American Civil War from The European Perspective | Animated History 

Fun fact: the German state of Wurttemberg sent a young military engineer named Ferdinand von Zeppelin as a war observer to the Union. He joined the Potomac army where he saw the use of military balloons. That inspired him to something...

Europe during the American Civil War: I'm the Armchair spectator.

I like how the Prussians are full-on Gordon Ramsey like, "Congratulations, you guys are f*cking terrible at this." 😂

America: has a civil war* Spain: ITS FREE REAL STATE!! Dominican Republic: No

The USA : *Starts a civil war* Prussian officers and generals : "What strategy are they using? Are they using modern rifles? How did they mobilize? Are trains good? How is the Union losing against General Lee? I WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING BEFORE AN INEVITABLE WAR WITH FRANCE STARTS"

Prussia: "So you're saying you didn't prepare a choherent and organized military force for this completely sudden civil war that forced both sides to scramble for conscripted soldiers and oficer voilenteers? Pathetic."

Fact : it's after the French intervention in Mexico that the term "Latin America" was born, used by Napoleon III. As he saw the US intervining, funding and helping Juarez, his aim was to remind the Latin Americans their Latin European origins thus culturally cutting them from the Anglo-saxon sphere.

San Marino sending Lincoln a letter of their support and offering him citizenship is one of the cutest and most wholesome moments in history.

“I didn’t lose, I merely failed to win”- George B. McClellan

“President Davis, San Marino has declared its support for the Union.” *Jefferson Davis pulls out a pistol and rest it against his temple* “Then the war is truly lost.” *blam*

Arm Chair Historian: our go to guide to the different perspectives of war

*Civil War happens* Europe: "get the popcorn Mary" *WW1 happens* America: "should we send help? Nah get the popcorn"

America: *goes into civil war* Mexico: *chuckles* "I'm in danger".

Pope: you should start to free slaves, y'know Confederacy: ok Also Confederacy: the pope is supporting our cause!

The Prussians actually took a lot from the Civil War. They noted that war was getting more deadlier and the importance of advancement in technology and smaller units and trains . This is what made them so good during the Austrian war and the Franco-Prussian war.

The Emancipation Proclamation was such a masterful power stroke by Lincoln. He referred to the Confederacy as Rebels against the Union, showing that they are still a part of the U.S, just in rebellion. Keeping it “in house” basically. This was huge is thwarting any attempt by a European power to recognize the Confederacy as an independent nation, thus destroying any attempt at military support for the Confederacy abroad. Awesome video

The British Empire be like: *Grabs popcorn and chair*

History told from different perspectives is interesting. There was a war of my country (Peru) against its neighbor (Chile) that we lost, in school we were taught we lost because we didn’t have many ships, nor soldiers and equipment was old. When I visited Chile, it was exactly the opposite, they portrayed themselves as the ones with few ships and bad equipment and heroes that won despite of that. So, I decided to research from foreign documents, not written by Peruvians, nor Chileans, it turned out that both countries were pretty equal in terms of ships, in the case of soldiers, we had about 5 times as much, but because of bad administration, were sent only a fraction (less than what Chile sent), and in terms of equipment, Chile was better, but not big difference. So, I believe education should be more neutral, teachers believe that portraying the country as the victim is gonna make children more patriotic, but they’re simply not showing the reality. And it causes rejection to other countries, I still find people from both Peru and Chile that hate each other because of something that happened 200 years ago.

Prussians: "We are impressed..." Americans: "You are?" :D Prussians: "By how noob you guys are..." Americans: :(

Russia sent ships to the Union partly in support of the North and also because they just fought the Crimean war with Britain and they wanted a naval squadron in the Atlantic. The Russians were unexpected but enthusiastically received by the Union as friends. The Russian fleet had standing orders to support the Union if any other European power, namely Britain or France joined the Confederates.

There was a naval combat between a Confederate and a Union ship that took place along the french shores, at Cherbourg, the 11 june 1864 People even came from Paris to spectate it.

Prussian Officers: "Trench warfare is nice and all but I doubt it'll be all that important in Europe." But little did they know.

People: No, you can’t be sponsored by Raid. They’re everywhere Armchair: Haha sponsorship go brrr Seriously having a sponsor is better than having none at all

The Condeferacy: We fight to preserve our economy of which slavery is an integral part! The Union: We’re fighting to abolish slavery and hold the United States together! Europe: Ooooh! Raid: Shadow Legends!

“ Imagine being too lazy to pick ur own cotton “ -this post was made by the union gang

McCellan's Defense to the Prussians: "I didn't lose! I merely failed to win!"

Confederacy to Britain: if you don’t support us, you won’t get out cotton. Britain: Oh no. Anyway. *uses cotton from India*

Europe: >Respawn >Change Team - > [Spectate] >Leave match

An interesting, little discussed sequel to all this was that after the Civil War was over, US General Philip Sheridan was put in charge of collecting a large force in Texas to persuade, peacefully if possible, the French to get out of Mexico. He was also surreptitiously supplying the Juarez army with arms & supplies to fight the French. The French took the hint and went home, leaving Maximilian behind to get shot. A few years later, during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, Sheridan was sent to the battlefront as a supposedly neutral observer of the conflict, but since he spent his time observing as a highly honored guest with the highest ranks of the Prussian army, there was little doubt which side he favored, and he got the satisfaction of being present at Napoleon III's surrender to the Prussian forces. It's difficult, after all that happened in the World Wars, to realize there was a war between France and Germany where the Americans, unofficially, backed the Germans, but there you have it.

The Chinese government covering up the Tiananmen square massacre 1:12

Whenever an empire sees a war somewhere else, they don't even hesitate. They just crack their knuckles and try to take the Dominican Republic

4:50 “These Prussian officers were consistently impressed..with Themselves” 😂😂

The art style is stunning...

US: starts fighting itself Europe: Drew.exe has been activated

3:58 Portugal was actually an empire, as well. One of the longest-lived in world history, it existed for almost six centuries, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415, to the handover of Portuguese Macau to China in 1999.

I’m so early the CSA is still alive

Fun fact: Brazilian general "Duque de Caxias" imported hot air ballons used in the American civil war to observe the paraguaian postions during the paraguaian war (1865-1870)

I always found this perspective fascinating. Why is it almost for every other civil war (Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Syrian etc.) we love to discuss the "foreign angle" but when it comes to the American Civil War, we treat it like an isolated incident (when it wasn't). It's nice to see this perspective given some limelight. The international aftermath/fallout is also interesting. For example, how the US Civil War caused Alaska to be purchased, Canada to become a dominion (and refuge for Confederate exiles like Davis who lived in southern Quebec after the war.), the European acceleration in the scramble of Africa to name a few. Some other fun international things about the US civil war - Canada (Then, British North America comprising of several Canadian colonies): How the port of Halifax served as a clandestine base for blockade runners. Saint Alban's Raid: Clandestine Confederate forces launches a raid on banks in Vermont stealing 150,00$ USD which caused the Union to launch a counter raid in to Canada to find the raiders... Causing incident. Lastly between 33,000 and 55,000 men from British North America (Canada) volunteered with the Union. - Japan: Also sent observers which played an important role in their ongoing Meiji Restoration/westernization. - Russia: Mentioned in the comments about the Russian chartered fleets in San Fran and Boston - Debt: the US debt in 1865 at *41 times* higher than in 1860. A good chunk of that was foreign, but details seem spotty.

For a second, I actually thought that France intervened on a small scale with the Confederacy .

when the army with a state thinks the democracy the size of a continent that barley even fights continental wars up till that point has the bad army. me: *of course*

6:58 Those birds colliding was a fun detail

England be like: *Hmmmmm... Nyes, let my child in fight and fall.*

When talking about the French intervention in Mexico, you forgot to mention the fact that Mexicans stopped the French by winning the 5 de Mayo battle in Puebla. This prevented the French from taking Mexico for a full year (taking Mexico City in mid 1863, instead of 1862). By then, Grant's victory in Vicksburg MS and Gettysburg had happened an the tide of the war favored the Union. If it were not for the Mexican victory in 5 de Mayo, the French might have entered the war in the side of the south, and the US map would be quite different. That is the reason for which the US celebrates 5 de Mayo with parades, while in Mexico just celebrates this just as if it were Normandy or Iwo Jima.

As a Dominican I am really overjoyed that you included accurate information about the annexation of the Dominican Republic to Spain. However it was not much of an occupation since the president of the time, Pedro Santana, was the one who was trying to annex the republic back with Spain. Besides that really good information 😁

Thank you so much for talking about how wheat dissuaded Britain and France from supporting the South. To this day it is somewhat overstated how Southern Cotton almost caused Britain and France to intervene on the side of the South, but as you demonstrated, leaders with an ounce of common sense will choose food over fancy clothes any day. On this matter, one historian cleverly remarked that King Cotton was trumped by King Wheat. However, I am somewhat surprised that you didn't talk about private/non-official support from Britain for the Confederacy. For example I've heard that several Confederate blockade runners were captained by Royal Navy officers who were on leave and that several British shipyards received private contracts to build ships for the Confederate Navy, the CSS Alabama being one of them.

"they were impressed-" "with themselves" you know how many feelings you hurt just by saying that

Yessss. More history.

I love the fact that you always use different point of view, I think this makes your history videos more complete and interesting!

America Civil War : *Happen* France : It's free real estate

Entirety of Europe: "dafuq they doin over der?"

Do a vid on the Native American allies of the Confederacy

5:52 You took a bit chunk of land and handed it over to Haiti in the southwest of the country but I was glad that this bit was included there. You even showed the Dominican flag with the coat of arms and the rebel uniforms were accurate. That war actually started with rebels lowering the Spanish flag as soon as it came up, so outside of the map thing I love the attention to detail. Also, I’m seeing a bunch of ads with your videos so I hope that means that RU-vid is letting you make money out of your content which is awesome. Keep up the good work!

USA: I thought we were friends France! France: We were never.

2:53 is when the sponsor ends

Far too many people ignore that non-interference, not taking sides can also be a powerful diplomatic tool.

"The US established diplomatic relations with the mighty empire of San Marino".. Wondering how many Americans will take that at face value and not look up who San Marino are :P

Very lucky that no one full capitalized on the war. History shows that this is very common, a country fighting itself often has much trouble fending off a significant invading force.

THIS VIDEO IS SO GOOD. THE QUALITY OF ANIMATION

Fun fact that I learned in my Modern Middle Eastern History Class in College! In order to supply the demand for cotton in England, they spread the cotton seed all across their empire! And it stuck incredibly well in Egypt! Hence, the American Civil War is why we're able to buy Egyptian cotton pillows at the store today!

The English upper classes favored the Confederates. They understood the potential of the US in the future. On the other Hand thousands of unemployed textile workers (Union cotton blockade) signed a petition supporting the North because of the Emancipation Proclamation. There was no way the population of the UK would fight in a War to prop up Slavery. As far as Northern grain imports....one Northern politician noted, “King Wheat was more important that King Cotton”

British vessel in the intro be like : So anyway, I started blasting.

To be fair the Italian Garibaldi refused to serve the Union because , at the start of the war, freeing the slaves wasn't the main goal of the Union and, despite his flaws, Garibaldi deeply belived in the ideal of freedom

better title: An American Perspective on the European Perspective of the American Civil War.

How interesting! We don't get enough outside perspectives for the Civil War. Thank for uploading.

gb: "yeah whatever, we can make our own cotton." messenger: "sir the americans messed with one of our boats" gb: *drops teacup* "prepare for war"

Great video but interesting how you didn't mention Giuseppe Garibaldi (the unifier of Italy). He was asked by Lincoln's office to serve as a general for the North in the American civil war in 1862 after his great military victories for the unification of Italy the years prior. It is a well-known fact in Italy :)

0:55 british Admiral: oh we're taking a stroll into San-Francisco by firing our guns on you Union Commander: WHY!

Great Britain between the end of the Revolution and the War of 1812: “Come lads, we shall board American ships and kidnap their sailors, forcing them to serve us.” Great Britain when the US boards one of their ships to arrest her own rebels 40 years later: *violent screeching*

I Quote "During the American Civil War, Russia supported the Union primarily because its main geopolitical enemy at that time was Great Britain, which was sympathetic to the Confederacy. ...Russia winterd it's fleets in New York and Sanfransisco Harbors 1861-1862. Although the Civil War in America ended more than 150 years ago, it still generates controversy" Thank You! Your work is exemplary and nourishes the intelectual being.

Thank you for your insight. The international aspect often gets over looked by many historians and documentaries in relation to this topic. Not only was this an American civil war but it also acted as a proxy for rival European empires. Keep up the great work!

Thank you for giving me a perspective on a subject I never would have thought to even ask about. Thumbs up.

UK & France: Oh boy, we're going to get some cotton. Russia: *nyet*

Armchair Historian, can u make the forgotten Allied Intervention in Russian Empire? I haven't seen any history channels made this topic yet

“The guy that gives my clothing and the guy that gives my my other things are fighting”

I love how the German just vibes in the balloon in the thumbnail

Remember when the New York Times was the pinnacle of journalism? Oh how they have fallen.

Great video! Although I know the videos main focus is on the US civil war, I am glad that you mentioned in passing my country of Dominican Republic’s war of restoration against Spain! After being a long time viewer, it’s amazing to see my country be mentioned even as a footnote lol 😂 🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴

Abraham lincoln also received a letter from the king of Thailand, the king promised to send elephants but lincoln denied the king's offer

Ooh my god, this looks amazing, from a purely graphical prospective. Cheers to the animation department

Germans in 1861: “These soldiers are poorly trained, they can’t possibly hurt us!” Germans in 1917: “I take that back...”

All the major armies sent officers to observe the War up close...

I used to watch you back a few years, and your level of production is off-the-roof

I *can't believe* Armchair Historian didn't mention how Guiseppe Garibaldi, one of the leaders of the Italian Unification, was almost put in charge of the Union Army. Lincoln wanted him to be the head general, but he declined because Lincoln didn't want to make it a war to end slavery at the time he asked him to. But many of his soldiers did volunteer for the Union in the Garibaldi Guard.

Dude. 5 minutes in and ive already got 4 advertisements. I love your content bro. Id come to you everytime for a history lesson vs Schools and colleges. But my god the ads...

Financial support from Britain to the Confederate States had great influence on Canadian history aswell! With the Union's victory, and knowledge of British intervention, bored armies looked North for revenge on Britain's colonies. Fear of the US was a key factor in Canada's confederation in 1867. By becoming a separate entity from Britain and combining forces with other British North American colonies, supporters of Canadian confederation were confident in expelling fears of another US invasion.

To add a bit to the Restoration War (expulsion of the spanish from the Dominican Republic) It wasnt exactly an occupation, it became one once their troops arrived, but at the start it was a formal annexation asked from the queen of spain by dominican leaders. The country had been plagued by poverty, political instability and disease ever since its independence from Haiti. The leaders thought the best way to help the country move forwards and help the people was to annex us to spain, since they still had some interests in the caribbean, they thought this was the most achieveable goal. At the start, the East of the country was mixed towards it, the west was completely against it, with some rebellions in cibao even before the treaty was signed. Once they came, rebellion didnt start (except on the western side) until they started implementing laws that put the dominican people as second class citizens and many crimes against said dominicans were comitted, when rebellions began and the treaty was denounced by dominican politicians is when it became a full on occupation. Coming from a dominican, thank you for actually thinking about us in this video, mister griffin! :)

Today people seem to be ignoring Harpers Ferry. All wars start because of pre war violence.

Thanks for another great episode! However, it was a mistake to say that Russia never came close to the conflict and supported the Union only verbally. Actually, in 1863-1864 Emperor Alexander II sent an expedition of Russian navy to both coasts of the US in order to show Russia's support to the actions of the Federal Government, as well as to keep an eye on the the trade routes of Great Britain. The expedition to the East Coast, under the command of rear admiral Stepan Lesovsky consisted of 3 frigates, 2 corvettes and 1 clipper, while to the West Coast were sent 4 corvettes and 2 clippers under the command of the rear admiral Andrei Popov.

Me:watches an armchair historian video with happiness Sponsor and also ads:raid shadow legends Me:i think they have a plan to take over youtube

"The mighty empire of San Marino" 🤣😅

"But since the Union didn't have a border with Mexico, they couldn't really do anything about it" California, Arizona and New Mexico left the chat

6:27 that sounded less like a friendly letter landing on a desk and more like a quill being snapped in a fit of rage

The British feared that intervention would eventually result in the loss of Canada. That’s why Canada became independent so soon after the American Civil War.

Fun fact: Karl Marx was a very vocal supporter of the Union, constantly getting newspapers translated in Russian describing the outcome of the war. He even wrote a letter to Abraham Lincoln, along with the rest of the International Workingmen’s Association, denouncing the South and praising his presidency as the “single-minded son of the working class”

Fun Fact: On 8 March, 1862, the Confederate States Navy was the most powerful navy in the world (even more powerful than the Royal Navy). Then, on 9 March, 1862, the CSS Virginia (AKA: The Merrimac) met the USS Monitor. These two ironclads fought to a draw, but they were the two most powerful warships in the world at the time.

"The cross of St. Andrew indicated descent from British lineage, while the red bar was taken from the French flag, as many other Southerners were descended from French lineage." - Arthur Rogers designer of confederate flag

Great video! Thanks for covering something relatively new to me. Here in Denmark we don't learn at all about the American Civil War in school so it is nice to understand something about it.

7:15 Nice reference to the absolutely amazing animations from the film charge of the light Brigade.

Russia and Prussia not intervening isn't true. It's their opposition and hostility to the French and English that prevented intervention from the two. The Prussians were eager to unite the German state, which was in direct conflict with French interests. The Russians were still antagonized over the Crimean War, and saw the French and English as hostile. The Russians and Prussians paired eagerly with one another against mutual enemies. So much so that Bismark managed to rope them in with an alliance with Austria Hungary later in the century. The US was historically hostile to the British, something that only waned once Britain became dependent on US oil (Churchill switching navy to oil) and it became clear over time who the junior partner in that relationship would be. That dominance through oil came early 20th century, outside this time frame. Until then the US was not friendly to the British. The French invasion of Mexico and their alliance with Britain also antagonized the US. It's no surprise that the US was close to both Russia and Prussia throughout this century. America and Russia being allies during the Civil War should not be a surprise. It was not out of nowhere that the US managed to buy Alaska from the Russians, and at dirt cheap prices too. It didn't help that the English had just recently attacked China over the Second Opium War as well, further heightening wariness other countries had about British imperialism. Britain had every intention of intervening in this war. They had incentives to break up the US, which while united (and cold) constantly threatened Canada as well as their Caribbean possessions should war start. The Monroe Doctrine also irritated their imperial ambitions, but they didn't have the military might to send across an ocean to contest it. French had ambitions in the Western Hemisphere and as noted took advantage of this to invade Mexico, something they would not be able to do under threat of a united US applying Monroe Doctrine. It was not just the Trent affair, the Liard Rams also almost sparked a war. What caused Britain and France to back down was Russian threats of war and Prussian military buildup towards German reunification. Prussia was building up its forces in Germany, culminating in the Second Schleswig War and then heightening tensions in Central Europe. France even pulled out of Mexico to consolidate their own forces because of this threat of German reunification. Russia and England's cold war over Central Asia always threatened to boil into a real war, with India threatened. There's also the January Uprising, a Polish revolt that led to possible war with Britain and France. Meanwhile it was not true that Russia sent no help. Due to rising tensions and the threat of possible war with Britain and France over the January Uprising, Russia sent its fleets to New York and San Francisco. Russia had the third largest navy, and was stationed there to further deter British and French interventionist plans. It had the added benefit of not being bottled up in the Black or Baltic Sea should hostilities with Britain begin. Had this war started it would have gone global, a world war. A war between the French, British, Spanish, and Confederates likely losing to the superior and more numerous armies of the US, Russia, and Prussia. By the end of the Civil War the Union had chiseled veterans accustomed to industrialized warfare and brilliant generals in Grant and Sherman (amongst others.) Meanwhile the Franco-Prussian War would give a good grasp on who had the superior army during this time period.