A Marxist Analysis of Historical Falsification and the Crisis of Bourgeois Historiography
Part I: The English Revolution and the Crisis of Historical Consciousness
1. The Political Stakes of Historical Interpretation
The seventeenth-century English Revolution holds a special place in human history. It marked the first successful overthrow of a feudal monarchy by a rising bourgeoisie and the first time a king was executed by his own people. It also represented the first continuous effort to establish a political system based not on divine right but on the secular needs of property, trade, and the growing global market. Essentially, it was the foundational moment of the modern world.
In today’s era—defined by the accelerating crisis of global capitalism, the breakdown of democratic institutions, and the resurgence of authoritarian governance—the English Revolution has been systematically misrepresented. The bourgeoisie, faced with the effects of its own historical decline, avoids acknowledging its revolutionary roots. It aims to hide the truth that its rise to power was not the result of slow reforms or constitutional changes, but was achieved through violent upheavals, mass mobilisation, and the overthrow of the old order.
The debate over Cromwell’s role in history is mainly a political contest regarding the interpretation of revolution. The bourgeoisie, facing a legitimacy crisis not seen since the early 20th century, struggles to accept its revolutionary origins. It tends to dismiss, downplay, or psychologize the English Revolution to preserve the illusion that social change happens through parliamentary politics, constitutional stability, and gradual reforms. In reality, the bourgeoisie seized power via insurrection, civil war, and severe suppression of radical left movements—actions that are unacceptable to a ruling class now cautious of the working class’s revolutionary capacity. Hence, the distortion of the English Revolution is shaped by current political interests.
2. The Bourgeoisie Renounces Its Own Revolution
The bourgeoisie’s ideological shift away from its revolutionary roots is a notable aspect of modern historical consciousness. In the 1800s, liberal historians like Macaulay praised the English Revolution as a victory for liberty over tyranny, Parliament over monarchy, and reason over superstition. At that time, the bourgeoisie, still convinced of its historical purpose, upheld the revolutionary aspects of its history.
However, as capitalism advanced into its imperialist stage—characterised by worldwide competition, colonial control, and the rise of the working class as a distinct political entity—the bourgeoisie began to distance itself from the revolutionary violence that had initially elevated it. By the mid-20th century, amid the rise of fascism, Stalinism, and the Cold War, the bourgeoisie had completely dissociated from revolutionary ideals. Its historians shifted focus, highlighting continuity, moderation, and constitutional principles.
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, this stance shifted toward outright denial. Revisionist scholars—such as John Morrill and Mark Kishlansky—contend that the English Revolution was not truly a revolution. Instead, they describe it as a “war of religion,” a “crisis of authority,” or simply a “series of misunderstandings.” They minimise class conflict, dismiss mass mobilisation, regard the Levellers as a statistical anomaly, and depict Cromwell as a devout soldier caught in uncontrollable circumstances. This historiographical counter-revolution reflects the political interests of a ruling class that fears the resurgence of revolutionary movements. To deny the English Revolution is to deny the possibility of revolution today.
3. The Liberal-Biographical Tradition: Fraser and the Humanisation of Power
Antonia Fraser’s *Cromwell: Our Chief of Men* illustrates the liberal-biographical method. Fraser depicts Cromwell as a man driven by a strong conscience, a conflicted Puritan whose moral integrity is central to his greatness. The revolution acts as a backdrop that reveals his personality. This method plays three key ideological roles: it personalises structural change by framing class conflict through character; it moralises colonial violence by viewing Cromwell’s Irish atrocities as tragic yet somewhat understandable; and it limits the revolution’s focus to the development of English constitutional identity.
Fraser’s biography is not just inadequate; it is also politically reactionary. It portrays Cromwell — the military leader of a bourgeois revolution — as a tragic hero whose actions are only understandable through personal faith and psychological nuances. The masses vanish; class conflict is overlooked; the revolution turns into a moral story rather than a social upheaval. This exemplifies the ideological role of bourgeois biography: to humanise authority, sentimentalise violence, and conceal the structural forces driving history.
4. The Marxist Tradition: Hill, Manning, and the Restoration of Class
The Marxist tradition, chiefly represented by Christopher Hill and Brian Manning, opposes this falsification. Hill’s work is the most significant Marxist contribution to understanding the English Revolution. He reestablished the importance of the masses in history, highlighted the class dynamics in the conflict, and uncovered the ideological role of Puritanism.
Hill’s Cromwell is not a heroic figure but the political representative of the gentry faction within the emerging bourgeoisie. The Levellers are not just a fringe group but the revolutionary left of the movement. The New Model Army functions as a political entity rather than merely a military force.
Hill’s Marxism was influenced by the national scope of the Communist Party Historians’ Group. His view of revolution is centred on England, not the global context; his concept of bourgeoisie is confined to the nation, not the international scene; and his analysis stops short of framing the English Revolution within the broader emergence of capitalism worldwide.
In contrast, Manning’s work is more radical and considers wider international effects. He emphasises the importance of the lower classes, such as artisans, small producers, and soldiers, who played a key role in the revolutionary movement. Manning portrays the Levellers as a mass movement rather than a fringe group. He contends that the revolution was incomplete because the bourgeoisie feared that the lower classes’ democratic ambitions could threaten their interests.
Together, Hill and Manning exemplify the peak of Marxist historiography on the English Revolution. However, their work needs to be expanded, enhanced, and connected more broadly internationally.
5. The Internationalist Breakthrough: Pashukanis, Slaughter, and the World-Systemic Perspective
The most sophisticated Marxist analysis of the English Revolution does not originate from British Marxist historians but from the internationalist perspective crafted by the Trotskyist movement. Evgeny Pashukanis offers the key theoretical insight: the bourgeois revolution generates the legal subject, embodying the juridical expression of the commodity form. Cliff Slaughter, working within the International Committee of the Fourth International, provides the only fully coherent Marxist interpretation of the revolution. He situates the revolution within the global rise of capitalism rather than solely within England’s national development.
For Slaughter, Cromwell’s Irish campaign exemplifies primitive accumulation rather than a mere military conflict. In the end, the bourgeois revolution is viewed as a fundamental historical break that goes beyond just a constitutional change. This internationalist view shows the English Revolution as part of a worldwide process, including the shift from feudalism to capitalism, the rise of the global market, and the development of the modern state.
6. The Contemporary Relevance of the English Revolution
The political lessons from the English Revolution remain relevant today, directly addressing the current crisis of capitalism. The bourgeoisie rejects its revolutionary roots because it is now afraid of revolution. Liberal historians tend to sentimentalise Cromwell, as they avoid confronting the violence that accompanies capitalist growth. Revisionists omit the masses to prevent the resurgence of mass politics. Marxists emphasise the revolutionary nature of the seventeenth century because the working class needs to understand how ruling classes ascend and decline within historical processes. The English Revolution demonstrates that no ruling class relinquishes power voluntarily, that the masses make revolutions, and that the bourgeoisie, once victorious, turns ruthlessly against those who carried it to power.
Part II: The World-Systemic Origins of the English Revolution
1. The English Revolution as a Product of Global Transformation
Viewing the English Revolution as a global event requires rejecting the narrow, nationalist viewpoint common in both liberal and revisionist histories. It was not merely an isolated act of English exceptionalism or a simple domestic struggle over constitutional issues. Instead, it reflected a deep transformation in the world economy: the rise of capitalist social relations, the growth of the global market, and the breakdown of feudal systems across Europe.
The English Revolution must be viewed in the context of wider historical shifts from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century. These include the growth of Atlantic trade, the increase of colonial silver wealth, the expansion of international commerce, the rise of financial capitalism in the Dutch Republic, the decline of feudal rent practices, and demographic and agricultural changes in early modern Europe.
England actively contributed to these forces, serving as a key testing ground. The enclosure movement, expansion of merchant capital, emergence of a commercially driven gentry, and deeper integration into global trade networks fostered social conditions conducive to revolutionary upheaval. Thus, the English Revolution was not merely a national anomaly but an essential stage in the worldwide shift from feudalism to capitalism.
2. The Bourgeoisie Before the Bourgeoisie: The Gentry and the Transformation of Property
A common myth in English historiography is the idea that the bourgeoisie was weak, marginal, or lacked political influence in the seventeenth century. This misconception supports the revisionist view that the Civil War was driven not by class struggle but by conflicts among elites over religion and constitutional power. In truth, the English bourgeoisie was emerging within the gentry — a class increasingly connected to capitalist agriculture, commercial rents, and trade investments. The gentry were not merely feudal remnants but served as the transitional class through which capitalist relations spread into the countryside.
The transformation of property relations—such as enclosure, leasehold reform, and the monetisation of rents—led to the emergence of a class whose interests conflicted with the absolutist state. The monarchy, reliant on feudal privileges, monopolies, and arbitrary taxation, hindered the free growth of capitalist accumulation. Consequently, the clash between Parliament and the Crown was not merely a constitutional dispute but a conflict between incompatible modes of production.
3. The New Model Army and the Political Form of the Bourgeois Revolution
The New Model Army served as the crucial force behind the revolution. More than just a military entity, it functioned as a political organisation — the first modern army in history, characterised by discipline, centralisation, and a unified ideology. Its members primarily came from the upper segments of the petty bourgeoisie, including artisans, small producers, and radicalised yeomen. The Army’s political discussions — such as the Putney Debates of 1647, the petitions from the Agitators, and the Leveller manifestos — mark the earliest sustained efforts to define a democratic political agenda rooted in the interests of the lower classes. In essence, the New Model Army was the revolutionary party of the seventeenth century.
The Army also embodied the revolution’s internal contradiction. While the bourgeoisie relied on the Army to overthrow the monarchy, it simultaneously feared the soldiers’ democratic hopes. The suppression of the Levellers in 1649, including the execution of the Burford mutineers, marked the point when the bourgeoisie turned against the very masses that had helped it rise to power. This illustrates the core dialectic of the bourgeois revolution: it mobilises the masses to dismantle feudalism, only to repress them to secure capitalist stability.
4. Cromwell as the Instrument of Class Necessity
Oliver Cromwell’s importance in history lies less in his personal traits, faith, or psychological intricacies—common themes in liberal biographies—and more in his role as the political figure who embodied the growing bourgeois class. He served as the means for the bourgeoisie to address and overcome the contradictions arising from the revolution.
Cromwell’s measures—such as dissolving Parliament, suppressing the Levellers, conquering Ireland, and establishing the Protectorate—were motivated by the goal of stabilizing the new social order rather than personal ambition. He executed the king not out of fanaticism, but because the monarchy clashed with bourgeois interests. His crackdown on the Levellers was a response to the bourgeoisie’s fear of the lower classes’ democratic aspirations, not tyranny. Meanwhile, his Irish conquest was driven by the need to seize land for capital accumulation, not cruelty. Cromwell is a key figure of the bourgeois revolution.
5. Ireland and the Colonial Foundations of Capitalism
No part of Cromwell’s legacy has been more distorted than his actions in Ireland. While some liberal historians like Fraser see the massacres at Drogheda and Wexford as tragic yet understandable parts of seventeenth-century brutal warfare, revisionists tend to diminish or relativise the violence, and nationalists often mythologise it. A Marxist perspective clarifies these distortions, showing that Cromwell’s Irish campaign was not an anomaly but a fundamental act of primitive accumulation.
The seizure of Irish land, the displacement of the Catholic peasantry, and the redistribution of property to English soldiers and settlers were crucial steps in forming a landless proletariat and a capitalist farming class. Ireland served as a testing ground for English capitalism. Cromwell’s campaign violence was driven not solely by religious fanaticism but by the inherent violence of capitalist development. The bourgeois revolution, especially in its colonial context, involved dismantling traditional property systems, expropriating peasants, and establishing a new legal and economic framework. The Irish case illustrates the global scope of the English Revolution, highlighting its links to colonial expansion, the Atlantic economy, and the creation of the world market.
6. The Restoration as the Consolidation of Bourgeois Power
The Restoration of 1660 is often seen as a failed revolution, with the monarchy returning and Cromwell’s legacy discarded. However, this view is mostly incorrect. The Restoration was more about strengthening existing gains than undoing them. The bourgeoisie had already secured key objectives: ending absolutism, asserting parliamentary dominance, protecting property rights, and establishing a legal system suitable for capitalism. The monarchy that came back in 1660 was not the same as Charles I’s; it was a constitutional monarchy that served bourgeois interests.
Charles I’s execution fundamentally changed the political scene. After 1649, no monarch felt truly secure on the throne. The Glorious Revolution of 1688—viewed by the bourgeoisie as their preferred revolution—was only feasible because the upheavals of the 1640s shattered the basis of absolutism. The Restoration served as the bourgeoisie’s strategy to secure the revolution’s gains while limiting its radical democratic prospects.
7. The English Revolution and the Birth of the Modern State
The modern state—characterised by centralisation, bureaucracy, secularism, and a focus on capital interests—originated from the English Revolution. During this period, feudal privileges were abolished, taxation was streamlined, a standing army was established, and a legal system rooted in property rights was developed.
The Protectorate, often regarded as a failed experiment, was in fact the initial effort to establish a modern bourgeois state. Its constitutional documents—the Instrument of Government and the Humble Petition and Advice—are among the earliest attempts to formalise the political structure of capitalist society. Consequently, the English Revolution was not just a political event but also a fundamental transformation of the state’s structure.
Part III: The Levellers, the Democratic Surge, and the Bourgeoisie’s Fear of the Masses
1. The Levellers and the Revolutionary Left Wing of the English Revolution
No part of the English Revolution has been more deliberately misrepresented by bourgeois history than the role of the Levellers. Liberal scholars see them as merely a group of troublemakers; revisionists consider them an insignificant statistical blip; and Cromwell’s biographers depict them as a bother he was compelled to contain. This misrepresentation is purposeful. The Levellers embody the democratic promise of the revolution—the idea that overthrowing absolutism could lead not only to property rule but also to political empowerment for the lower classes.
The Levellers were not just a fringe group but the earliest organised democratic movement in modern history. Their platform—outlined in The Agreement of the People, petitions from London radicals, and speeches by Army Agitators—called for: universal male suffrage, biennial Parliaments, legal equality, religious toleration, and the subjugation of political authority to popular consent. These demands were not mere idealistic dreams but reflected the real interests of artisans, small producers, and radicalised soldiers. The Levellers embodied the working-class foundation of the revolution—the social strata whose mobilisation enabled the overthrow of absolutism.
The bourgeoisie could not accept this wave of democracy. The Levellers’ agenda threatened the core of capitalist property rights. Allowing everyone to vote would have strengthened the lower classes; legal equality would have challenged the privileges of property owners; and popular sovereignty could have destabilised the nascent bourgeois state. Therefore, the Levellers were seen as internal enemies of the bourgeois revolution—a force that needed to be suppressed after the monarchy was overthrown.
2. The Putney Debates: The Revolution Thinks Aloud
The Putney Debates of 1647 are among the most remarkable events in history. For the first time, ordinary soldiers—artisans, small farmers, and radical democrats—challenged the political leadership of a revolutionary army and sought a voice in shaping the nation’s future. These debates vividly illustrate the class tensions of the revolution. On one side were the Levellers and the Army Agitators, advocating for political equality and popular sovereignty, while on the other were Cromwell and Henry Ireton, representing the interests of the propertied classes.
Ireton’s arguments exemplify classic bourgeois ideology. He argued that political power should be linked to property, claiming those without property lack a “permanent interest” in the nation, and warning that universal suffrage could destroy social order. These points—repeated by capitalists’ defenders over centuries—highlight the core contradiction of the bourgeois revolution: proclaiming universal rights while limiting political power to the propertied. The Putney Debates marked a turning point, when the revolution became self-aware—when the common people voiced their democratic hopes and the bourgeoisie expressed its fears.
3. The Suppression of the Levellers: The Bourgeoisie Turns Against the Masses
The repression of the Levellers in 1649 was not a mere anomaly but a natural result of the bourgeois revolution. After the monarchy was abolished and traditional structures were dismantled, the bourgeoisie no longer relied on the radicalised masses. The Levellers’ calls for popular sovereignty, legal equality, and democratic responsibility challenged the stability of the emerging social order, conflicting with the interests of the property-owning classes.
Cromwell’s suppression of the Levellers— arresting their leaders, destroying their presses, and executing the Burford mutineers—was not a personal act of betrayal but a class-driven necessity. The bourgeoisie needed to crush the lower classes’ democratic hopes to strengthen its power. The execution of the Burford mutineers— soldiers who fought for the revolution and now demanded their deserved rights— highlights a key moment in bourgeois history. It shows that while the bourgeois revolution was progressive in ending feudalism, it was also fundamentally reactionary in oppressing the masses. The Levellers were the first victims of the bourgeois counter-revolution.
4. The Diggers and the Limits of Agrarian Radicalism
If the Levellers were the democratic faction of the revolution, the Diggers embodied its agrarian-communist spirit. Under Gerrard Winstanley’s leadership, the Diggers tried to farm shared land at St. George’s Hill, asserting that the earth belonged to everyone as a ‘common treasury.’ Their goals—eliminating private land ownership, promoting communal farming, and establishing an equal society—were remarkably progressive for their era.
The Diggers weren’t proto-socialists in today’s terms, but their movement reveals the revolution’s hidden potential. The abolition of feudal property relations opened the door to a more radical change—one that could have challenged not just the monarchy but also the emerging capitalist system. The bourgeoisie could not accept this threat. The Diggers were suppressed as ruthlessly as the Levellers, with their communes destroyed, leaders arrested, and their movement suppressed. Their fate highlights the limits of the bourgeois revolution: it could dismantle feudalism but not establish a society of equality. It could mobilise masses but not empower them, proclaim universal rights but fail to realise them.
5. The New Model Army as a Revolutionary Organism
The New Model Army was the most sophisticated political institution of the seventeenth century. It stood out as the first modern army — disciplined, centralised, and ideologically united — and also marked the inaugural mass political organisation in world history. Its soldiers engaged in political debates, elected leaders, and expressed a democratic agenda.
The Army served as the revolutionary force of the seventeenth century, overthrowing the monarchy, defeating royalist armies, and enforcing Parliament’s will. However, it also reflected the revolution’s internal conflict, pitting bourgeois leaders against radicalised common people. Thus, it functioned both as a tool of bourgeois dominance and as a means for democratic hopes. The suppression of the Levellers marked the point at which the Army shifted from a revolutionary entity to an instrument of the bourgeois state.
6. The Bourgeois Revolution and the Dialectic of Liberation and Suppression
The English Revolution exposes the core dialectic of the bourgeois revolution: it starts by freeing society from feudalism and mobilising the masses to overthrow the old order. However, once the bourgeoisie secures its interests, it suppresses those same masses. This pattern is not unique to England but is seen in every bourgeois revolution: the suppression of the sans-culottes during the French Revolution, the betrayal of radical democrats in the American Revolution, the crushing of the Paris Commune by the French bourgeoisie, and the repression of Chartism in the nineteenth century. The bourgeoisie acts as a revolutionary class only against feudalism; once it establishes its power, it becomes a reactionary force. The English Revolution is the earliest and clearest example of this recurring pattern.
7. The Levellers and the Contemporary Working Class
The political lessons from the Levellers extend beyond the seventeenth century and directly relate to today’s working-class struggles. The Levellers were the first to try to develop a democratic agenda independent of the ruling class. Their suppression shows the limitations of bourgeois democracy and highlights the need for a separate political movement for the working class.
The Levellers’ focus on popular sovereignty, legal equality, and democratic accountability is still pertinent today. Their struggle highlights a core contradiction in capitalist society: the clash between the democratic hopes of the people and the economic goals of the ruling elite. The working class should learn from the Levellers—not by copying their policies, but by understanding how ruling classes historically ascend, strengthen, and silence the masses.
Part IV: The Legal Form, the Modern State, and the International Logic of the Bourgeois Revolution
1. The Bourgeois Revolution and the Emergence of the Legal Subject
The English Revolution not only dismantled feudal political institutions but also fundamentally changed the nature of law itself. This shift cannot be fully grasped through liberal constitutionalism, which views law as a neutral structure for politics. Instead, it is best understood via the Marxist theory of the legal form, as elaborated by Evgeny Pashukanis.
Pashukanis showed that the legal subject—abstract, equal, and formally free—represents the juridical expression of the commodity form. The rise of capitalist production relations necessitates a legal system where individuals interact as holders of rights, obligations, and property. Consequently, the law of the bourgeois state is not merely an ideological superstructure imposed from above, but a fundamental expression of capitalism’s social relations.
The English Revolution marked the first time this legal form appeared in its early stages. The abolition of feudal privileges, the restructuring of taxation, the codification of property rights, and the development of contract law all reflected new social relations forming beneath political conflicts. Although often seen as technical or administrative, the legal reforms during the revolutionary era actually laid the juridical groundwork for capitalist society.
2. The Instrument of Government and the First Bourgeois Constitution
The Instrument of Government (1653), which served as the constitution for Cromwell’s Protectorate, is one of the most overlooked documents in world history. Liberal historians view it as a failed experiment, revisionists see it as an authoritarian imposition, and constitutional scholars often ignore it completely.
A Marxist perspective highlights its significance: the Instrument of Government was the world’s first written bourgeois constitution. Its main features—such as a centralised executive, a standing army, regular Parliaments, and a legal system based on property—mark the earliest effort to formalise the political structure of capitalist society. The Instrument was not an idealistic plan but a practical measure for a class that seized power through revolution and sought to stabilise its dominance. The Protectorate represented the first modern state: a centralised, bureaucratic, secular system designed to serve capital’s interests. It laid the foundation for the bourgeois state, which later appeared in the Dutch Republic, the United States, and revolutionary France.
3. The Humble Petition and Advice: The Bourgeoisie Seeks Stability
The Humble Petition and Advice (1657), which proposed offering Cromwell the crown, exposes the internal contradictions of the bourgeois revolution. While the bourgeoisie had toppled the monarchy, they now aimed to reinstate a modified form of it to secure the stability of the new social order.
This seeming paradox is not a contradiction of principle but reflects class necessity. The bourgeoisie needs a state strong enough to safeguard property, enforce contracts, and control the masses, yet weak enough to prevent the return of absolutism. Cromwell’s proposed constitutional monarchy aimed to establish a political system that could balance these conflicting requirements.
Cromwell’s rejection of the crown—often idealised as a sign of republican virtue—actually acknowledged that the monarchy, even in a transformed state, conflicted with the revolutionary roots of the new government. The bourgeoisie would eventually reconcile this in 1688 with William of Orange’s rise to the throne under Parliamentary conditions. However, during the 1650s, the revolutionary wounds were still raw, and the contradictions too pronounced, making such a compromise impossible at that time.
4. The International Dimension: England, the Dutch Republic, and the World Market
The English Revolution should be viewed in conjunction with the Dutch Republic, which was the leading capitalist society of the seventeenth century. The Dutch pioneered financial capitalism, maritime trade, and global markets. Their political system — republican, commercial, and oligarchic — embodied the most advanced form of bourgeois governance in Europe.
England’s conflict with the Dutch during the First Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654) was more than a fight for naval dominance; it was a clash between two models of capitalist development. The Navigation Acts, the growth of the English navy, and the proactive pursuit of colonial trade reflected England’s efforts to access the global market, which the Dutch then controlled. The English Revolution was not just a domestic upheaval but also part of the broader global contest for capitalist supremacy. England’s emergence as a world power—culminating in the 18th-century British Empire—was rooted in the revolutionary changes of the 1640s and 1650s.
5. Primitive Accumulation and the Colonial Foundations of Capitalism
Marx’s idea of primitive accumulation — involving the violent seizure of peasant land, the destruction of communal ownership, and the formation of a landless working class — is crucial to understanding the English Revolution. It accelerated long-standing processes such as enclosure, the shift to monetised rents, the commodification of labour, and the growth of colonial exploitation.
Cromwell’s Irish campaign marked a pivotal point in this history. The seizure of Irish land, the removal of Catholic peasants, and the redistribution of land to English soldiers and settlers were driven more by economic motives than military needs. The violence enacted during the 1650s colonial efforts established the groundwork for Ireland’s transition to capitalism and strengthened English influence across the Atlantic.
The English Revolution was both a domestic and colonial event, with internal changes closely linked to external expansion. The bourgeoisie that arose from the revolution became not only a national class but also a global player, focused on the world market and reliant on colonial exploitation.
6. The Restoration and the Completion of the Bourgeois Revolution
The 1660 Restoration is often perceived as a failure of the revolution, marked by the monarchy’s return and the rejection of Cromwell’s legacy. Yet, this perspective is fundamentally mistaken. The Restoration was not a defeat but a culmination. The bourgeoisie had achieved its primary objectives: dismantling absolutism, establishing parliamentary dominance, securing property rights, and developing a legal framework suited to capitalism. The restored monarchy in 1660 was not Charles I’s original monarchy but a constitutional one aligned with bourgeois interests. The execution of Charles I permanently altered the political landscape, as no monarch post-1649 could feel secure on the throne. The 1688 Glorious Revolution, favored by the bourgeoisie as a revolutionary act, only occurred because the revolutionary upheavals of the 1640s had weakened absolutist foundations. Consequently, the Restoration signified the bourgeois consolidation of the revolution’s achievements.
7. The English Revolution and the Birth of the Modern World
The English Revolution marked the first successful bourgeois revolution in history. It abolished feudalism, affirmed the authority of Parliament, developed the legal and political structures of capitalist society, and set the stage for England’s emergence as a global power.
Its importance cannot be overstated. The modern era—characterized by capitalist economies, constitutional governments, and a global market—originated from the revolutionary upheavals of the seventeenth century. When liberal and revisionist historians distort the history of the English Revolution, they do more than make an academic mistake; they engage in a political act. This distortion aims to hide the revolutionary roots of the modern world and to dismiss the potential for revolutionary change today.
Part V: The Crisis of Bourgeois Historiography and the Contemporary Relevance of the English Revolution
1. The Bourgeoisie’s Flight From Its Own Origins
The misrepresentation of the English Revolution is not just a scholarly mistake but reflects a deeper crisis in bourgeois historical awareness. A dominant class that believes in its revolutionary purpose embraces its origins, while a declining ruling class rejects them.
In the nineteenth century, the bourgeoisie maintained a sense of historical legitimacy. It celebrated Cromwell as a heroic figure who destroyed tyranny, saw Parliament as the symbol of liberty, and regarded the revolution as the basis of modern civilization. Macaulay’s *History of England* exemplifies this confidence: a triumphant narrative portraying the bourgeoisie as the rightful successors of progress.
However, as capitalism moved into its imperialist stage—characterized by international competition, colonial control, and the rise of the working class as a distinct political entity—the bourgeoisie started distancing itself from its revolutionary roots. The brutality of its beginnings was now considered shameful; the democratic hopes of the masses posed a threat; and the memory of revolution was seen as a danger.
By the late twentieth century, views had shifted to outright denial. Revisionist scholars—Morrill, Kishlansky, and their followers—claim the English Revolution was not a true revolution. They characterize it as a “war of religion,” a “crisis of authority,” or a “series of misunderstandings.” According to them, class conflict disappears, mass mobilization fails to materialize, the Levellers are just a statistical anomaly, and Cromwell is depicted as a devout soldier caught in circumstances beyond his control. This historiographical counter-revolution reflects the political needs of a ruling class afraid of revolutionary resurgence. To deny the English Revolution is to deny the possibility of revolution today.
2. The Postmodern Assault on Historical Truth
The crisis in bourgeois historiography worsens with the rise of postmodernism, which rejects the idea of objective historical truth. According to postmodernism, history isn’t about studying actual events but about interpreting texts; it’s not about analyzing social forces but deconstructing narratives; and it’s not about reconstructing the past but revealing linguistic structures.
This epistemological nihilism benefits the interests of the ruling class. Without objective truth, there is no definitive history of class struggle. If all narratives hold equal validity, then the revolutionary view of the English Revolution is just one among many “discourses.” If the past cannot be known, then the future remains unchangeable.
Postmodernism reflects a bourgeoisie struggling with its own legitimacy, embodying a ruling class that no longer believes in progress, distrusts its institutions, and no longer views itself as guiding historical development. In response to this intellectual decline, Marxism emphasizes that history results from concrete social forces, that revolutions are objective occurrences, and that past events can be understood scientifically through class analysis.
3. The English Revolution and the Crisis of the Modern State
The modern state—characterized by centralization, bureaucracy, secularism, and a focus on capital—originated during the English Revolution. This period saw the abolition of feudal rights, reforms in taxation, the establishment of a standing army, and the development of a legal system rooted in property rights.
However, the modern state is facing a crisis. The institutions established by the bourgeois revolution—such as Parliaments, constitutions, legal systems, and representative bodies—are becoming less capable of handling the tensions of global capitalism. The growing wealth gap, diminishing democratic rights, increasing militarization, and the emergence of authoritarian rule expose the limitations of the political structures developed in the seventeenth century.
The crisis faced by the modern state is essentially the crisis of the bourgeois revolution. The political structures established by the bourgeoisie can no longer hold back the social forces unleashed by global capitalism. The contradictions that fueled the English Revolution—such as those between traditional and modern property, the masses and the ruling class, and societal needs versus elite interests—are reemerging worldwide today.
4. The Lessons of the English Revolution for the Contemporary Working Class
The English Revolution offers crucial lessons for today’s working class, illustrating that no ruling class will willingly surrender power. The monarchy didn’t fall due to persuasive arguments or constitutional constraints; it was overthrown by a revolutionary movement that mobilised the masses and dismantled the old regime’s institutions. Additionally, it emphasises the vital role of the masses in shaping history. Groups like the Levellers, the Army Agitators, and the radicalised soldiers of the New Model Army were active participants rather than passive observers.
Their demands for democracy, equality, and popular sovereignty fueled the revolution. Third, it underscores the limitations of bourgeois democracy. The bourgeoisie rallied the masses to overthrow feudalism but later suppressed them to safeguard their own interests. The suppression of the Levellers, the dismantling of the Diggers, and the strengthening of the Protectorate reveal the fundamental contradiction of the bourgeois revolution: it claims to defend universal rights while restricting political power to property owners. Fourth, it emphasizes the importance of an independent political movement for the working class. The Levellers were defeated not because their program was unrealistic, but because they lacked an independent organizational base capable of challenging the bourgeoisie. Their defeat illustrates the need for a revolutionary party that can unite the masses and lead the struggle for power.
5. Conclusion: The English Revolution and the Future of Humanity
The English Revolution marked the first major bourgeois revolution in history. It dismantled feudal structures, established the modern state, and laid the groundwork for capitalist society. Its importance is immense. The modern world — characterized by a capitalist economy, constitutional governments, and a global marketplace — originated from the upheavals of the seventeenth century. However, the bourgeois revolution is now reaching its limits. The political systems it created face crisis; the social relations it fostered are no longer sustainable; and the contradictions it introduced pose a threat to humanity’s future.
The working class has yet to finish the historical journey started in the seventeenth century. The initial phase was the dismantling of feudalism; the subsequent phase is the overthrow of capitalism. The English Revolution shows both what bourgeois transformation can achieve and its boundaries. It proves that masses are the agents of history, that revolutions are essential, and that the future does not lie with the ruling class but with those fighting to change society.
The task of the present is to carry forward the revolutionary legacy of the past — not by returning to the Levellers’ programme or the institutions of the Protectorate, but by building a global working-class movement capable of resolving capitalism’s contradictions and creating a new world based on equality, democracy, and human liberation.
A Trumpet of Sedition 