Did Charles I Cause The Civil War Essay

Charles I was very much a key part in causing the regicide, as his unshakeable personality and damaging fatal flaw of stubbornness made sure he was unwilling to accept any sort of compromise from Parliament or the New Model Army. As he had shown earlier in his reign, in his rejection of the 1641 Nineteen Propositions (where Charles would have been able to stay in power to an extent and Parliament would have taken control of many of England’s political and religious policies, but Charles would still have some control, essentially peacefully doing exactly what the Civil Wars achieved), Charles was unwilling to agree to any terms that damaged his prerogative and belief in the Divine Right of Kings, which was what he believed was being set forward …show more content…
As Anderson states “the emergence of the army as a third political force made compromise nigh on impossible”, showing the undeniable hold the New Model Army held over Parliament. As the New Model Army contained radical groups within it, the significance political strength held by the army was used to meet the radicals’ demands. This was shown in the Putney Debates (1647), where the radical side of the army, mainly Levellers, led by Thomas Rainsborough and the moderate side, which included Henry Ireton, Cromwell’s son-in-law, met to debate the future course of the army with the radicals fighting against the moderate’s Head of Proposals (1647). However, during the debates the radical side ultimately won out, with the Heads of Proposals losing the support of the civilian population. This meant that the NMA was a key enforcer of radical beliefs leading to its involvement in the King’s death. Furthermore, the radical side of the army were stubborn believing that Charles, and to an extent Parliament, should bend to their demands as they were the voice of the people (the NMA was created on merit and the majority were ordinary men, leading to the belief that the NMA represented the people compared to the hierarchal old