English Civil War - Terminology

Terminology

The term English Civil War appears most commonly in the singular form, although historians often divide the conflict into two or three separate wars. Although the term describes events as impinging on England, from the outset the conflicts involved wars with and civil wars within both Scotland and Ireland; see Wars of the Three Kingdoms for an overview.

Unlike other civil wars in England, which focused on who ruled, this war also concerned itself with the manner of governing the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica called the series of wars the Great Rebellion, while some historians, especially Marxists such as Christopher Hill (1912–2003), have long favoured the term English Revolution.