‘Parliament was victorious in the First Civil War because it controlled London’ Access the validity of this view of the years 1642-1646 Throughout the First Civil War, parliament held many advantages over Charles which helped them become victorious in the First Civil War. One of which was the control of London; London was the administrative, economic and political centre of England. Another factor which effected the war was that Parliament was much richer than the King and in the main part of the civil war had much better generals with the New Model Army formed in early 1645. The failures of Royalists are another main factor in the outcome of the Civil War as the Royalist leaders often made mistakes and poor decisions, notably King Charles who failed to seize his early advantages, not taking hold of London was one of them. There were many strategic advantages for parliament …show more content…
Their goal was to obtain supreme control over the already established executive administration. As Charles had discarded London he was already weak, as he had to hastily put together new administrative and financial structures in Oxford where he had withdrawn to. With Charles’ administration in Oxford, it suffered from the limited range of its authority, with the royalist commanders in the north and west being independent. With Parliament in control of London they had access to the printing press, which allowed Parliament to print propaganda and distribute it widely as London was one of the most largely populated area in England. This propaganda could play on the English fears of the Catholic ‘plot’ to take over England, demonise the King and emphasise the key part he played in beginning the Civil War, effectively enhancing the peoples support of Parliament and their cause. As well as