We look at changes brought by the Restoration in social and economic terms. And we find there was also a lot of continuation from the Commonwealth. Does that sound boring?
There is corruption and bribery and the Cavalier parliament becomes the Pensioner parliament in Whig propaganda. We have patronage, political parties and defeats, if you like to see your history as a Jungian acting out this doesn’t look good for monarchy, but stability and the keeping of valued traditions is acted out alongside. And yet the strikes, the bloody, wasteful naval battles, the spectacular defeat at the hands of De Ruyter left an impression.
And the Dutch, well, they no sooner see off one superpower than the next one invades their country and seizes all but two provinces. A heroic defender arises, a new William of Orange dedicates his life to the defeat of Louis XIV. England should be saving the Dutch, but Charles II is too busy taking bribes from Louis XIV to act the way English merchants preferred.
But mainly this episode is about drier background developments in England, so that we understand how England is shaping itself, (do nations shape themselves?) in the period before the Glorious Revolution.
And there is a social revolution of sorts. Taxation without representation. The principle that taxpayers were to receive representation, was not upheld with respect to the Excise, which fell on consumers.