I make no apologies for including Cromwell in my list of heroes, although, God knows, he had faults aplenty, as his behaviour in Ireland shows. However, it was Cromwell who forced through the execution of Charles I and then ensured that England became the first Republic of modern times. His action showed that monachy was not infalible and ordanied by God but can be overthrown and a republic put in its place. This was a valiable lesson for the future from which the Americans and the French would learn; and both of the American and French revolutions were about tax, as was the English Civil War. Cromwell also chased out the MPs at sword point from parliament after they had shown themselves to be self serving and caring little for the country and its people they were suppose to repesent."Begone: give place to honest men!" A little simplistic, but true never-the-less. How Britain needs Cromwell today to do just that! Cromwell was also a good leader. He introduced the Barebones parliament, which was a failure but a brave attempt to introduce a parlilament that would represent all the people, not just the rich. He introduced a vibrant commercial policy, which the Stuarts benefited from. No-one was persecuted under him. No-one suffered under him. Those that hated him endured him without fear of a midnight knock on the door.

Ofcourse, I'm not blind to his failings. I know he crushed the Levellers (the finest body of men that England ever produced, until the Chartists and the trade union movement came along) and he suppressed the Irish. These, however, should be put into context. Cromwell was a man of his class and the Levellers were a step too far even for Cromwell. A conservative strand ran through Cromwell even though he was busy radicalising England. As for Drogheda, the massacre was of all the soldiers and the Priests. It was not of the whole town's population. I'm not excusing it, but that should be remembered, as should the conduct of war in that time. Cromwell offered the soldiers clemency if they surrendered. They were surrounded by the English. They should have surrendered. Under the rules of combat at the time, by not surrenderring, they signed their own death warrents. This sort of thing happended all the time during the Seven Years War which was running contemporary with this. For those of you who say that Cromwell should not have been in Ireland in the first place should remember that it has always been English policy to be in Ireland. Cromwell was no different. Not an excuse, I know, but true never-the-less. Also, the royalist were recruting in Ireland and Cromwell was worried that Charles II would invade England with French troops using Ireland as a back door. He really had no choice but to go to Ireland and mop up the last Royalist resistance.

Cromwell was a complicated man, but a hero to me. He did more good than bad. Cetainly the founders of the American and French republics studied him closely, which says something about him, surely.