No Restoration: A Cromwellian Republic

So simple, Charles II makes no return in 1660 and England remains kingless in the long-term (always the possibility of French style flirtations but essentially England remains a republic of sorts).

How to do it? What if Cromwell appoints a successor as Lord Protector as oppossed to a succession by his unqualified, unpopular, unknown son Richard.

From my quite limited reading on the subject it seems Charles Fleetwood, his son-in-law, was a primary candidate. He had military experience and was popular in the New Model Army, was a Puritan and oversaw the Protectorate's supression of Ireland. He was also anti-monarchist, despite his unswerving loyalty and admiration of Cromwell, enough to oppose the Humble Petition's suggestion he should become King, bar that he saw a life dictatorship as good. He also saw foriegn policy as grounded in religion, and supported Protestant unity, reconciliation with Holland? Sweden? German States?

Indeed after Richard was appointed the new Lord Protector in spit of his own obvious candidacy, he led the Republicans in opposing the restoration regardless of the nation's growing instability.

So I ask, its 1658, Lord Protector Fleetwood rules the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland with an iron fist. What effect on Britain and the world do you think a lengthened Republic would have?
 
I'm interested in such a POD, but admit I don't know enough about the 17th century Britain to speculate on the result.
 
No Restoration

I think one possibility is to have Prince Charles as he was, either die at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 or have him caught and executed shortly after.

James would then be the Stuart heir and his uncompromising view on the Divine Right of Kings make it unlikely he would accept a restoration on any terms but his own.

Assuming Fleetwood takes over, things won't be straightforward. A more active anti-French foreign policy is likely to bring Britain into greater conflict with Louis XIV's France. We might see the French attempt to restore James in Ireland by force - not impossible. A restored James in Ireland would not be a direct threat to the British Republic but would make life awkward.

I also wonder if a second generation of puritan dictatorship would provoke a backlash among supporters of Parliament for example.
 
It would be healthy for the Commonwealth's long-term survival in general if Cromwell established the precedent that the Lord Protector didn't have to be a blood relative of the previous Lord Protector. Perhaps Cromwell took the even healthier step of refusing the Humble Petition and Advice wholesale, which would be the natural POD for this event (although Prince Charles' death/execution at or after the Battle of Worcester would make an excellent preliminary POD, just to establish in the legally utmost terms that the monarchy was not coming back in any way, shape or form). Upon Cromwell's death the Instrument of Government would come into force, Parliament would elect his successor in theory, while the military establishment that controlled Parliament would choose him in practice, and in the event the military chose Fleetwood.

Parliament, especially the second Protectorate Parliament, was filled to the brim with hard puritans, so 'puritan dictatorship' wouldn't have been a major sticking point. The main bone of contention would have probably been that Fleetwood was head of a military dictatorship, since in spite of Parliament having a de jure veto over the membership of the Council of State, ultimately the military called the shots, and in the event that religious fervour gave way to practicality in the ranks, their interests were inevitably going to part.

It would be a fascinating thing to witness over a long period of time, much like a pre-modern Burma in many ways.
 
But if you have a Republic, even with a Puritan radical majority, eventually the extremists will be replaced with moderates over a period of time. The result in a few decades might be closer to an OTL Parliament, without a monarch.
 
The Scots had no love for the English so Charles or James could land there and declare themselves King of the Scots. The French may provide actual support as the Louis XIV would have no love for an English republic.

If they did then in theory it would be no business of the Protectorate Parliament as Scotland was in theory an independent realm that just happened to have the same king as England. In practice Fleetwood would send an army north to run Stuart out on the grounds that eventually there would be a Scottish attempt to put Stuart back on his English throne. Not withstanding stooge's comments, the same would apply to Ireland.

In either case if the French provide sufficient support so England does not get a knockout, a treaty could be signed with Stuart giving up all claims to an English throne and the Protectorate Parliament any claims on Stuart's kingdom. Whether in the long run it would be worth the paper it was written on would be another matter.
 
Top