Henry also needed to control the nobility because if he didn’t, or only managed to control a minority, he could have a revolution, and Nobles, together, had a lot more money and power than the king himself. Firstly he gave the Earl of Surrey his lands back, bits at a time to ensure his loyalty, while having him as a key figurehead in the north to stop rebellions, since the north largely supported Richard and Henry needed to find a way of controlling them. Also Henry didn’t get rid of all the Yorkist nobles in the council, only those who thought against him. He did this so that he wouldn’t have a full scale Yorkist rebellion on his hands, but he couldn’t have people who wanted him dead and had fought against him on his council. As well as this, Henry needed to be effective at getting England onto a secure financial footing.
He also wanted to increase the British electorate by 30%. At this time, Pitt also had the undivided support of King George III and used this to his advantage, with the King dissolving parliament at just the right time in March 1784 so that Pitt would have the optimum chance of coming to power. “No one who had not been an eye-witness could conceive the ascendancy which Mr. Pitt then possessed over the House of Commons.” “Pitt does not make friends” these quotes, both by William Wilberforce illustrate the ruthlessness which Pitt often showed in the face of adversity and the mature attitude with which he approached important matters, these characteristics were to serve him well during his time as Prime Minister. With regards to trading, in 1784 Britain realised that there was great potential for a business opportunity but we needed to work with the East India company who held a monopoly on trade in the area at the time. However in 1784 the India Act was passed which took all the political power away from the East India company but they were still allowed to operate.
Although we are currently in a coalition the government still has a majority through the combination of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. This therefore often renders opposition as a form of scrutiny meaningless and also means that it is difficult for the executive to be held to account. Party loyalty is also very strong. The power of prime ministerial patronage renders many MPs excessively docile and loyal, hence the term ‘lobby fodder’. With the rise in the professional politician many prefer to remain loyal in order to gain power and move up in the hierarchy as opposed to become a rebel who remains in the back benchers.
This made his position a weak one, forcing Edward to bind himself to Godwin, as the Earl of Wessex and most powerful man in England at this time. Earl Godwin was the only member of the witan offering to support Edward. The reasons for this are unclear though it is likely Godwin felt that he could exert influence over the inexperienced King and therefore gain yet more power over England. Despite the odds being stacked against him, Edward took the English throne from the Danish royal family and established himself as a strong and wise King. Clearly his success had to be dependant on a number of weighty advantages, his growing up in Exile for example.
Oliver Cromwell became the most important general on the Parliamentarian side and Prince Rupert on the Royalist side. Oliver Cromwell was famous for his well thought out tactics and his well disciplined army, where as Rupert, the kings nephew, made decisions without thinking them through and was not always in full control of his men. Before the war, Oliver Cromwell was worrying whether or not his army would want to fight the king because in those days it was said that the king is Gods representative. The king also had much more money because he was supported by some very wealthy men, so he had more money. However, as the war went on, the king’s money dwindled away, and Parliament raised taxes, therefore they had more money than the king.
In theory the whole Kingdom was the kings estate, including his home farms, were the royal demesne. The earls wouldn't have liked this, as they were supposedly in control of their earldoms, but theoretically their earldoms belonged to the king still. This could have caused disagreements between the Earls and the king as the Earls may not have felt powerful enough, as the king ruled all. Also there was a Geld which was tax on land, this had to be paid by everybody - including the Earls! All payments went towards the king, this would've also made the Earls not feel powerful enough, especially Harold Godwin who was seen as the most powerful man in England, but theoretically he wasn’t.
When Henry VIII became king of England in 1509, Wolsey became the King's almoner. Due to the nature of the primary counsellors whom Henry VIII inherited from his father, Wolsey quickly rose to power. Richard Foxe and William Warham were cautious and conservative, advising the King to be a careful administrator like his father. A young, ambitious warrior king Henry did not agree with them, therefore he rapidly disposed of them, leaving their positions open to an upcoming Wolsey. Some might say that Wolsey’s rise to power was based solely on luck however the strongest argument suggests that it wasn’t solely based on luck and that Wolsey was a skillful man.
He is supposed to have the most control, able to keep his people in line however due to his state he was not able to accomplish any of these necessary attributions of a king, therefore this would help contribute to the civil war outbreak, as a weak character in the position of a king isn’t good. In addition, Henry had a trait of having favorites among his nobility. This is shown by he gave out patronage to his favorites, Somerset and Suffolk, they were also made dukes in 1448. This would cause problems inside his nobility. Dukes were usually direct relatives of the king, however Suffolk and Somerset were not, where as Richard of York was.
There was no way the Revolutionary War could have been avoided. The British were only looking out for their own good and taxing the colonist like crazy it was inevitable. Small tiffs about the taxing led to the Concord and Lexington battles then vwala war erupted. The British should have been able to control the rebellions what with their enormous population, huge imperial army and probably the world’s best navy at that time. They were also the seven seas most powerful and wealthy country, so shouldn’t they have been the obvious victor for this campaign?
The fore fathers of our country did not want things to stay the way they were. They got tired of living under British rule and did something about it. We went to war with a country that had way more money and power than us and still came out on top. If they had not stood up against the British, we would still be under their control. Today, we are considered the most powerful country.