Cromwell accepts petition to become King?

The only way you'd be able to get Cromwell to agree is if he feels he's witnessed a strong enough "sign for god" that it should happen. Cromwell himself was a man entirely committed to his own personal beliefs and morals, and to be honest it might be hard to have him interpret a 'sign' in such a way; it is however known that Cromwell let almost all his important decisions hang on 'waiting for a sign', which often resulted in his objections being vetoed on account of his time wasting.
 
The Title Lord Protector pretty much made him King, he had far more power than Charles I or any subsequent monarch ever had.
 
Title or no title, he had the power from the get go sense the army rallied around him and him only; it's certainly an odd thing to say when referring to a figure as monumental and game changing as Cromwell was, but he never really exercised the power he /really/ had, neither as Lord Protector or as the head of the New Model Army. In any case, do you think it would have increased or hampered the stability level the commonwealth was dealing with? would he be accepted by other royals as such? In any case Tumbledown Dick is still probably going to be an incompetent.
 
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Title says it all. What if King Oliver I ascended to the Throne?

No no no no no no no. NO.

1) Cromwell is a Republican at heart. He believes (in theory) in democratic rule (provided you are landed of course). He never wanted to be King. This is not in his nature.

2) Even if the DID want to, this would IMMEDIATELY spark a new Civil War. A lot of the best Generals in the New Model Army were Republicans. Infact a petition was made to Cromwell threatening to overthrow him if he DID accept the crown. Cromwell is popular, but not popular enough to keep a huge chunk of the New Model Army moving against him.

The only way you'd be able to get Cromwell to agree is if he feels he's witnessed a strong enough "sign for god" that it should happen. Cromwell himself was a man entirely committed to his own personal beliefs and morals, and to be honest it might be hard to have him interpret a 'sign' in such a way; it is however known that Cromwell let almost all his important decisions hang on 'waiting for a sign', which often resulted in his objections being vetoed on account of his time wasting.

Cromwell was religious but not stupid. He only took Lord Protector because he saw parliament was just as corrupt with or without a King. Even with it he had limited power. Claiming backing from God may be good enough for him, but it won't stop the political reality of shattering his own power base. Cromwell has no desire to plunge the country into war again, especially against the men he fought beside fighting the LAST King.

Title or no title, he had the power from the get go sense the army rallied around him and him only; it's certainly an odd thing to say when referring to a figure as monumental and game changing as Cromwell was, but he never really exercised the power he /really/ had, neither as Lord Protector or as the head of the New Model Army. In any case, do you think it would have increased or hampered the stability level the commonwealth was dealing with? would he be accepted by other royals as such? In any case Tumbledown Dick is still probably going to be an incompetent.

The Royalists were the ones who wanted to make him King. This will never fly with the majority of the Republicans or the majority as parliament. As you said, even as Lord Protector he never really hand any power. Something like only 2 or 3 laws were passed during his reign due to parliaments endless bickering.

Richard will always be stuffed. He isn't a good politician and he isn't a great military leader. No one rallies behind him and King or not his fall is inevitable.
 
What about letting 'Queen Dick' die instead of the younger Oliver Cromwell?

Why I actually wrote a Timeline on that (although without the King bit).

Its poorly done (my first attempted) and I've pretty much abandoned it. Maybe one day I'll come back and redo it with better knowledge.

Cromwell becoming King isn't realistically possible (at least with the name King. Perhaps in the future the Lord Protector becomes a King but at least until the Civil War is a distant memory the name will be a negative association), but the position of Lord Protector surviving and becoming something like the Stadholders of the Netherlands is possible with a strong enough successor to Cromwell Sr.

Also helps if the successor is a strong military leader who fought in the Civil War and hence gains a lot more support and respect.
 
almost impossible it would ever occur
if it did, then it would divide the country again and could spark another civil war
I doubt kind Richard IV would reign for long before the stuarts return
 
What would be cool would be if somehow one could combine the house of Stuart and the house of Cromwell. But that's just wishful thinking on my part.
 
What would be cool would be if somehow one could combine the house of Stuart and the house of Cromwell. But that's just wishful thinking on my part.

Unfortunately that's about as likely as Hitler marrying Stalin's daughter. Or George Washington marrying into the British Royal Family.

A hilarious comedy show for prime-time tv, but historically impossible. Christmas dinner would be awkward (angry silence as Charles II asks Oliver to pass the gravy) but fortunately the Puritans banned that.
 
Unfortunately that's about as likely as Hitler marrying Stalin's daughter. Or George Washington marrying into the British Royal Family.

A hilarious comedy show for prime-time tv, but historically impossible. Christmas dinner would be awkward (angry silence as Charles II asks Oliver to pass the gravy) but fortunately the Puritans banned that.

I didn't necessarily mean immediately - it could've been further down the line had the Stuarts ruled longer. But speaking of awkward Christmas dinners - Victoria's family might've had a very awkward one indeed - what with her wanting her eldest grandson "Eddy" to marry Helene d'Orleans and her youngest daughter to marry Napoleon IV Bonaparte.
And stranger things have happened. Napoleon I married the great-niece of Marie-Antoinette, Napoleon III wanted to marry Victoria's niece. But that's a different time, I think.

Oh, and Washington didn't get into the British Royal Family, but his family did get married into the Bonapartes, Murats and the Oldenburgs - just saying.
 
2) Even if the DID want to, this would IMMEDIATELY spark a new Civil War. A lot of the best Generals in the New Model Army were Republicans. Infact a petition was made to Cromwell threatening to overthrow him if he DID accept the crown. Cromwell is popular, but not popular enough to keep a huge chunk of the New Model Army moving against him.

Yup. The motivation for offering Cromwell the crown was in no small part an attempt to split him away from the Major Generals and use him as a check on their power. In order to claim and hold the throne, Cromwell would have had to break most of them and rely on the new Parliament and the semi-reformed royalists within the Army (George Monck, etc) as his power base.
 
I read that the reason they offered him the crown had to do with the fact that at least then Parliament could check him, rather than his extensive powers that he had where Parliament could not. In fact, IMHO he was far more absolutist than Charles I could've ever dreamed of being.
 
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