell, for the first and last time in British history, Britain was effectively ruled by the army!. This is the kind of thing that happens in France or South American banana republics, not Britain!
Do you know that Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas celebrations, and even tried to supress football! Can you imagine anything more likely to piss off the English!!! He was terribly unpopular at the time: when he died "there was none that cried but dogs", according to the English diarist John Evelyn!.
Of course it is also unattractive that Cromwell massacred the defenders of Drogheda and Wexford in Ireland (including many English Royalists as well as Irish)!. Whatever happened to the English spirit of tolerance and fair play!? This is mainly remembered in Ireland more than it is in Britain of course!. Some would argue that Ireland and Britain have been suffering the consequences ever since!.
I think this negative view of Cromwell is most widespread among popular historians and the interested public!. In "The History of the English-Speaking Peoples", Winston Churchill wrote:
"By the end of 1648 it was all over!. Cromwell was Dictator!. The Royalists were crushed; Parliament was a tool; the Constitution was a Figment; the Scots were rebuffed, the Welsh back in their mountains; the Fleet was reorganised, London overawed!. King Charles, at Carisbrooke Castle, was left to pay the bill!. It was mortal!."
By the way, Churchill is the most popular Briton of all time, according to the BBC poll!.
In the landmark BBC documentary "A History of Britain", presented by renowned British historian Simon Schama, the Cromwell period is described as a "joyless, kingless republic" ruled with "an iron fist"!. Schama also called Cromwell "a war criminal", calling the massacre at Drogheda "'an atrocity so hideous that it has contaminated Anglo-Irish history ever since"!.
Recently I watched a (British) film about Cromwell called "To Kill a King", in which Oliver Cromwell is portrayed by Tim Roth, one of the creepiest actors there is!. The plot is pretty simple: it makes Cromwell out to be a scheming, bloodthirsty tyrant and an arch-hypocrite!. This is pretty one-sided and done for dramatic effect, but it reflects a popular view of Cromwell nowadays!.
In the 2004 song "English Blood - Irish Heart", the iconic British rock star Morrissey sings:
"I've been dreaming of a time when
The English are sick to death of Labour
And Tories, and spit upon the name of Oliver Cromwell"
So yes, I would agree that Cromwell was a "tool", and that he is also seen like that by a lot of British people today!. He also has his defenders though!.Www@QuestionHome@Com