1654

As social unrest in France takes a revolutionary turn, England sends out feelers to potential republican comrades.

1652-3

With England distracted by the Dutch War, and turmoil at Westminster, a group of soldiers and administrators are left to determine Scotland's future on their own.

Spring 1653

A long stand-off culminates in the forced dissolution of the Long Parliament, twelve and a half years after its initial elections.

1652-3

Oliver Cromwell struggles to hold the disparate elements of the Commonwealth coalition together, but the mounting pressure seems to make a break all but inevitable.

1652

Having pacified all organized resistance in Ireland, the Puritan Commonwealth regime contemplates how to rule a pre-dominantly Catholic nation.

1652

The republics of England and the Netherlands test each other in battle, and in doing so act out a debate in naval tactics that had been brewing for a century.

1651-2

As England prepares for a Dutch war, factions within the Commonwealth find that they have enemies at home.

1652

Desperate to match the modernizing credit economy of the Dutch, the Commonwealth turns to a been enthusiast, an impoverished inventor, and England's spinsters.

1651-1652

After decades of close co-operation, the Anglo-Dutch relationship falls apart due to heated economic competition.

1651

Having pacified Scotland and Ireland, the Commonwealth regime looks to secure one last component of the old Stuart realms - the New World colonies.