Yall history experts/buffs, is this true about the American Civil War?

[raccoon]

"Few people are aware of it but during the Civil War both Britain and France were making plans to attack the USA in support of the Confederacy. They wanted to dismember the USA before it became a threat to their own Imperial power.

The Russian Fleet visited the USA and Russia made it clear if those two nations made war on the USA , it would mean war with Russia."

(This was in a comment. Link is below.)

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/12/15-2

[MADem]

1. Perhaps an overstatement of the imbroglio caused by the Trent Affair? nt

[reformist2]

2. It is generally accepted that the European powers would have preferred a divided America.

[Are_grits_groceries]

3. They wanted to for various reasons.

However, they were also wary of doing it for a variety of factors. Lincoln and Seward took aggressive and effective steps to discourage them. They decided to sit it out which was a great disappointment to the Confederacy to say the least.

That's the lessons I've always learned and gleaned from history.

[el_bryanto]

12. Yes -Seward was actually a very skilled politician - and an interesting guy

It's kind of a shame he's mostly known for Seward's Folly (i.e. Alaska).

Bryant

[Bad Thoughts]

4. "Plans" is too strong

Basically, Louis Napoleon was unwilling to support the South unless they showed a sustained pattern of victories. Otherwise, he wanted to remain neutral.

[hack89]

5. The Confederacy received luke warm support from Britain at best

besides strong anti-slavery sentiment among the British public, American wheat was an important food import that would have been hard to replace.

[hootinholler]

6. My understanding is that the Confederacy was begging for help from England and France

England would not enter because of slavery.

[JHB]

7. Britain would have been happy with a divided North America...

...simply as a matter of the global power structure. For the same reason, the less Britain could dominate the more room Russia had to advance its own interests.

In the end, that wasn't sufficient cause Britain to intervene in the war, but it is a reminder that the US Civil War did not happen in a vacuum.

on edit: better to say "some interests in Britain", rather than the whole country.

[wercal]

8. I think the European nations desired to import southern cotton (and other resources).

The presence of a union blockade on southern ports put European powers at odds with the Union...and the smuggling of cotton through Mexico and to Europe made European powers and the Confederacy 'partners in crime'.

[edhopper]

9. France remained neutral

never recognized the Confederacy and slightly favored the Union. Elements of the government were in both camps and Napolean III wavered back and forth. France has been our most consistent ally since the revolution (which we would not have won without them) Something the French bashing right wing ignores.

[Scuba]

10. +1

[Aristus]

11. ^^^THIS!^^^

I've been saying this for years. Sure our alliance with France has been shaky at times. What alliance has not been? But they have been our most steadfast, loyal ally since the beginning.

One thing the right-wing shit-spewers would never be able to get through their dinky little pinheads is that our assistance to France in WWI & II was not them incurring a debt towards us; it was us repaying a debt to them.

[Iggo]

16. ^^^AND THIS!^^^

[yellowcanine]

13. Britain was philosophically opposed to slavery and they considered the

Civil War to be fundamentally about slavery. GB had abolished slavery in 1833. This is why the Emancipation Proclamation was so important. It was a masterstroke by Lincoln and made it virtually impossible for Britain to side with the Confederacy. France was more ambivalent about slavery but they did outlaw slavery in 1794 only to have Napoleon reinstate it in 1802. Still, it was again abolished in 1848, so it is hard to see France being very sympathetic to the Confederacy, particularly after the Emancipation Proclamation.

I might add that the important role of the Emancipation Proclamation gives the lie to the Lost Cause NeoConfederate Revisionists who would have us believe that the Civil War was not fundamentally about slavery.

[DavidDvorkin]

14. Moreover, public opinion in Britain was strongly in favor of the Union over the Confederacy

If Britain had intervened on behalf of the CSA, there would have been huge unrest at home. Given the labor-management hostilities in Britain at the time, it could potentially have risen to the point of revolution.

[Jim__]

15. There is a fairly long article about that topic on VoltaireNet.

The complete article is here. Here's the teaser:

April 2011 marks the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War, which began when Confederate forces opened fire upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The following essay by Webster Tarpley, tells about the largely untold alliance between President Abraham Lincoln and Russian Tsar Alexander II, which by many accounts was key to the North winning the U.S. Civil War, sealing the defeat of the British strategic design.

I can't vouch for the accuracy of the article.

[lincoln65]

17. THis is sot've true

France was openly pro-South throughout the war, because they feared what a united US might do to their Mexican Empire. The US was against the French occupation of Mexico (which began in 1861), because of the Monroe Doctrine. The French were expelled in 1867 by Mexican rebels. The French however, would NEVER act without the British. The British were ambivalent, with most in the government favoring recognizing the South, and the common people being against it. The British did make plans for war during the Trent Affair, but they never actually got beyond the idea of bombarding the coast (pretty simple and obvious given their powerful navy). France never even made a plan. After Lee's retreat (its still debatable whether it was a defeat, thanks to McClellan's cowardice) from Antietam, and the ensuing Emancipation Proclamation, the British never again seriously thought of giving official recognition to the Confederacy. Without British support the French would never act, and didn't consequently.
Russia was pro-union throughout the war, and while one of its fleets did visit the US, I don't think they assured the US they would help in case of war with France and Britain.