Comments by "Iain Mc" (@iainmc9859) on "The Truth About Oliver Cromwell, the Battle of Dunbar (1650) and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms" video.

  1. Its often forgotten that Britain also had a white slave (political prisoner) trade before its Colonial expansion in the 18th Century. The same thing happened with Jacobites a century later.
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  2. Define 'greatest' ?
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  3. Being a Republican (no, not the USA type) and English born I have some sympathy for Cromwell, being of Irish Catholic descent I have very different views on British colonialism. The reality is that Ethnic, Cultural and Political toleration where not high on the agenda in a pre-democratic age.  @celtichistorydecoded 
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  4. The Scots learnt nothing from the Battle of Flodden ... have some patience, don't come down off the bloody hill !
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  5.  @fyrdman2185  Fyrdman, considering that Cromwell was offered the crown and refused it I think that negates your monarchist accusation. Cromwell actively removed MPs from Parliament that would have been against the execution, so he was not forced. He was in a position of absolute power at the time and his will was effectively law. Was he the head of the military, yes. Was he to become Lord Protector, yes. However, and it was a big HOWEVER Britain had nothing resembling democracy before and a solid hand was needed at the tiller to steer some sort of course. I'm not an apologist for Cromwell. He executed Levellers and persecuted Diggers and Ranters. He also increased the taxes even more than Charles I; which had been the spark to the revolt of the up and coming merchant classes in the first place. Effectively he lost the support of the richest, the poorest, the middle classes as well as never having the support of religious 'extremes' Presbyterian and Catholic. Would you like to discuss it further ???
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