The Cromwellian Protectorate examines the nature of the first regime ever to have had effective control of the British Isles and the impact that it had on England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and on Britain’s international reputation. Few previous studies of the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell and his son, Richard, have given sufficient emphasis to its achievements. Instead they have characterized it either as "a military dictatorship" or a reactionary regime that after the revolutionary events of 1649 put Britain on a road that led inevitably to the restoration of the monarchy. This book presents an alternative view of the Cromwellian Protectorate.

The Protectorate's foreign relations are among the most misunderstood aspects of a little-known period of British history, usually seen as an interlude between regicide and Restoration. Yet Cromwell's unique political and military position and current European conflicts enabled him to play a crucial role in international affairs, playing off France against Spain and arousing Catholic fears. Financial and security problems determined the nature of Cromwell's policies, but he achieved great influence among his neighbours in five turbulent years Until recent studies the Protectorate has been regarded as a political cul-de-sac lying uncomfortably between regicide and Restoration. Its foreign relations presented outdated 'Elizabethan' hatred of declining Spain, neglect of rising French and Dutch power, and excessive admiration of Protestant Sweden. A close study of Cromwell's domestic and international position in 1653 casts new light on his problems and successes, restoring pragmatism above religious idealism as the determining factor despite Cromwell's undoubted miscalculations. It is to his credit that England's international prestige stood at its highest during the century in 1658, helped by his unprecedently powerful (though expensive) armed forces. Despite unpopularity and subversion at home, and a narrow base of support, Cromwell utilised the Franco-Spanish war to auction his services between them, obtained England's only Continental foothold after 1558, and pressed his claim as leader of European Protestantism at a time of renewed religious tension.

The Peace of Westphalia (1648), ending the Thirty Years' War, resulted in the rise of the modern European states system. However, dynasticism, power politics, commerce, and religion continued to be the main issues driving International politics and warfare. Dr. William Young examines war and diplomacy during the Age of Louis XIV and Peter the Great. His study focuses on the later part of the Franco-Spanish War, the Wars of Louis XIV, and the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the West. In addition, the author explores the wars of the Baltic Region and East Europe, including the Thirteen Years' War, Second Northern War, War of the Holy League, and the Great Northern War. The study includes a guide to the historical literature concerning war and diplomacy during this period. It includes bibliographical essays and a valuable annotated bibliography of over six hundred books, monographs, dissertations, theses, journal articles, and essays published in the English language. International Politics and Warfare in the Age of Louis XIV and Peter the Great is a valuable resource for individuals interested in the history of diplomacy, warfare, and Early Modern Europe.

In the eighteenth century, Britain became a world superpower through a series of sensational military strikes. Traditionally, the Royal Navy has been seen as Britain's key weapon, but in Three Victories and a Defeat Brendan Simms argues that Britain's true strength lay with the German aristocrats who ruled it at the time. The House of Hanover superbly managed a complex series of European alliances that enabled Britain to keep the continental balance of power in check while dramatically expanding her own empire. These alliances sustained the nation through the War of the Spanish Succession, the War of the Austrian Succession, and the Seven Years' War. But in 1776, Britain lost the American continent by alienating her European allies. An extraordinary reinterpretation of British and American history, Three Victories and a Defeat is a masterwork by a rising star of the historical profession.

A detailed study of the first two Anglo-Dutch Wars and the ideological contexts in which they were fought.

This book offers the first full study of the challenges posed to an emerging English nationalism that stemmed from the powerful appeal exerted by the leaders of the international Protestant cause. By considering a range of texts, including poetry, plays, pamphlets, and religious writing, the study reads this heroic tradition as a 'connected literary history,' a project shared by Protestants throughout Northern Europe, which opened up both collaboration among writers from these different regions and new possibilities for communal identification. The work’s central claim is that a pan-Protestant literary field existed in the period, which was multilingual, transnational, and ideologically charged. Celebrated leaders such as William of Orange posed a series of questions, especially for English Protestants, over the relationship between English and Protestant identity. In formulating their role as co-religionists, writers often undercut notions of alterity, rendering early modern conceptions of foreignness especially fluid and erasing national borders.

Greenspan examines a selection of Cromwell’s conflicts, policies and imperial ventures to explore the ways in which the media was instrumental in developing, promoting and legitimizing government actions.

New Diplomatic History has turned into one of the most dynamic and innovative areas of research – especially with regard to early modern history. It has shown that diplomacy was not as homogenous as previously thought. On the contrary, it was shaped by a multitude of actors, practices and places. The handbook aims to characterise these different manifestations of diplomacy and to contextualise them within ongoing scientific debates. It brings together scholars from different disciplines and historiographical traditions. The handbook deliberately focuses on European diplomacy – although non-European areas are taken into account for future research – in order to limit the framework and ensure precise definitions of diplomacy and its manifestations. This must be the prerequisite for potential future global historical perspectives including both the non-European and the European world.

This volume deals with the entanglement of Scotland in the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), discussing both the diplomatic and military aspects of the conflict that led to Scottish involvement in the heart of the Holy Roman Empire. To the Scots, the war was linked to the fate of the Scottish princess, Elizabeth of Bohemia, rather than the politics of central Europe per se. In three sections, the 12 authors have illuminated the political processes that led to the participation of as many as 50,000 Scottish troops in the war. The official alliances of the Stuart regime, the independent diplomacy of the Scottish Parliament and the actions of numerous well placed individuals at various European courts are all shown to have had a bearing on this important episode of European history.