politicus
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« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2012, 11:26:07 PM » |
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« Edited: November 14, 2012, 10:45:43 AM by politicus »
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Bonnie Prince Charles only way to victory was if he and his 5000 men had rushed to London in 1745, before the duke of Cumberlands 10.500 man strong force could catch him, trying to provoke a popular uprising instead of turning around in Derby. Once he left England the rebellion was doomed. The government had strong forces in southern Scotland and Cumberlandsarmy in England, but some historians believe he could have made before being cut off. The Hannoveranians were unpopular among Londoners, especially the lower classes, and they might have rebelled to support him if he had continued south. In fact the London Tories had promised to do so. But it was a gamble, and he chose not to take it.
If he had won, he would soon have encountered the same difficulties as earlier Stuarts. Absolutism in the continental style was never going to work in Britain. So perhaps a coup by Whigs a decade later?
The Scottish highland culture might have been preserved to a greater degree, since it wouldnt have been explicitly forbidden.
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