The Rule of the Major Generals

Le résumé fourni par la source

In a sense, the rule of the Major Generals was a response to the royalist risings of 1655, but it was also the result of a need to reorganize the army which, serving in England, Scotland and Ireland, was a considerable drain on the limited financial resources of the government. The Major Generals, war-hardened professional soldiers, proved themselves efficient in carrying through Cromwell&s;s program, but their involvement in local government alienated the country at large, and the long-term effects of their activities were felt long after the Restoration. The election campaign of the summer of 1656 was marked by the Major Generals&s; efforts to enforce their own choices on voters for the proposed Parliament, and resistance from former political associates of Cromwell who equated the generals with the court of a new, personal, ruler. The fact that the Council of State had to exclude many elected MPs indicated the Major Generals&s; failure.

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