Editing The Protectorate (section)

==Rule of Richard Cromwell==
[[File:RichardCromwell.png|thumb|right|180px|Richard Cromwell]]
After Oliver's death in September 1658, his third son, [[Richard Cromwell]], succeeded as Lord Protector. The impression of strength and durability of the Protectorate when Richard succeeded proved deceptive; the lack of unity would destroy the Protectorate.{{sfn|Jones|1978|pp=113–119}}

Richard sought to expand the basis for the Protectorate beyond the army to civilians. He summoned a Parliament in 1659, but the republicans engaged in "endless obstruction and filibustering", attacked the "quasi-monarchal" aspects of the Protectorate and "condemned Oliver's rule as a period of tyranny and economic depression".{{sfn|Jones|1978|pp=117,118}} Both father and son were seen as leading a tyrannical government of the "Sword", in diametric opposition to a "Civil" government with a free parliament.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mansfield|first=Andrew|date=2021-09-03|title=The First Earl of Shaftesbury's Resolute Conscience and Aristocratic Constitutionalism|journal=The Historical Journal|volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=969–991|doi=10.1017/s0018246x21000662|issn=0018-246X|doi-access=free|url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/The_first_Earl_of_Shaftesbury_s_resolute_conscience_and_aristocratic_constitutionalism/23484386/1/files/41193206.pdf}}</ref>

Three things undermined the Protectorate: the "anxieties of the army, the irresponsibility of the Parliament and the rashness of Richard Cromwell". What ultimately prevented the retention of the Protectorate was the opposition of the "junior officers" and "many of the common soldiers".{{sfn|Hutton|2000|pp=116–118}}

Richard had proved that he could neither manage the Parliament nor control the army. On 7 May, a [[English Committee of Safety|Committee of Safety]] was formed on the authority of the [[Rump Parliament]], displacing the Protector's Council of State, and was in turn replaced by a new [[English Council of State|Council of State]] on 19 May 1659. "Richard was never formally deposed or arrested, but allowed to fade away. The Protectorate was treated as having been from the first a mere usurpation".{{sfn|Jones|1978|p= 120}}