The Glorious Revolution by Spencer Marks

The Glorious Revolution of 1688, in Britain, is often called “The Bloodless Revolution.” While this is not technically true, as Royalist forces clashed with Dutch and parliamentary forces at the Battle of Broad Street¹, it is one of the least violent revolutions in history. However, it is unclear if this was purely a revolution, or even a revolution at all.

The conflict leading to this was between King James II of England and Parliament. He leaned catholic, with a tendency to ally with France, while Parliament was strongly protestant and preferred Holland. The king also had little concern for constitutional restraints placed on him, though he was often forced to defer to Parliament, particularly in fiscal matters. Eventually, he began packing Parliament with his supporters and appointing Catholics to army leadership positions. When that happened, Parliament united and asked William of Orange, military leader in Holland and wife of Mary, a legitimate British heir, to come depose their king.

William did this, landing in England with Dutch troops. He was there joined by Protestant English who opposed the king. After one small clash at Reading, the Battle of Broad Street, James abdicated the throne and fled from England. The Glorious Revolution was complete.

The reason this is hard to classify as a revolution is that usually, revolutions are primarily internal affairs. In this case, there were few English troops that actually fought, and when it was all over, the foreigner became the new king. If one looks at it from the perspective of James, the so-called “Glorious Revolution” was just a foreign invasion by an unfriendly power, aided by treasonous insurrectionists within his own country. By this, it certainly seems that the events of 1688 were actually an inter-state conflict.

I would argue otherwise, however, because of the events which occurred afterward. When William took the throne, he had to give considerable considerations to Parliament. This was the true birth of the Constitutional Monarchy. There were considerable restraints on royal power, and the groundwork was laid for Britain to become the powerful democracy that it is today. Since the definition of revolution is that it’s a popular movement that brings lasting and meaningful change to the system of government, I think that this is a great example. I also think that it proves that political violence can achieve its goals with only the threat of violence, that mass amounts of blood don’t need to be shed, which is an encouraging thought.

1.      "Berkshire History: The Battle of Broad Street." Berkshire History: The Battle of Broad Street. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2012. <http://www.berkshirehistory.com/articles/reading_broadst.html>.