Cromwell and the Dutch, 1653–4

Abstract

In the months leading up to and following the outbreak of the Dutch War Cromwell did not bear the primary responsibility for policy. As Commander-in-Chief and an MP he had influence, but not the impact which observers attributed to men such as Sir Henry Vane, Thomas Chaloner, Herbert Morley and Henry Neville. This group was indeed the prime target of politically active members of the Army leadership in 1652–3, for denying military influence, and was the object of Cromwell’s tirade on 20 April 1653. His differences with these men were chiefly on matters such as the ‘Recruiter’ elections to Parliament and its time of dissolution, and it can be seen that their concepts of ‘national’ interest were not so very different. Chaloner, the dedicatee of the Introduction to Gage’s English-American,¹ cannot be accused of lack of Protestant zeal, though Cromwell’s tone was more inflammatory than Vane’s.