English Civil War and Great Britain

Oliver Cromwell's rise to power occurred as a result of the fighting of the English Civil War, not the other way around.

The other answers-the king's inability to work with Parliament, high taxation (particularly ship money), tension between different Protestant sects, and fear of a Catholic heir (since the king's wife was Catholic)--describe factors that all contributed to the start of the English Civil War.

During the Restoration period of English history, two political parties emerged in the English Parliament—the Tories and the Whigs. The Whigs favored the supremacy of Parliament over the monarchy and were heavily opposed to a Catholic monarch sitting on the throne. The Tories, on the other hand, favored the supremacy of the Crown over Parliament and a return to the old-world order.

The English Civil War was fought between royalists and parliamentarians during the 1640s and resulted in victory for parliament and the abolition of the English monarchy. The parliamentarians were led by Oliver Cromwell, who became the de facto dictator of the country. His rule was widely unpopular, and following his death England reverted back to a monarchy.

During the Restoration period of English history two political factions emerged in the English Parliament—the Whigs and the Tories. The Whigs favored the supremacy of Parliament over the crown and desired a codified Bill of Rights to ensure the continued indepenence of Parliament from the abuses of the monarchy.

When the Puritans came into prominence in England, they sought to implement a system of laws that reflected their interpretation of the Bible. Essentially anything that could be described as "sinful," or even just "entertainment," was banned. This included sports, drinking, plays, gambling, and many other components of English cultural tradition. Metalworking, of course, is more of a necessity than the others, not related to human behavior and so continued.

The Puritans were a powerful religious group in seventeenth-century England. They fought on the side of the Parliamentarians during the English Civil War, and following the victory of Parliament they gained control of the political and religious life of the country. Puritans wanted to reform the Anglican Church from within, taking it further away from Catholicism and ensuring that the English cultural values were in keeping with those advocated in the Bible.

The Gunpowder Plot was a plan designed by a group of Catholic extremists to blow up the Protestant-dominated Houses of Parliament, in 1605. It was foiled when the conspirators were discovered below the Houses of Parliament, setting up fuses and explosive devices.

During the English Civil War, the Scottish allied themselves with the forces of Parliament. At the Battle of Marsten Moor, the combined forces of Scotland and Parliament defeated the Royalists.

The Clarendon Code is the name given to a series of laws passed in England during the Restoration period following the English Civil War. The laws were designed to ensure the uniformity and supremacy of the Anglican faith in England, and to prevent the conversion of the English people to Catholicism or other forms of Protestantism. The Act of Uniformity and Conventicle Act are both aspects of the Clarendon Code.

The English Civil War was fought between the forces of the English Parliament, called Parliamentarians, and the forces of the English monarchy, called Royalists. Although the Parliamentarians were Protestants and the monarchy was partially Catholic (or at least sympathetic to Catholicism), the war was fought more over secular control. It ended with victory for Parliament, the execution of the King, and the decade-long reign of Oliver Cromwell.