"The navy's greatest contribution, then, lay in defining the terms of the land war in Parliament's favor. It sustained Parliament's economic position and revenues while cutting off the king's main lines of supply. As in the two World Wars of the twentieth century, naval preponderance was essential to avoid defeat, and a precondition for the victory that only land forces could deliver. Modern civil war historians have tended to marginalize the navy's contribution. Perhaps one should reflect on the fact that the parliamentary leaders, however desperate for cash, were never attracted by the option of keeping the navy in the harbor to save money. They recognized that it would be a false and perhaps fatal economy."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Civil wars involving the states and peoples of EuropeMilitary history of EnglandPolitics of the United Kingdom17th-century military history
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Bernard Capp, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland and Ireland, 1638-1660 (1998), edited by John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, p. 176
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/English_Civil_War
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"Most of the Army preachers believed that the New Model was an army of saints who were possessed by the Holy Spirit an…"
"Both of the colony's principal dissenters- the English Puritans and the Scots-Irish- proudly considered themselves to…"
"In the summer of 1642 the First Civil War between King and Parliament had broken out in England. Initially both sides…"
"Despite these views it is doubtful that the rank and file of the New Model Army were as deeply imbued with religious …"
"William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle (1592-1676) commanded the Royalists in northern England, and during 1643 made he…"
"When a civil war began in the 1640s between the King's forces and the Parliamentary forces, many English religious di…"
"Prince Rupert was more than an inspiring leader; despite his youth he had wide experience of continental warfare, and…"
"England in August 1642 was in the midst of harvest, the fields covered in shocks of corn or standing golden brown rea…"
"It is fairly easy to conjure up in the imagination a picture of the New Model Army as a Bible-reading, Psalm-singing …"
"You have satisfaction in your conscience that you are in the right; that the king ought not to grant what is required…"