Editing English Civil War (section)

==Interbellum==
{{See also|Putney Debates|Levellers}}
The end of the [[First English Civil War|First Civil War]], in 1646, left a partial power vacuum in which any combination of the three English factions, Royalists, [[Independents (religion)|Independents]] of the [[New Model Army]] ("the Army"), and [[Presbyterian]]s of the English Parliament, as well as the Scottish Parliament allied with the Scottish Presbyterians (the "[[Kirk]]"), could prove strong enough to dominate the rest. Armed political [[Cavalier|Royalism]] was at an end, but despite being a prisoner, Charles I was considered by himself and his opponents (almost to the last) as necessary to ensure the success of whichever group could come to terms with him. Thus, he passed successively into the hands of the Scots, the Parliament and the Army.{{Sfn|Atkinson|1911|loc=45. Second Civil War (1648–52)}}

The King attempted to reverse the verdict of arms by "[[Flirting|coquetting]]" with each in turn. On 3 June 1647, Cornet [[George Joyce]] of Thomas Fairfax's cavalry seized the King for the New Model Army; following the seizure, the English Presbyterians and the Scots began to prepare for a fresh civil war, less than two years after the conclusion of the first, this time against "Independency" as embodied in the Army. After making use of the Army, its opponents attempted to disband it, send it onward to foreign service, and to cut off its arrears of pay.{{Sfn|Atkinson|1911|loc=45. Second Civil War (1648–52)}}

The result was that the Army leadership was exasperated beyond control, and, remembering not merely its grievances but also the principle for which the Army had fought, it soon became the most powerful political force in the realm. From 1646 to 1648 the breach between Army and Parliament widened day by day, until finally the Presbyterian party, combined with the Scots and the remaining Royalists, felt itself strong enough to begin a Second Civil War.{{Sfn|Atkinson|1911|loc=45. Second Civil War (1648–52)}}