In 1652, Cromwell took over Ireland. Many historians believe that Cromwell committed an ethnic cleansing against the Irish Catholic people. Cromwell wanted the Irish Catholics to move out of eastern Ireland into the northwest. According to these historians, Cromwell and his army used massacres, starvation, and threats of execution to force the Irish to leave. Historian Frances Stewart says that 600,000 Irish people 43% of the Irish population died from these policies.