The wars left England, Scotland and Ireland all as part of the Commonwealth of England, one of the few countries in Europe without a monarch. After the wars ended, Cromwell disbanded the Rump Parliament and took over the country. He chose to be "Lord Protector" rather than King, because he did not think the country needed another king. His government was called "the Protectorate" or "the Commonwealth". The period from 1649 to 1660 is also called the English Interregnum (meaning gap between kings).