ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

First English Civil War, 1646

So imagine you have two friends who can't agree on how to share their toys. One friend thinks they should be shared equally, while the other friend thinks they should get to keep most of the toys because they're better at playing with them.

This is kind of like what happened in England in 1646. There were two groups of people, called Royalists and Parliamentarians, who couldn't agree on how to run the country. The Royalists were like the friend who wanted to keep most of the toys for themselves (in this case, they wanted the king to have more power), while the Parliamentarians were like the friend who wanted to share things equally (they wanted more say in how the country was run).

This disagreement led to a big fight called the First English Civil War. It lasted for four years and involved many battles between the Royalists and Parliamentarians. Eventually, the Parliamentarians won and the king was imprisoned.

After the war, the Parliamentarians worked to make changes in the country that they thought were fairer and more equal. They wanted people to be able to vote and have a say in how things were run. However, things didn't always go smoothly, and there were many more conflicts and changes still to come. But the First English Civil War was an important moment in English history because it showed that people could stand up for what they believed in and fight for change.