The Czar that Saved America

Alexander was able to realize the deficiencies in the Russian social structure after his defeat in the Crimean War (Rempel). The most important thing that Alexander did was to free the serfs. Serfs are very similar to slaves, with a few differences.

Instead of being owned by people, serfs were tied to the land (Alchin). When the land a serf lived on was sold, he was considered to be sold with it (Alchin). If a serf were to leave the land that he lived on, the lord of the land had governmental permission to bring him back (Alchin).

This process of enslavement would have gone on for generations. Alexander’s process of emancipation of the serfs took a long time (Rempel). The process began in March of 1856, when Alexander spoke to Russian nobles, requesting a change in the conditions of the serfs. The nobles were not enthused by this suggestion. Freeing the serfs would have broken the wallets of the landlords. In January of 1857, almost a year after Alexander’s initial request, a secret committee began to work on the proclamation. On the 5. March, 1861, Alexander emancipated the serfs. This emancipation freed 23,000,000 serfs.

Many of these reforms are very similar to President Lincoln’s reforms. Both Lincoln and Alexander freed repressed people. Due to this, Alexander and Lincoln had a very good political and social relationship (Lincoln and Alexander II). Alexander and Lincoln corresponded regularly(Lincoln and Alexander II). Alexander was not the only one that was favorable towards Americans, most Russians agreed with their Czar (George). The Americans sent an important ambassador to Russia, Cassius Marcellus Clay (George). Clay became very friendly with important Russian leaders, building up a political repertoire.

This political and social repertoire became very important in the following years, during the American Civil War. The Civil War was a conflict that concerned not only the United States Union and Confederacy, but many countries around the world. The Russian Government was involved in the politics of the Civil War.

To make the relationship between Russia and the United States clear to Europe, Czar Alexander sent ships and troops to the Union. He started with the Russian Navy. The Navy arrived in New York Harbor on 24. September, 1863 (Andreeva). These were not small ships, he sent 3 frigates, 2 corvettes and 3 flippers(Andreeva).

He then sent five corvettes and 4 clippers to San Fransisco(Andreeva). Alexander then supplied the Union with a fully manned volunteer corps.

Alexander showed this support because both the British and French governments were very interested in the outcome of the Civil War(George). Both of these governments wanted the Confederacy to win because they needed the cotton they produced for textiles(George).

Due to the need for cotton, the French promoted an armistice plan, which would have split the Union and Confederacy. This plan was strongly supported by the British. If the British and French had put the armistice into action, they were not the only European countries that would have been involved; Anglo-France and the British allies of Spain and Austria would have fought too. Since the Russians had great respect for Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation, they became openly friendly with the Union, as the military support shows (George). This open friendship clearly showed all of Europe that if they were to in any blatant way help the Confederacy, that country would have to deal not only with the Union, but also with Russia. Russian military power was not something to take lightly, Russia had a vast land army and navy. If the Russian army were to be mobilized, it would have dominated the Ottoman Empire and the British controlled India, Balkans and the Middle East, before possibly sweeping over Europe.

If Britain wanted to get involved, they would have had to deal with the loss of all trade from their Indian ports. Britain would also have lost their control in the Balkans and the Middle East. Overall, any European help in the Confederacy would have lead to disaster for that country.

What does this mean? There are many possibilities as to the outcome of the Civil war without Russian help. The first is that the Confederacy could have won, with a little help from its European allies. This would have meant that now, the U.S. would be split into two.
It would also have meant that slavery would have taken longer to be abolished. The second scenario, could have been that the Confederacy would still have won, however it would have been under a British thumb. The British had planned this scenario out, even naming the new state created the "United States of Europe" (Radzinsky 54)

In conclusion, the Russians had a profound effect on the outcome of the American Civil War. Without Alexander II's political and social relationship with Lincoln, the Civil War would have turned into a global conflict. There were many players in the Civil War. Not only did Russia recognize Lincoln as a revolutionary thinker, he supported him during what could have exploded into a global conflict. Without the Russians help, it is very likely that European powers would have joined in the Civil War, supporting the Confederacy. Had the Confederacy won, it is probable that the U.S. would currently be split into two very different countries. The Civil War was a very important time in American history, and Alexander II helped influence its outcome, without him, we would not have our government, or half of our country