Chapter 327: Outbreak of the American Civil War

  Chapter 317 – Outbreak of the American Civil War

Since entering the era of ironclads, the Austrian Navy was very bubbly. The Austrian Navy kept expanding, forcing the European countries to follow suit.

If it were not for the outbreak of the Indian Rebellion that held back the British, the government in Vienna would have long felt what the pressure was.

The London government had people clamoring for a three-strong standard. (exceeding the naval tonnage of the second, third and fourth ranked naval powers)

Of course, these people were just talking the talk, and in reality the British never did it.

Now, not to mention the three-power standard, even the two-power standard, Franz doubted that the British could do it.

The combined gross tonnage of the French and Austrian navies was approaching that of the Royal Navy. Considering the factor of ironclads, the strength of the Royal Navy was no longer able to achieve a deferred advantage over France and Austria.

However, after the Indian rebellion had been suppressed, the British should be able to achieve the two-strength standard for a long time to come. In the short term Franz was not ready to explode the navy, lest it irritate the sensitive nerves of the British.

No it had already irritated them, but just didn’t have the time to pay attention to it for the time being.

If not for the Tsarist government’s lack of financial resources, Franz was ready to help the Russians explode the navy and stimulate the London government again.

It’s not a contradiction, as long as the British are stimulated, they will only put more financial resources into ironclads. But in reality, these warships are only transitional products, the more they are built the more they lose when they are renewed and replaced.

If it is not in order to intervene in the Civil War, Franz will not get so many ironclad ships out. In terms of warship performance, it won’t take long for these warships to be eliminated.

It is to consider the arms race may lead to war, Franz is not ready to do it now. Since the British and Russians are competing for the title, of course, the Russians should be allowed to go on.

Before the unification of Germany, Franz was not prepared to confront the British directly, which would have been more costly than it was worth.

……

Washington, D.C. The election that would decide the fate of the United States was over. Franz’s butterfly effect did not affect the election, and Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States with an absolute majority.

The creation of a president who represented the interests of the capitalists of the North aroused the fear and hatred of the plantation owners of the South. In order to preserve their interests, they began to conspire.

On December 20, 1860, representatives of the Southern planters met in South Carolina and decided to withdraw from the Union.

And also issued a proclamation against slavery, welcoming the states to leave the Union and join the newly formed nation, the Confederate States of America.

When the news reached Europe, it caused an immediate sensation. Franz called a cabinet meeting to discuss the response.

Foreign Minister Weissenberg analyzed: “The conflict between the North and South of the United States has a long history, and the results of this election have shown that the southern planters have been completely defeated in the political struggle.

In order to protect their own interests, they had to withdraw from the Union and form a new country.

In terms of U.S. law, these states had the right to withdraw.

But the capitalists in the North would not agree to this; they also wanted cheap industrial raw materials and markets. If they let these states run away, all their previous efforts would be useless.

Unless the Northern government compromised, there was no way the Southern plantation owners would go back, and Lincoln’s appeal was really just for show.

This North-South split wasn’t just over the issue of abolishing slavery, but at a more central level the issue of tariffs, which he didn’t even mention.

If Lincoln had promised that the tariff on farm goods would be lowered, there was still a chance that the Southern plantation owners’ resolve to become independent would have wavered. Now the two sides could only talk in terms of war.

With the outbreak of the American Civil War, half of our strategy for colonizing the Americas was achieved, and a divided America was more in our interest.

However, the gap between the combined strength of the North and the South is somewhat large, and only seven states have joined the Southern government now, so I’m afraid that it’s no match for the Northern government.”

Dividing the United States didn’t have to be said, and the Vienna government was absolutely in favor of it. Especially after the opening of the Americas strategy, this is even more necessary.

Interior Minister Wendy Schreitzer said calmly, “On the surface, the northern government is indeed stronger.

But in reality, not all the northern states were willing to participate in this war, and most of the American public did not want a war to break out. We can only rely on the public opinion controlled by the capitalists to lull the people into going to war.

The southern states were different, they were pushed to the brink of extinction. With vital interests at stake, the enthusiasm of the southern people to join the army was much higher.

In the short term, it was more likely that the southern government would have a military advantage; if the war dragged on, then the North’s manpower advantage would gradually be transformed into military power.

I think that if only the Southern commander-in-chief was smarter and took Washington as soon as the war broke out, then negotiated with the Northern government.

Everyone likes to see the outbreak of bad luck anyway, and the European countries are absolutely in favor of the secession of the United States.”

Prime Minister Felix questioned, “That’s hard to do, militarily speaking, the Southern government does have the potential to take Washington in the first place.

However, there is no way for them to prevent the US government from withdrawing. There are significantly more Confederate states on the side of the North, and military action by the South would instead spur everyone’s nerves and get the states that are themselves neutral to join in.

The Southern government’s strength was limited, and they could not fight more than a few states before becoming exhausted. The reacting Northern government, with its strong strength, would still overwhelm the South.

In fact, the crux of the matter now was not how the North and South fought, but rather in which of the two sides was able to pull in more allies.

The United States has a total of 35 states, the slave states have 16, now declared independence only 7, the next two sides of the political activities, is the key to determine the victory or defeat of the war.

If the southern government can pull the 16 animal slave states together to become independent, and then lobby a few states to be neutral, then the strength of both sides will be closer.

If the strength of both sides is equalized, with the intervention of the European countries, it is not without a chance of a peaceful solution.”

Foreign Minister Weissenberg explained, “Your Excellency the Prime Minister, I’m afraid that this ideal situation won’t happen.

The southern government’s diplomacy is simply failing, I don’t know where they gained their confidence from, and they haven’t sought help from us until now.

I have no illusions as to how many states they will be able to persuade to join. In terms of public opinion the capitalists in the North dominate, and if they don’t try hard enough, I fear that a number of the slave states will fall to the Northern government.

After all, the capitalists in some of the animal slave states were not small. If they are slow to react, I’m afraid that the federal states that were favoring them will be pulled over by the northern government.”

What was the Southern government’s confidence? Cotton, of course!

In this day and age, about one-fifth of the population of England depends, directly or indirectly, on cotton textiles for its survival, and eighty percent of that depends on a few southern states for its supply.

There was absolutely no way that the London government would tolerate problems in the cotton supply chain, but unfortunately they overlooked the fact that in 1860 there was a bumper cotton harvest and a 50% backlog of cotton on the London market.

This oversight was so fatal that many capitalists took the northern blockade as a great opportunity to deal with the backlog and reap huge profits.

With these people pulling back, and the fact that the impact on the cotton industry was not fatal, the government in London was caught up in the controversy and did not intervene fully in the American Civil War in the first place.

Next, it was hard to reach an agreement with France and Spain to decide to intervene, and then it was put in the way by the French. Together with the public relations of the Northern government, the London government was once again caught in hesitation.

After several hesitations, cotton was planted in India and Egypt. The British capitalists were much less interested in the cotton of the southern government, and the international intervention was thus delayed.

By the time the London government made a resolution, the southern government was powerless.

Faced with a southern government that failed in diplomacy, Franz also had a great headache. Originally possessed the advantage, do not know to take advantage of, in vain to bury the opportunity.

If the Southern Government had been a little more active, whether out of strategic necessity or out of interest, everyone would have supported them.

In any case, in order to combat the Americans, now Franz can only hold his nose and admit it, or to oblige to help the southern government.

“The foreign ministry and Britain and France to communicate, we act together to persuade more livestock states to join in the southern government, I think they will not mind to pit a handful of Americans.

And then find a few newspapers to break the news: the news of the cotton harvest and stagnation, and by the way, emphasize the news of the skyrocketing cotton production in India, Egypt, West Africa and other regions.

Get a few experts and scholars to analyze the seriousness of the problem, so that those in power in the Southern government will wake up to the unreliability of their cotton weapons.”

In addition to cotton, there are many agricultural products that are American punchlines, except that they are produced elsewhere.

Even Franz wondered about sending men to burn the British cotton stocks. The thought only flickered, mainly because there were too many cotton warehouses for a few men to burn through.

But now the cotton in the south, most of it has not yet been shipped out, as long as the southern government has a vigilance, suspend the back of the cotton transportation, then the British government still had to be tied to the southern government ship.

After all, India also, Egypt also, planting cotton also needs time, the domestic factories can not afford to wait.

Historically, the northern government in the early days of the outbreak of war, there is a proposal to intercept this part of the cotton transportation fleet, cut off the southern government’s trade.

However, in order not to offend the British, the Lincoln government chose to let it go. Even during the outbreak of the Civil War, the North’s blockade of cotton transportation was not tight.

Otherwise, if they really cut off John Bull’s cotton supply, the British would have fought their way up.

There is no need to doubt that the British Army was not great, but it was still good enough to deal with the Americans.

Only once the Royal Navy blockaded the American coast, a bunch of Indian GIs sent up there could have piled up the Northern government.

As for logistical supplies, it’s nowhere near as scary as one might think. The most important food can be provided by the southern government, and there is no shortage of these things at all.

What needs to be transported from the mainland is also weapons and ammunition, the consumption of ammunition in this era of war is not large, as the world’s largest industrialized country, the British can completely afford to pocket.

To put it bluntly, the northern government was only 20 million people. Once the war broke out, it was also blown out of the water by the South in several states. There was also a limit to the war potential that the Northern government could explode.

Just this time, the power of the British to suppress the Indian rebellion was enough to rewrite the end of the Civil War. The American GIs who had just picked up the loot and were sent into battle had little fighting ability at all.

(End of chapter)