Observing the Division: The Secession Crisis and the Outbreak of War
Great Britain, alongside other European powers, had noted the decline of relations and increasing factionalism within the United States. Not yet a century old, some saw the crisis on the horizon as a significant test for the young republic. Britain, for its part, maintained economic and political connections in both the future Union and Confederacy, and was reluctant to take steps that could endanger its interests. The Kingdom could only watch as tensions between North and South intensified.
With the outbreak of the secession crisis following the election of 1860, turmoil engulfed the eastern United States. As states left the Union, English observers wondered at the reasoning behind such departures, hearing Southern claims of Northern tyranny and aggression. The confusion over this course of events worsened with its escalation into an open conflict following the Confederate attack on the Federal garrison at Fort Sumter in 1861. Was the siege a defense against Northern military force or a un-provoked attack on Federal soil?
The growing Confederacy, looking for allies in the ensuing conflict with the Union,turned to Europe for aid and international recognition of its self-declared independence from the rest of the nation. The formation of the Confederate government saw early attempts at diplomacy and negotiation to achieve these goals, with the hope that such pressures could force the North to accept the loss of the South before a full-fledge war was waged. Diplomatic embassies to France and Great Britain, amongst others, would be organized soon after the Confederate government formed.
Great Britain would be consistently be key to Southern hopes of a victory with foreign support, which extended to include the possibility of British military intervention. However, short of a British military presence in the conflict, a more realistic event would be the use of its Atlantic influence to force the North into negotiations. Such talks could better structured to achieve an end to the war more favorable to their cause. However, the results of these endeavors did not match the hopes behind them.