Protestant Christian

[Trinity]

Originally Posted by AllyManderson

Now this is the problem that we have. Cromwell, who took over from the Monarchy, was ***isted by Scottish and Irish soldiers. The "English Civil War" was a very BRITISH war.

To claim that Oliver Cromwell's misdeeds represent England and not Britain is, from my position as Scottish and British, unfair. Remember that the "English" monarchy overthrown also had its roots in Scotland and it was supported by many Scots as well.

Henry VIII was supported by a great deal of Scottish money and Scottish soldiers.

You can't talk about England without talking about Scotland - particularly after the Union of the Crowns.

The simple truth is that Cromwell had targeted the Catholics. Many died and suffered great pains because of his anti-catholicism. Even after his death the consequences of his wars and politics were terrible, and especially for the Catholics of Ireland.

"One of the worst famines in modern times in the Western world was the Irish famine of 1846 through 1849. It started as the result of a prolonged potato blight that over several years caused the nation’s potatoes to rot. While this occurred not only in Ireland but also in other parts of Europe, it had a devastating impact in Ireland. Four factors caused the disease to become a tragedy of enormous proportions: As a result of the British occupation and Cromwell’s wars, most of the Irish were peasants engaged in subsistence agriculture. The potato was their staple food. They had little income beyond whatever minuscule incomes they could make from the sale of the potato and other farm products. Second, they did not own their farmsteads, but were tied to Protestant or British landlords who insisted that they should continue to pay their rent even when no income could be obtained. As they could not pay, hundreds of thousands were evicted. Third, Ireland was not an independent country with its own government, which might have recognized its responsibility to take remedial action; Ireland was under British rule..." [p. 344-345]

Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity
Edited by Dinah Shelton
Thomson & Gale Encyclopedia
Volume -2-, 2005, 1458 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-G...9599692&sr=1-1

Dinah Shelton is the Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School. Before joining George
Washington in 2004, she taught international law and was director of the doctoral program in international human rights law at the University of Notre Dame Law School (1996-2004). Shelton is the author of three prize-winning books and has also served as a legal consultant to the United Nations Environment Programme, UNITAR, World Health Organization, European Union, Council of Europe, and Organization of American States.

Trinity