Henry Reece

In asking the question of why the New Model Army was unable to stave off the restoration of the Stuart regime, the author winds up concluding that the real question is why was the New Model Army able to escape its subordination to civilian authority in the first place. The answer, for Reece, is that predominance of the army was something of a fluke, in that had not the army been gathered outside of London, at a peak of unity amongst its high command, there probably would not have been the opportunity for events to play out as they did in 1649. Come 1660, and the demise of Oliver Cromwell, the center could not hold and Charles II regained his throne; Cromwell accepting the throne was probably the best chance for the New Model Army's officers to collectively install themselves as a ruling elite. Otherwise, while the military rule was never popular, Reece finds little evidence to suggest that it was intolerable amongst the English population, and Cromwell took steps to see that it stayed that way.… (mere)