Glorious Revolution

• 1. Background And Succession Crisis

  ›

  James II became king in February 1685 with widespread backing from Protestant majorities across England and Scotland. His conversion to Roman Catholicism while in exile during the English Civil War did not initially deter his supporters. June 1685 saw James successfully crush Protestant uprisings in both Scotland and England. However, he failed to appreciate how much his power relied on support from the landed gentry. The vast majority of the gentry in England and Scotland were Protestant. Even in largely Catholic Ireland a disproportionate number were members of the Protestant Church of Ireland. His supporters accepted James's personal religious beliefs as long as he maintained the primacy of the Protestant Church of England and Church of Scotland. When his policies appeared to undermine them it destabilised all three kingdoms.

  Stuart political ideology derived from James VI and I whose principle was divine right. Parliament's function was to obey. Disputes over the relationship between king and Parliament led to the War of the Three Kingdoms and continued after the 1660 Stuart Restoration. Charles II came to rely on the Royal Prerogative since measures passed this way could be withdrawn when he decided rather than by Parliament. It could not though be used for major legislation or taxation. Concern that Charles II intended to create an absolute monarchy led to the 1679 to 1681 Exclusion Crisis dividing the English political class into those who wanted to exclude James from the throne mostly Whigs and their opponents mostly Tories. In 1685 many Whigs feared the consequences of bypassing the natural heir while Tories were often strongly anti-Catholic and their support assumed the continued primacy of the Church of England. Most importantly it was seen as a short-term issue; James was 52, his marriage to Mary of Modena remained childless after 11 years, and the heirs were his Protestant daughters, Mary and Anne.

• 2. Dutch Invasion Strategy

  ›

  In 1677 James's elder daughter and heir Mary married her Protestant cousin William III of Orange stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic. The two initially shared common objectives in wanting Mary to succeed her father while French ambitions in the Spanish Netherlands threatened both English and Dutch trade. Although William sent James troops to help suppress the 1685 Monmouth Rebellion their relationship deteriorated thereafter. The Franco-Dutch War continued French expansion and expulsion of the Huguenots meant William assumed another war was inevitable. Although the States General of the Netherlands preferred peace the majority accepted he was correct. This view was widely shared throughout Protestant Europe. In October 1685 Frederick William Elector of Brandenburg renounced his French alliance for one with the Dutch. In July 1686 other Protestant states formed the anti-French League of Augsburg with Dutch support. Securing or neutralising English resources especially the Royal Navy now became key to both sides.

  Following a skirmish between French and Dutch naval vessels in July 1686 William concluded English neutrality was not enough and he needed their active support in the event of war. His relationship with James was affected by the fact both men relied on advisors with relatively limited views. In William's case mainly English and Scots Presbyterian exiles the latter with close links to the Protestant minority in Ireland who saw Tyrconnell's policies as a threat to their existence. Having largely alienated his Tory support base James depended on a small circle of Catholic converts like Sunderland Melfort and Perth. Suspicions increased when James sought William's backing for repealing the Test Acts; he predictably refused further damaging their relationship. Having previously assumed he was guaranteed English support in a war with France William now worried he might face an Anglo-French alliance like during the Rampjaar despite assurances by James he had no intention of doing so.

• 3. The Bloodless Landing And Flight

  ›

  Embarkations begun on the 22nd of September Gregorian calendar had been completed on the 8th of October and the expedition was that day openly approved by the States of Holland. The same day James issued a proclamation to the English nation that it should prepare for a Dutch invasion to ward off conquest. On the 30th of September/the 10th of October Julian/Gregorian calendars William issued the Declaration of The Hague actually written by Fagel. Of which 60,000 copies of the English translation by Gilbert Burnet were distributed after the landing in England. He assured that his only aim was to maintain the Protestant religion install a free parliament and investigate the legitimacy of the Prince of Wales. He would respect the position of James.

  William went on to condemn James's advisers for overturning the religion laws and liberties of England Scotland and Ireland by the use of the suspending and dispensing power. The establishment of the manifestly illegal commission for ecclesiastical causes and its use to suspend the Bishop of London and to remove the Fellows of Magdalen College Oxford. William also condemned James's attempt to repeal the Test Acts and the penal laws through pressuring individuals and waging an assault on parliamentary boroughs as well as his purging of the judiciary. James's attempt to pack Parliament was in danger of removing the last and great remedy for all those evils. Therefore we have thought fit to go over to England and to carry over with us a force sufficient by the blessing of God to defend us from the violence of those evil Counsellors. This our Expedition is intended for no other design but to have a free and lawful Parliament assembled as soon as is possible.

• 4. Constitutional Settlements In Britain

  ›

  James' departure enabled William to take control of the provisional government on the 28th of December. Elections were held in early January for a Convention Parliament which assembled on the 22nd of January. While the Whigs had a slight majority in the Commons the Lords was dominated by the Tories but both were led by moderates. Even Stuart loyalists like Archbishop Sancroft recognised keeping James on the throne was no longer possible. Instead they argued his daughter Mary should either be appointed regent or sole monarch. The issue was debated for next two weeks much to the annoyance of William who needed a swift resolution. The situation in Ireland was rapidly deteriorating while the French had overrun large parts of the Rhineland and were preparing to attack the Dutch.

  At a meeting with Danby and Halifax on the 3rd of February he declared he would return home if the Convention did not appoint him joint monarch while Mary stated she would only rule jointly with her husband. Faced with this ultimatum on the 6th of February Parliament declared that in choosing exile James had abdicated and thus vacated the Crown which was therefore offered jointly to William and Mary. Historian Tim Harris argues the most radical act of the 1688 Revolution was the idea of a contract between ruler and people rebutting the Stuart ideology of divine right. While this was a victory for the Whigs other pieces of legislation were proposed by the Tories often with moderate Whig support designed to protect the Anglican establishment from being undermined by future monarchs including the Calvinist William. The Declaration of Right was a tactical compromise setting out where James had failed and establishing the rights of English citizens without agreeing their cause or offering solutions.

• 5. Warfare In Ireland And Scotland

  ›

  After his flight from England in December 1688 James II had been given refuge by Louis XIV who provided him financial and diplomatic assistance. Accompanied by 6,000 French troops on the 12th of March 1689 he landed in Ireland where he was backed by the majority Catholic population. His supporters were known as Jacobites and the war in Ireland was accompanied by a rising in Scotland. For James the main objective was to retake England and thus he viewed both Scotland and Ireland as strategic dead ends. On the other hand Louis saw them as an opportunity to divert British resources from the Low Countries a difference in aims that was never adequately resolved.

  James' Catholic deputy the Earl of Tyrconnell had raised an Army of around 36,000 although many were poorly equipped and it was almost impossible to feed pay and supply so many. Although they quickly occupied much of Ireland including largely Protestant Ulster they were unable to capture the key northern port of Derry and were forced to retreat at the end of July. In August Williamite general Schomberg landed in Belfast Lough with 15,000 reinforcements but logistics failures meant his army stalled at Dundalk and suffered heavily from sickness and desertion. The Scottish Jacobites suffered heavy losses in securing victory at Killiecrankie in July 1689 including their leader Viscount Dundee. By May 1690 the rising had been largely suppressed although pockets of resistance continued in the Highlands until early 1692.

• 6. Anglo-Dutch Alliance Formation

  ›

  Though he had carefully avoided making it public William's main motive in organising the expedition had been the opportunity to bring England into an alliance against France. On the 9th of December 1688 he had already asked the States General to send a delegation of three to negotiate the conditions. On the 18th of February Julian calendar he asked the convention to support the Republic in its war against France. It refused only consenting to pay £600,000 for the continued presence of the 17,000 Dutch troops in England. On the 9th of March Gregorian calendar the States General responded to Louis's earlier declaration of war by declaring war on France in return.

  Before British forces could effectively take part in the war the English army had to be reorganised. James' commander-in-chief Louis de Duras Earl of Feversham had disbanded the English army in December 1688 so it had to be effectively rebuilt from scratch. Many officers were unwilling to continue under William while William was reluctant to trust those who had not already served under him. In addition according to historian Jonathan Scott: The state and discipline of the rank and file was deplorable. There was a dire lack of experience and competence at every level. For the purpose of reforming the English army on the Dutch model William appointed Dutch officers to key positions. The English elite also failed to secure the most important governmental posts while English Secretaries of State primarily served as executors rather than architects of foreign policy.

• 7. Economic And Political Transformation

  ›

  Having England as an ally meant that the military situation of the Republic was strongly improved which allowed William to be uncompromising in his position towards France. The Dutch successfully secured and expanded their positions in the Spanish Netherlands while halting French territorial expansion but these military campaigns were very expensive. In 1712 at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession the Republic was financially exhausted and was forced to let its fleet deteriorate which played a role in Britain becoming the preeminent global maritime power.

  The Dutch economy already burdened by the high national debt and concomitant high taxation suffered from the other European states' protectionist policies which its weakened fleet was no longer able to resist. To make matters worse the main Dutch trading and banking houses moved much of their activity from Amsterdam to London after 1688. Between 1688 and 1720 world trade dominance shifted from the Republic to Great Britain. James II tried building a powerful militarised state on the mercantilist assumption that the world's wealth was necessarily finite and empires were created by taking land from other states. After 1689 came an alternative understanding of economics which saw Britain as a commercial rather than an agrarian society. It led to the foundation of the Bank of England the creation of Europe's first widely circulating credit currency and the commencement of the Age of Projectors.