Oliver Cromwell: zwischen demokratischem Anspruch und diktatorischer Wirklichkeit

Abstract

In the mid-17^th century England saw the strongest political change that it had experienced since 1066. When in 1649 the process of democratisation has reached its climax with the declaration of an English republic, one man was at the height of his power. Oliver Cromwell, who understood himself as a tool in God’s hands and believed in transforming his state into a democratic system, would in fact rule as a dictator. By looking at Cromwell’s religious and political ideas, this paper attempts to explain how this drastic divergence between his ideal and reality came about.