A Commonwealth, Warts and All

TheNordicBrit

A Report on an Counter-Factual Universe​

Report from Colonel Jeffrey Twigg of the Universe-Converging Battalion; 2nd August, 2010; Earth

For the past three years I have spent my time moving between Universes, my particular fascination was caught by one in which the 'Commonwealth of England' survived to this very day (currently 2010 AD). While moving between Universes I gathered a lot of information from this 'counter-factual' Universe, also known as an 'Alternate History'. In this report I will file what happened within England, Scotland and Ireland and also in the wider world. I will include what I believe to be the 'POD's (Points of Divergence) that led to the Universe I travelled to so often coming about.

The first 'POD' within this Universe occurred on the 26th of January, 1644. It was the Battle of Nantwich and an up-and-coming General, George Monck, was fighting on the Royalist side. In our own timeline he survived this battle and was a key proponent in restoring the Monarchy to King Charles II, but in this 'Alternate Universe' a stray musket shot caught him, and hours afterwards he died from some rather horrible infections. In the other Universe barely anyone knows of this odd character dying, just another soldier. But, along with various other 'POD's that seem seemed more serious, I can see how a powerful figure such as George Monck dying would have catastrophic effects on any kind of future restoration.

Anyway, the 'timeline' of that Universe continued much as ours did, with the world not changing with an extra dead man on the field. Though seven years later, there would be another man who would be wounded in battle. This man fought in the Battle of Worcester on the 3rd of September, 1651. This man was Charles II. He was fighting against the Parliamentarian forces with both English and Scots Royalists. The man was fighting for his crown, though a stray bullet put an end to this. It had hit his upper thigh and hit one of the main arteries. He was losing blood rapidly, and by the time the Parliamentarian forces had found and captured the armored guard around the dying King, Charles passed away. It's been rumored this happened just as his and Cromwell's eyes met, though this is likely just a fanciful tale as it's unlikely Cromwell would've chased after him personally.

After the death of Charles II a lot of Royalist support slipped rapidly, with his brother staying on the continent and the only other claimants to the throne being women or young children the Royalists seemed to have a lost cause. This allowed for a substantial number of previous Royalists within the future 'Second Protectorate Parliament' to either become neutral of pro-Parliamentarian (the first still failing due to Levellers and Royalists whom still supported James II). This allowed for the 'Militia Bill' set forward by Major-General John Desborough to pass. Unlike in our timeline, which had the bill fail to pass and thus show the ineffectiveness of Major-General rule over England. This in turn led to the offering of the crown to Cromwell, who refused it after a delayed time.

Also after the death of Charles, Prince James was claimed to be King James II by Royalists, whom were now losing a lot of support as the royal family dwindled. Though he was technically a King, James still loved the battlefield, and now he could stay within the French army without his brother allying himself with the Spanish as Charles II did in our timeline. James tired to get King Louis XIV to support him monetary-wise in order to allow him to take back the English throne, James even promised to declare war on Spain if Louis did support him. However this was not to be, and Louis XIV couldn't afford to help an invasion of England alongside the Franco-Spanish War. Years later, James would be the head of a Royalist force 2000 men strong in the Battle of Valenciennes on the 29th of June, 1656. This would be yet another fateful day, James II rode out and led a charge of his Royalist forces at the Spanish. This proved to be the nail-in-the-coffin for most talks of Restoration of the English monarch. James II was cut down by Spanish musketeers, he died almost instantly.

This would cause huge ripple effects. Suddenly the next-in-line to the English throne was Prince Henry, or Henry IX, whom was serving in the French military. Henry was a great soldier and thus proved to be a much better leader-figure for Royalists at home. Though the Stuarts luck kept draining away. Henry IX served in the Spanish army in the Battle of the Dunes, in which on the opposing side were 3000 Parliamentarian forces led by Sir William Lockhart. It would be in this fateful battle that the steel reserve and sheer determination of the New Model Army would distinguish it in Britain, but also it would be the battle to break the back of the Royalist cause for the moment. In accounts of the battle it's said that Henry IX fell in mid-charge, a musketeer had hit his leg and shattered his leg bone. As Royalists tried to carry him away they were charged by the French and thus, while they didn't kill Henry directly, the lack of medical attention to him led ultimately to his young death.

After news of this filtered back to England and Scotland, the Royalists realized it was simply a lost cause at that point. It is at this point we see large numbers of Royalists immigrate to the Virginian colony in the Americas, though more on that later. Though the home-islands Royalist faction didn't totally die out, and would see a small revival years later when William III of Orange came of age, though again, more on this in later sections.

The final POD in this Universe, was that Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell chose a different heir to the Lord Protectorship. He officially declared (in writing and orally) that Charles Fleetwood, his son-in-law, would become the next Lord Protector. Charles was a staunch supporter of the English presence in Ireland, and also supported the Second Protectorate Parliament greatly.

This is just full of the PODs and their immediate effects, in later sections I will be examining further effects.
 
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TheNordicBrit

A Look Into Similarities and Differences​

Report from Colonel Jeffrey Twigg of the Universe-Converging Battalion; 6nd August, 2010; Earth

Now that I’ve spoken about the ‘POD’s of this other Universe, I feel the need to explain what was different between our Universe due to these effects between 1651 and 1660, but I also think I should explain what didn’t change, just to help the reader understand what was effected in the short term.

Initially in the Commonwealths life, even after Charles II’s death, there was little change other than numerous previous Royalists switching sides to Parliament (though due to the survival of James II many stayed as Royalists). The Commonwealth still went to war with the Dutch over the ‘Navigation Acts’, and they still won. And again, the Treaty of Westminster failed to conclude anything over the Navigation Acts. It was also soon after this that Cromwell allowed Jews back into England, again as he did in ‘OTL’ (Our TimeLine).

Another similarity in both ‘TL’s (TimeLines) is that there was an Anglo-Spanish War that began in 1654. In this war the Commonwealth of England allied itself with the Kingdom of France under King Louis XIV. Though there was a difference from ‘OTL’ in this war. In our Universe after the restoration of Charles II he sold Dunkirk to France and made peace with Spain. From my readings into this Universe Anglo-Spanish War it in fact had larger effects. The war went on for another two years, in which time a further £2,000,000 worth of Spanish treasure fleets were destroyed, this began to have effects on Spain directly with a lot of its income being wiped out by Richard Stayner (overall in the war £4,000,000). Alongside this, while Jamaica was still held by the Commonwealth by the end of the war, a ferocious war had occurred on Cuba. In 1659 Charles Fleetwood, the next Lord Protector, ordered the island be captured. After a week of fighting throughout the island, the Spanish were forced to flee onto Spanish Florida, thus allowing Commonwealth forces to capture Cuba from Spain. This was formally recognized in the Treaty of Cadiz, in which Spain were forced to cede Jamaica and Cuba to the Commonwealth of England.

One of the initial changes that can be seen in the other Universe though (and at the time it seemed a small change) was that after the death of both Charles II and James II there were not only many Royalists whom switched sides, but there were also numerous Parliamentarians whom switched sides to the Leveller cause. This was an interesting development and occurred due to the fact that some Parliamentarians were worried about permanent military rule by the Major-Generals, and they saw that the Royalist cause was dwindling, thus the Republican cause seemed the only way to create a stable state that wouldn’t become a dictatorship. This would lead to a future conflict that I will explain in detail in further sections of my report. The leader of the ‘Levellers’ during this time was William Rainborowe, a man who, by 1662 (the end of the Anglo-Spanish War) had been raised to Major-General of Scotland due to his services in the Anglo-Spanish War. Though it was soon after this appointment that the ‘Troubles’ began, and when the large upheaval occurred. Fleetwood would later write how he “regretted making him powerful every day after the appointment”.

Moving on from this though, I shall look at a rather interesting case, the American colonies. After the Civil War the American colonies were very much split in a North and South divide. The South (especially Virginia) were heavily Royalist, while the northern half was heavily Parliamentarian, especially the ‘United Colonies of New England’. In fact, another minor ‘POD’ in the other Universe was that the colony of Massachusetts did in fact declare war on the Netherlands, unlike in our own Universe. Anyway, moving on, after the death of James II (and to a lesser extent, Henry IX), there were large numbers of Royalists who migrated mainly to Virginia. This led to a larger population in the colony, but also led to attrition between the Northern and Southern colonies. The New English Confederation was by far the most loyal to Parliament; this would have ramifications itself in the future of the colonies in North America also.

Another two, well known events that occurred in the other Universe also occurred in ours. These were the ‘Great Fire of London’ and the ‘Great Plague’. Though the after-effects of the Great Fire of London had effects on London afterwards that would be different to ‘OTL’. In our own Universe there were magnificent churches built, alongside the new ‘St Paul’s Cathedral’, and also there was a monument to the Great Fire built also. In this other Universe London was rebuilt on a much plainer scale to fit in with Puritan thinking.

In my next report I shall explain, in detail, some of the conflicts that occurred in Europe in the next decade that the Commonwealth took some part in. I will also be examining how the political nature of the Commonwealth changed internally also.
 
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Arachnid

I'm guessing you're doing it in the style of an analysis of an alternate timeline by an outsider (to that timeline) if so you my want to explain it e.g.
Report of Captain Joe Bloggs, 3rd Inter-dimensional Exploration Group.
 

TheNordicBrit

Report on the Initial Conflicts the Commonwealth Faced​

Report from Colonel Jeffrey Twigg of the Universe-Converging Battalion; 12th August, 2010; Earth

In my previous reports so far I've mentioned the First Anglo-Dutch War and the Anglo-Spanish Wars which the Commonwealth of England began. I've commented on their results, with Dunkirk, Jamaica and Cuba being ceded to the Commonwealth by Spain, and the Anglo-Dutch War failing at settling any disputes.

The Second Anglo-Dutch War began in 1664, though under very strange circumstances. Lord Protector Fleetwood called for an alliance with France concerning the Low Countries. The alliance would be against both the Dutch and Spanish, in which the French would keep any of the Spanish Netherlands they captured, while the English would keep any colonial possessions that they would make. They also promised to cede Acadia back to France from the Dutch if they captured it.

It's likely due to numerous things that this alliance-offer occurred. Firstly was the Dutch refusing to accept the Navigation Acts, this annoyed the proud Major-Generals of England, but no-one was more infuriated than Lord Protector Fleetwood. Another reason was that the politicians within the Commonwealth were worried about the Prince of Orange, William III. He was the claimant to the English throne at this time, and thus was a constant worry to the still-young Republic. Thus the Lord Protector needed to knock the Dutch out in case the tried an invasion attempt to place William III on the throne.

King Louis XIV deliberated on this for a time, eventually he realized that one of the few allies whom would have a navy to help him against Spain and the Dutch was the English navy. Thus he agreed to the alliance, and soon after (in March) war was declared by both France and England on both the Dutch and Spanish. The war in the Spanish Netherlands went well for the French, as they cut the Spanish Netherlands off from any coastal region, thus disabling the possibility of any Spanish reinforcements to the area. Also the English descended from Dunkirk slightly to expand their territory slightly. While this happened the Dutch navy was having to combat the French and British navies at home, during which the Dutch were soundly beaten, with minor casualties on the Anglo-French side.

Though the Dutch managed (barely) to keep French forces out off the mainland of the Netherlands, in the Dutch Empire the story was a very different story. English forces landed numerous times in different Dutch colonies, these included New Amsterdam, West Timor and all the major Dutch East Indian Company territories. The Commonwealth Naval power shoed itself in this war, in which it focussed on Colonial warfare more than continental warfare.

Along Spain and its territories numerous losses were being incurred on the Empire and mother nation. The Spanish Netherlands had been totally cut off from Spain by any naval route, Franche-Comté was taken in under a month. While in the Spanish colonial Empire there was a success, but there was also a failure. The Commonwealth forces, again, tried to land on Hispaniola, though these landings failed. But the Commonwealth forces did manage to land successfully land on Puerto Rica.

By the year 1666 all four nations were relatively exhausted, and thus a peace was called and a treaty written up soon afterwards. In the treaty the Spanish and Dutch were forced to hand over everything they'd lost, though the Spanish Netherlands stayed in existence (albeit in a rump form). Acadia was ceded back to France, while England gained Puerto Rica, West Timor, the Dutch Indian colonies, New Amsterdam and some land around Dunkirk for a firmer foothold on the continent.

After this war ended, the Commonwealth refused a formal alliance with France. Instead, they turned to Sweden and requested an alliance from them, which they got almost a month later. This formal alliance with Sweden heightened the Swedish position. The Commonwealth also requested an alliance from the Dutch, though they refused flatly due to the war that had practically only just ended.

An extremely uneasy peace descended upon Europe at this point. This would only last for four years though, King Louis XIV, wanting to extend his power even further, declared war on the Netherlands. At this point England came under a lot of pressure, with the possibility of gaining more colonial land in the Far East it was tempting to destroy the Dutch, though then again in order for Protestant power to remain in Europe Fleetwood believed that as many Protestant nations as possible needed to survive. This would all be changed by a fateful decision made by the Dutch government and an envoy sent to London not soon after.

I will describe the events that proceeded the envoy being sent, among other military and political developments in my following report.
 

Arachnid

Interesting though I'm surprised the British got to keep everything, normally at this time at least something was handed back at the end. Also what is the situation in Ireland, I'm guessing its not a good time to be Irish.
 

TheNordicBrit

Aracnid said:
Interesting though I'm surprised the British got to keep everything, normally at this time at least something was handed back at the end. Also what is the situation in Ireland, I'm guessing its not a good time to be Irish.
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The first point you make is a good one, and I myself was stuck on it. Though I argue that, seeing as the defeat of the Dutch and Spanish was so bad that they couldn't really not give up what had been captured.

And Ireland is a subject of my next update. Though so far it's mostly a continuation of Cromwell's policy so far.
 

Mikestone8

FletcherofSaltoun said:
I do not support the IRA in any way, and realise this may be a joke but I find it slightly disturbing nonetheless.
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And I'm not sure that it's true.

In the 18C, many Irish Protestants were just as rebellious as the Catholics. Iirc several, leaders of the 1798 rebellion were Protestant.

They had the RCs so firmly "in their place" that they thought it was safe to defy London. Events, of course, soon proved them wrong, and once they realised that "Home Rule" would inevitably mean "Rome Rule" they quickly changed their tune and became grotesquely loyal.

In this TL, where Ireland is majority Protestant, they would not need to do so. My betting is that they would behave much like their compatriots across the Atlantic. The "Scotch-Irish" in America (including a young Andrew Jackson) tended to be passionate supporters of independence.
 

TheNordicBrit

The Proposed Union and the Rebellion(s)​

Report from Colonel Jeffrey Twigg of the Universe-Converging Battalion; 15th August, 2010; Earth

As I stated in the previous document, the Dutch sent an envoy to England. This envoy was set with the task of trying to gain a semi-union between the United Provinces and the Commonwealth. This is would be a state that resembled a republic much more for both nations, but it would be federal also. After this envoy had reached London a great debate rose in the Second Protectorate Parliament. Many MPs either wished for the current situation to continue, while many others wished for the union to occur. This union would have the benefit of a single, powerful Protestant nation in Europe, which would have a large navy and very good Empire.

It was at this point that the Levellers entered the fray again. With Major-General William Rainborowe speaking out hugely in favour of the federal republic. Fleetwood disagreed with the notion of a federal republic and the Union, though his decision making was cut short. In Ireland Murrough O'Brien and Theobald Taaffe revealed themselves in Connaught, where they'd secretly been creating a large rebel army against the Parliamentarians now in Ireland. They caused such unrest it seemed that all the Irish throughout the land rose up in revolt against the Commonwealths iron-grip on Ireland. In the First Battle of Castlebar, in which de Barry castle was taken by Irish rebels against an ill-prepared Parliamentarian garrison.

All around Ireland, conflicts between the Parliamentarians that had settled in Ireland became more ferocious, with the Parliamentarian forces whom had kept their weapons scoring heavy casualties on the Irish rebels, though the Irish were tough and didn't stop anytime soon. Soon the whole of Connaught had been lost in the period of just a week, which didn't give Lord Protector Fleetwood nearly enough time to react to the rebellion. Though when Fleetwood finally did get round to retaliating, he did with fury.

A huge Parliamentarian army was sent to Ireland, with an army of 25,000 raised rapidly with numerous veterans of the Civil War or previous fighters in Ireland. They were led by Fleetwood himself, alongside Nathaniel Rich. As soon as the troops landed at Dublin they followed Cromwell's example from years ago, though in a more ruthless fashion. Two months after the invasion the main forces of the disorganized Irish rebellion had been crushed, harshly. Though there was one battle still to be had, with the remnant forces of the Irish rebels against the might of the 23,000 strong Parliamentarian force.

This was the Second Battle of Castlebar. This was probably a more important battle than any the Parliamentarian forces had faced before. The Irish rebels had set up extremely strong defences in the de Barry castle and around the town. But the might of the Parliamentarians fell upon the town, and with excellent coordination from Fleetwood mainly, the Parliamentarians managed to destroy the defenders around the castle, though de Barry castle itself was a very different story. The Irish defenders fought with fury, and while no long-term siege beyond a week was needed, on the last day of fighting an incident occurred that would change history for this Universe. Fleetwood was commanding a large section of the army, when an Irish sharpshooter caught him in the chest. The musket ball missed his heart, though Charles fell from his horse. The Lord Protector was carried away and a week later seemed to be recovering well. Though, his wound had become infected due to the swamps of Ireland. This led to his rapid decline and eventual death, and as I stated before, Fleetwood, knowing what would occur next, stated as his parting words that 'allowing that cursed Leveller to gain power will now condemn England to a fate worse than death... May the Lord forgive me'.

A sudden crisis appeared for the English. They had no leader, no designated leader even. Nathaniel Rich was needed in Ireland to keep the peace for the moment. Though one man took advantage of the developments, as he'd hoped to do for so long. Major-General William Rainborowe had already built up an army for the occasion, and soon was descending through England, whoever tried to oppose him had most of their armies switch sides due to the Levellers views on the military that had been taken by the previous 'Grandees'. With a now-huge army Rainborowe thundered into London, securing the capital for himself. He stormed the Second Protectorate session-in-progress which was discussing the death of Fleetwood. He threatened to take the capital by force if the members refused to recognize him as Lord Protector. A vote was rapidly put to the Commons, whom voted almost unanimously to declare him the new Lord Protector, making William Rainborowe the effective dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland.

This dictatorship wouldn't last long though, as Rainborowe was a Leveller, and thus believed in huge equality. He got rid of the Major-General rule, paying off most of the Major-Generals with land in Ireland and/or money. While some did cause problems their troops weren't willing to fight someone who was working for the rights of the common man and soldier. Thus the power of the old 'Grandees' slipped away rapidly. Rainborowe's initial act was to dismiss all the MPs, and call for the radical Republicans/Levellers to become MPs. This included William Walwyn, John Wildman and various other prominent Levellers.

My colleague Captain James Cornwell will state in further detail as to what happens at this point in the Commonwealths history in the next report.
 

Shawn Endresen

Exciting stuff.

Surely there's a conservative backlash? There will be many people who would prefer a renewed monarchy (candidate to be determined) rather than a Leveller state, or some terrible hybrid of the Protectorate and Levellers.
 

TheNordicBrit

The New Order and the Pretenders War​

Report from Captain James Cornwell of the Universe-Converging Battalion; 24th August, 2010; Earth

Lord Protector William Rainborowe had by this time effectively made Parliament a pro-Leveller institute, which many common soldiers in the army supported, though some higher up military personnel also sympathized with the troops. The first vote in Parliament was on decreasing the dictoral power of the Lord Protector, and thus the Lord Protector lost numerous powers. One of the powers taken was the Lord Protectors life-appointment. They voted, and succeeded on making it so that Parliament would have to be voted in every three years. Alongside this the Lord Protector had to have their own election into Parliament as the head of state. The Lord Protector also lost numerous executive powers, which were transferred to Parliament. The Parliaments power in this Universe was about as powerful as the United States congress from our Universe, with the Lord Protector having as much power as the President of the United States. This is mostly relative though due to the 17th century still being very different to the late 18th century of our time. All these changes were known as the 'Commonwealth Instrument of Government'. It was one of the largest changes in English history, with a proper republic finally being created within England (again, relative to the time).

The next piece of legislation pushed through the Parliament was another extremely piece of legislation, though it was mainly an add-on to the previous Bill. It gave all men over the age of 20 the ability to vote, though this didn't apply to women, children or slaves it was still a hugely important piece of legislation as it allowed for a much wider franchise of voters to develop. Alongside this, the Parliament voted on allowing a form of a census to be conducted. This would allow them to get a general idea of the population number, how much they earn and also how many men could vote. These pieces of legislation were all passed in the week after the new 'Leveller' Parliament had been called. They were seen as revolutionary by most Conservatives in the land, who began to cry out against these changes, though for now they wouldn't cause any conflict. The Levellers were intelligent enough to realize that if they continued 'liberalizing' England, Scotland and Ireland that the Conservative members of society would likely rise up, and cause a fourth civil war. In it's current fragile state Lord Protector Rainborowe didn't wish to risk any potential armed conflict between Leveller Parliament and the Conservatives.

Though it was at this point that a pretender to the throne appeared. But this man wasn't a German nor was he William III (still dealing with the French at this point). It was in fact Charles II's illegitimate son, James Scott. The claimant line to the English throne had split in two one side supported William III of the Netherlands, while the other side supported James Scott, even though he was illegitimate. James Scott landed in an unknown island in the Outer Hebrides. He had with him 200 men initially, though he soon landed on the mainland of Scotland. When he landed on Scotland he'd managed to gain an extra 1000 men from the Outer Hebrides. Once he landed on the mainland he managed to gather a further 4000 Catholic highlanders to his cause. He'd done this in under a week, at which point the Leveller Parliament heard of this. Some of the initial 200 men had been Royalist supporters also, and thus this proved a larger problem for the Levellers. A huge mobilization plan was enacted, and by the end of the month the Leveller Parliament had raised an army of 12,000 men. Though by the end of the month Scott had managed to raise an army of 9500 tough, rugged Scottish Highlanders. At this point Scott and his army fell upon Southern Scotland with such force that entire towns were razed to the ground, it was almost reminiscent of the atrocities committed by 'the Bruce'.

At this point the Southern, primarily Protestant Scots in fact called for Parliament to help them. Thus ironically the man whom tried to fracture the Commonwealth actually managed to push the Commonwealth together more. But still, there was a large, predominantly Catholic force threatening Northern England, Parliament had to act swiftly. This they did with a particularly large ferocity, the Levellers didn't want any such uprising to undermine their young, initial Parliament. Thus the 12,000 men strong army was sent north led by Sir John Wildman (MP also).

The Catholic forces met the New Model Army on the battlefield for the first time in the Battle of Dumfries. A 2000 strong Scot force met with a 3000 New Model Army force. Neither side gained the upper-hand for an hour of fighting, and high casualties were caused. But the English armies officer made a daring move, which only just succeeded. He moved around the Scottish forces, encircled them, and the cut them in the middle. Thus the Scottish forces was cut in half and encircled. The New Model Army then proceeded to rip the Scots force apart, and thus weakened James Scotts forces heavily, with only 400 Scottish highlanders escaping the battle back to Scotts base at Glasgow.

Scott knew that he would need to fight with the whole of his army now. With only having 6400 men left against an English force of 10,800 men after this battle. The next move he made was swift itself. He gathered up his whole force and marched south to meet the English force. The upcoming battle was a harsh, bloody and confusing fight. The English and Scottish forces met a few miles outside Kilmarnock in the Battle of Kilmarnock. The battle lasted a whole day, and huge casualties were inflicted on both sides, with a large number of the Scottish casualties being deaths, the battle has been called a massacre. At the end of the battle only 1000 Scots were left alive, while there were 6000 casualties on the English side (though a lot less deaths). After the battle was finished James Scott was taken prisoner in Glasgow, and then moved to London. The Southern, Protestant Scots cheered the English troops as they marched through the streets, they were viewed as saviors from the oppressive, unruly Northern Highlanders.
 

TheNordicBrit

pipisme said:
In what years did the events recorded in the last post happen?
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The two previous updates occurred in 1670. The Leveller take-over (with William Rainborowe taking Lord Protectorship) occurred around May. The 'Scott Rebellion' occurred around August, with the Battle of Kilmarnock on the 26th of August. The space in between the Leveller take-over and the rebellion was filled with concessions being made to previous conservatives (such as land concessions, monetary concessions etc) and also passing legislation in Parliament.
 

TheNordicBrit

A Monarchs Lesson and the Coalition War​

Report from Captain James Cornwell of the Universe-Converging Battalion; 20th September, 2010; Earth

Once 'Scott's Rebellion' had been put down, there were few opponents of the new Leveller government that would call for arms to be raised. There were numerous people who had had titles previously, and had now lost these titles, but due to the new-founded loyalty of the New Model Army to the Leveller government, the previous title-holders could do little to harm the new government. Though one rebellion was stopped just a day before it had been planned to be kicked off. This was a plan by John Lambert, Thomas Fairfax and a couple of other previous high-up Roundheads. This plot was ripped apart though as a tip-off from a Leveller spy had found out. The plotters were put in prison, though this would lead to future debates on the death penalty in the Commonwealth.

After this plot had been unhatched, the Leveller parliament set about deciding a new system of government for England, Scotland, Ireland and even Wales whom had been primarily Royalist in the Civil War. The debating lasted at least a month, and ideas were thrown in consistently and no formal decision could be made. This was until one politician (who's name I cannot find) came up with an idea. He came up with the idea of a 'Federation'. In which England, Scotland, (possibly) Wales and (possibly) Ireland could be united under a single Parliament in London, but be independent to an extent. For example Scotland would have its own Parliament in Edinburgh, and would look after its own affairs to an extent. The idea grew and eventually a coherent plan was set up, in which it stated (generally) that domestic affairs of each section would be looked after by their own Parliaments, while the main capital (London) would look after economic, international and military affairs. There were other powers allocated to both the main and separate capitals, though I shan't go into detail on those.

At first, with this system, there were worries that Scotland, Wales and Ireland would wish to separate from the Commonwealth, but there was a special clause made in the Act that would enact this 'federation' that stated that all members of the central government would need to vote on the separation to allow the nation to go. Due to the overwhelming English majority in Parliament, this would stop any of the other nations leaving. The main problem would be Ireland, with the northern (and to an extent, eastern) sections being Protestant, while the rest was predominantly Catholic. Not only this, but in the sections outside Ulster and the east of Leinster there had been huge depopulation occurring. Whether it was due to the transferal of Irish as slaves to the Caribbean, the Irish escaping or diseases during the wars, the rest of Ireland was in fact quite barren at this point. Some in fact estimate that it had lost 65-70% of its pre-Civil War population in the years from 1650-1670. This meant there was huge resentment in Ireland, but also Munster and Connacht had a tiny population compared to the Protestant-majority Ulster and Leinster.

But, Ireland was still considered a whole republic by itself, and thus was included in the Commonwealth reform. Though a mass-settlement program was set out in Ireland, in which Protestants from England, Wales and Scotland could take land in Ireland that they could live off. This would prove useful in the future of Ireland which would, due to horrific depopulation seen in the 20 years previously, be predominantly (with this settlement program being very active after a certain Revolt).

Thus the 'Federal Commonwealth Act' was passed with yet another slim majority. The Commonwealth was split into 4 separate republics. England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland (the capitals of each being: London, St David's, Edinburgh and Dublin). Each of these capitals would elect MPs to their own Parliaments, but they would also elect MPs to the main Parliament in London.

The next debate in Parliament was on the status of the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Dunkirk. Due to their minor populations the debate was difficult. But eventually it was decided that the Channel Islands and Dunkirk would be territories of the Commonwealth, while the Isle of Man was transformed into another Republic in the Commonwealth, thus making 5 constituent Republics in the Commonwealth. Its capital was located in Castletown.

After these initial acts had been passed, the Leveller Parliament was faced with a huge proposal from the Seven Provinces. The French were laying waste to the Dutch countryside and had been nearing The Hague for weeks now. The Dutch needed a way out, and they saw the Commonwealth as a way out. They contacted the new Leveller Parliament in October of 1670 with two separate proposals. Either one, they would discuss a potential union with the Commonwealth if they declared war on the French. Or the second proposal was a simply coalition between the Commonwealth, United Provinces and Swedish against the French power. The Commonwealth Parliament debated heavily about this, with some spiteful and harsh words coming from all members of the Parliament (that still hadn't been elected yet).

If the members of Parliament thought the previous 'slim votes' had been close, they would have to rethink 'slim' after the next set of votes. But Parliament voted against both staying totally neutral and a political union by just 2 votes. The option of a coalition against France was taken up, and King Gustav X of Sweden was contacted, and the rallying call was taken up. War was declared on France in November of 1670.
 

Blackadder mk 2

Irish slaves? Thats horrible but probably not as horrible as the result................................. Irish reggae. Bob Marley and Lord of the Dance combined. I fear for that world.
 

TheNordicBrit

The War of the Sun King​

Report from Captain James Cornwell of the Universe-Converging Battalion; 18 October, 2010; Earth

As I said in my last report, the Commonwealth of England alongside the Kingdom of Sweden declared war on the Kingdom of France. At this point France looked rather alone in Europe, while they were winning in the United Provinces, now had to face both the Commonwealth with an amazing army and Sweden. At this point there were rumblings in Spain also, with a Kingdom that wished to exact its revenge upon the nation that had driven its Hapsburg territories into the ground. The French needed an ally, and found it in a small Kingdom to the east. The Kingdom of Denmark-Norway had lost Scania to Sweden recently and wanted them back. Thus King Louis XIV convinced King Frederick III to declare war on Sweden to try and gain Scania back. While in the Holy Roman Empire there were also rumblings of war, nothing happened unless Spain declared war first.

In the initial battles, French forces scored successes against the Commonwealth in the land around Dunkirk, though they failed to take the town itself, which the Commonwealth Army held onto with the help of the Commonwealth Navy. In the United Provinces British forces poured in to support the strong Dutch military. In Sweden though only the Commonwealth Navy was dispatched to support the Swedish, though this did help, a lot. The strong navy managed to keep Danish naval attacks at bay, while it helped Swedish landings at Bornholm. After a week-long attack on the island the Swedish managed to subdue to inhabitants. On the Faroe Islands the Commonwealth Navy held a week-long attack on the islands. The populace were stubborn though, and thus the Commonwealth Navy launched amphibious attacks on the islands, and soon the islands had gone to the Commonwealth. Alongside this Reykjavik was put under siege by a joint Anglo-Swedish naval blockade.

In the colonies however, the battle was being fought between the Commonwealth colonies and the French colonies. On the island of Newfoundland the Commonwealth forces clashed with the French settlers and forces in the area. Initially most of the attempts to capture the island were pushed back by the French forces, but the overall naval supremacy of the joint Anglo-Dutch shipping managed to push the Commonwealth forces deeper into the territory and by the beginning of 1671 the whole of the island was in British hands. Around the North American colonies at this point there were both failures and successes on the Commonwealths part. For example Acadia was taken from the French, again. Though in a daring attack by the British along the St. Lawrence river the Commonwealth Navy failed to successfully navigate the river, and thus a much-weakened force was slaughtered as they tried to take Quebec. Soon after this failure the Commonwealth forces made up for this loss by taking Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean. Along the colonial front there wasn't much other movement, with both sides focussing on the European conflict that reached a new level as Spain finally declared war on France, alongside the Holy Roman Empire in February, 1671.

The French offensive in Europe wasn't quelled though, and the French armies soon advanced into what had been left of the Spanish Netherlands after the previous conflict. Though, France was on the defensive in two areas, Dunkirk and the Netherlands. In Dunkirk the Commonwealth army had managed to tear through the French forces that surrounded it in a daring move. Also, in the United Provinces, the joint Anglo-Dutch military managed to push the French out off Dutch territory. The coordination between the Dutch and British forces has been commented on being fantastic for the time, with the two working side-by-side, ignoring previous grievances towards each other. By May the French forces had been completely pushed out off the United Provinces.

In the 'Scandinavian' theatre of war, Commonwealth forces had handed the Faroe Islands over to Sweden to spare up some of their own forces for other campaigns. The Swedish immediately occupied the island, and the populace were in fact relatively indifferent to this Nordic nation occupying them. The blockade of Reykjavik continued and the Icelandic people were now suffering from hunger. The food-resources being rapidly used up due to the temperature in Iceland. Also the lack of food resources being imported from other nations took a heavy toll on the Icelandic's. The islanders were given an option, they either surrender to joint Anglo-Swedish forces who would put the island under military occupation which wouldn't be too strict, and food would be imported. Or the blockade would continue and the Islanders would starve to death. The Icelandic's, after a week of arguing, finally decided to open Reykjavik to Anglo-Swedish forces, though not happily.

At this point on the continent all campaigns came to a grinding halt. With no forces managing to successfully break through any others defences apart from in the minor Scandinavian theatre, in which Swedish forces managed to slowly push through Trøndelag, a territory lost to Denmark-Norway just a decade previously. By July the Swedish managed to almost fully take Trøndelag.
 

TheNordicBrit

A Peace Befalls Europe​

Report from Captain James Cornwell of the Universe-Converging Battalion; 20 November, 2010; Earth

In early 1672 the nations of Europe involved in the 'War of the Sun King' had been exhausted, with the Commonwealth being in a near constant state of war since the beginning of the English Civil Wars, the Netherlands also being constantly involved in conflicts. French advances had come to a halt, and neither side was moving, with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire having made practically no gains. While in Scandinavia neither side was moving at all since the Swedish recapture of Trøndelag.

Thus, in March, the Treaty of London was written up. In this treaty Trøndelag was ceded back to Sweden, while the Faroe Islands and Iceland were given back to Denmark. In the rest of Europe the previous territorial situation was restored. In North America a few territorial changes occurred, with Newfoundland being fully ceded to the Commonwealth, while Acadia was returned to the French. In the Caribbean all islands captured by the Commonwealth Navy were returned to the French.

After this war, there were no proceeding wars between any of the major powers of Europe for a while. This allowed the Commonwealth to start to rebuild its economy rapidly. Also, in 1672, the first elections in the Commonwealth occurred that were available for all men over the age of 20 to take part in. There were two elections held, one was to elect the Lord Protector and the other was to elect the Parliament. At this point there weren’t ‘political parties’ so to speak, but rather there were vague groups whom were supported throughout the Commonwealth. At this point the Levellers had a strong following, but other groups also had followings. The Diggers had a small support, which had grown after the reforms put forward by the Leveller government. Also the ‘Roundheads’ had a following, this was a group of conservatives that wished to go back to a Cromwellian version of the Commonwealth. This had a substantial following as well. Lastly, the most notable group were the ‘Royalists’, whom the Leveller government had allowed to be made, though the Royalists were heavily fined and so forth, they had equal rights. This group was the second smallest of all the groups, only ahead of the Diggers.

In the election of 1672 the men of the Commonwealth voted for the first time for the new Lord Protector. The main men standing for election were William Rainborowe of the Levellers, Gerrard Winstanley for the Diggers, George Booth for the Royalists and Richard Ingoldsby for the Roundheads. The winner of this election was William Rainborowe, who won by a large majority. In Parliament the elections went very much the same way, with the Levellers winning by a clear majority.

Soon after this victory for the Levellers they set about recreating the parliamentary constituencies based on the census that was made years ago. This was to make future elections fairer in that each constituency would elect people based on their populations. The ‘constituency rebuild’ began in 1672, and by 1673 a good list had been compiled of 300 seats that would be used to vote in the next set of elections. In a sense for electing Parliament it is very much like our own timelines system in the modern United Kingdom, a simple majority and a seat won. While for the Lord Protector to be voted in, they also needed a simple majority from the constituencies.

In North America, the colonists were stirring. With all the reforms occurring in the main Commonwealth, they were annoyed as to how they had no control over who the next Lord Protector or Parliament would be that would control their colonies. These complaints came strongly from the Southern Colonies, with the Northern Colonists being more inclined to side with the government due to the French bordering them. In the Southern Colonies numerous Royalists had escaped from the Commonwealth due to the harsh taxes and wished to make a new life in the colonies, in the colonies there were even Royalists whom had had titles in England beforehand, though they had lost them in the Commonwealth. In the Southern Colonies they were held with high regard and still called by their titles. There were also the heirs of many of the original Royalists that had moved to the Southern Colonies. These included John Wilmot (son of Henry Wilmot), George Villiers (son of the first Duke of Buckingham of the same name) and other Royalists of high esteem.

The Leveller government, while being a liberal government for the day, didn’t listen to the southern outcries, while the opposition Royalist group in Parliament with a few members were outraged and demanded a meeting be held with the Colonies to deal with the situation. These members were ignored though and so tensions continued to rise.

While in the north the Confederation of New England was flourishing, with money being invested into it by the Commonwealth and colonists being encouraged to settle in New England the Confederation was developing rapidly and trade was booming now that war was over. Also Rhode Island had been reformed and had joined the Confederation. While before the other members of the Confederation had viewed it as a “rouge island” they now looked at it as an equal. With the accession of Rhode Island the Confederation only continued to flourish, with each colony within the Confederation becoming more reliant on the other and on the British Isles.
 
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