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How Far Can The Failure of The Levellers Be Attributed to the Anachronistic nature of their Political Ideas?
- Words:
- 1921
- Submitted:
- Thu Jul 11 2002

... How Far Can The Failure of The Levellers Be Attributed to the Anachronistic nature of their Political Ideas? For a radical change to occur certain conditions are necessary. The Leveller movement seems to have relied on the turbulence of the English civil war for its existence. It is common for potential revolutionaries to need time, to become established and a weak apposing establishment before any change can occur. Neither of these conditions applied to 1640's England. By 1649 the civil war was over, and what had begun as a supported radical movement had been reduced to very little. This was due to the anachronistic nature of their political ideas, the weakness of their support base, a failure of leadership and the strength of the opposition they faced. The Levellers were the first democratic movement in the world and remained unique until the end of the 18th century. It was the unique circumstances













