BBC History Magazine

Q&A

When did Britain come closest to revolution?

Closest? If we understand revolution as the overthrow of the established political order and its replacement with a new form of government, then England (if not Britain) clearly experienced a revolution in the 1640s and 1650s.

Some historians avoid using the term ‘the English revolution’ to describe the events of 1642–1660. They argue that the label is associated too closely with Marxist models

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