The so-called bourgeois revolution refers to the revolution led by the bourgeoisie against the feudal social system, which is basically fought under the program and slogan put forward by the bourgeoisie.
Why, then, was England the first country to begin a bourgeois revolution? In fact, this is the inevitable result of Britain's development.
The Tudor dynasty, which began in the late 15th century, gradually developed England into a Protestant state with absolute monarchy at its core. During this period, as the traditional historical records say, Britain began the "enclosure movement", the agricultural bourgeoisie appeared, and the economic development strengthened the power of the bourgeoisie and the new nobility. As a result, they are no longer willing to serve the traditional monarch, but think more about their own freedom, making the contradictions prominent.
When James I and Charles I came to power, they strengthened the absolute monarchy, which led to the retreat of the British economy. In particular, Charles I, who lived an extremely extravagant life, not only imposed taxes, but also dissolved the parliament many times, resulting in chaos in the development of the country, and various contradictions were rapidly intensified, making the revolutionary movement more and more powerful. At this time, the "power struggle" movement between the king and the parliament marked the beginning of the revolution.
Therefore, history has designated 1640 as the first year of the bourgeois revolution. Although the revolution ended with the establishment of a "constitutional monarchy", the process was complicated and lengthy.
At first, Charles I launched a crusade against parliament, and for a time took the initiative. It wasn't until a figure appeared, Cromwell, that Parliament had the upper hand. Later, Cromwell took power and declared Britain a republic. Although he also introduced some tough measures, the domestic economic situation has been deteriorating, the contradictions have not eased, and Cromwell died of illness soon after.
As a result, some say that Cromwell was guillotine by angry people because of his violent rule. In fact, Cromwell's encounter was similar to that of King Chuping in the Spring and Autumn Period, who was whipped to death for killing Wu Zixu's father. Before his death, this "protector" cut off Charles I, and after his son Charles II succeeded to the throne, he dug up his body and "hanged him".
It is said that Cromwell's head was also cut off and nailed to the top of the church, and it was auctioned off several times. After Cromwell's death, the English dynasty was restored, first Charles II and then James II. Later, as James II's methods became more bloody, the supporters of parliament united with other forces and began a palace coup. In 1689, the Bill of Rights was born and the English Revolution ended.
In fact, the Revolution in England took 50 years, and the greatest significance should be that the democratic system defeated the autocratic system, and then the rapid development of the domestic bourgeoisie. In addition, after experiencing this revolution, the political situation in Britain was relatively stable for a long time, thus ensuring the development of the domestic economy and laying a good foundation for the British Industrial Revolution.
However, the "class" of this revolution is not so distinct. At first, the reason was that the king wanted to strengthen his power, and he did not target any class, of course, there was also a religious element. Thus, among the supporters of both sides were the bourgeoisie, the craftsmen, the merchants, and so on.
Therefore, some people believe that the final decision lies in the attitude of the squires, who are often the biggest beneficiaries of "enclosure". But others say it's actually a movement around limiting the "system" of royal power. Therefore, under the premise of retaining the royal power, everyone reached an agreement and ended the revolution.
In fact, this question cannot be characterized by the bourgeois side alone.
The aim of the bourgeoisie, as a wealthy stratum, is to have dominion over social resources. Therefore, the bourgeoisie will not be an absolute "enemy" of the king or parliament, and can compromise as long as there are interests, but only religious beliefs cannot be compromised.
Therefore, looking at the existence of various classes on both sides, it is not that the understanding of these classes has been improved, and it is that the system is the key to governing the country, but it is only at this point in the development of history that everyone feels that if the power of the king is not constrained, then their lives will not be better. If they had realized the importance of the rule of law at that time, the king would certainly not have been retained.
At that time, the development of the economy made everyone feel the limitations of autocracy. So, in everyone's mind, the way to break this restriction is to limit the power of the king. After Cromwell's death, why England fell into chaos again was because Cromwell was also king and his means were very authoritarian, so going back to the old road would inevitably cause a lot of discomfort.
It can be seen that the original feudal system can no longer adapt to the production relations at this time. Of course, revolution is the only way to go, but in the history of Europe, the power of religion has always been dominant, which also determines the complexity of its revolution.
For the bourgeoisie, however, it is not difficult to take sides as long as it is profitable. Restricting the king's power is only to make his own control more extensive. Later, their cooperation with the royal power for profit was unprecedented.
Therefore, to characterize a thing, we should still look at the result, which class of people are the most profitable. Imagine that a large piece of land is in your own hands, and you don't want to "dedicate" too much to go out, what to do?
Therefore, only by restricting the power of the king and withholding the wealth that should have been given to the royal family can we make ourselves richer. It follows from this that the seizure of resources is the ultimate goal of the bourgeoisie.
However, in any case, the British Revolution greatly promoted the anti-authoritarian forces in European countries, played a certain role in ideological enlightenment, and had an important impact on later world history, causing some feudal and authoritarian countries to fall into fear and worry. In addition, Britain overthrew the absolute monarchy through the revolution, promoted the course of history, was the beginning of the modern history of the world, and promoted the arrival of the first industrial revolution.
Resources:
[Edited History of World History and Modern History, British Bourgeois Revolution, Cromwell's Political Ideas and Practices]