Up to, during, and following the American Civil War, the United States and Britain had a number of disputes which provides ill will between the two nations. First there was an unresolved border dispute between the two nations which almost resulted in a war in 1859. Then there was the Fenian Raids which caused ill will towards the United States from the British side, since it was believed that the USA clandestinely supported the Fenian effort. Then there was perception in the United States that the British had aided the Confederacy and done damage to the USA, which caused Yankee ill will toward the British. And in a last note which I cannot find on Wikipedia but only some info on here, was an expatriation dispute between the United States and Britain over the concept of citizenship. Basically, the Americans believed that people naturalized in the USA were American citizens, while the British felt otherwise. So when Irish-American Fenians, who were naturalized in the USA, were caught in Britain causing a ruckus and not extradited to be tried in the USA, it caused quite a stir in the American public. Now, reading the last link, you will soon realize that the issue was dropped when the British agreed to the American definition of naturalized citizenship in a treaty that followed the Expatriation Act of 1868. In fact, almost all of these disputes were solved in the Treaty of Washington(1871), which was drafted basically to quell all the disputes between the British and the Americans before they got out of hand. However, this being alternate history, what if the leadership of both the United States and Britain were not so inclined to be diplomatic about these affairs? Any of these issues taken alone would not result in war, I agree. However, us being historians, we need to look at the era as a whole, and when we combine each dispute, the situation looks far more precarious than before. So my question is, what if rather than a treaty being drafted in 1871, a war erupted?
It's not hard to see how the series of events could lead to a war. Lets start with the Fenian Raids being worse, with far more accusations on the British side of American involvement. Naturalized Irish-American Fenians are caught in Britain, and Americans furious about the Alabama affair, demand they be returned to the United States and Britain recognize American standards of citizenship as per the Expatriation Act of 1868. The British public being more antagonized by the Fenian affair, refuses. Suddenly, the border dispute and so called "Pig War" of 1859 are brought up by antagonistic politicians on both sides, whom of course believe that their side should have the border dispute settled in their favor. At this point, we have what is really needed; willingness on both sides for a war. The American leadership hoping to unify their nation once again against a European enemy and perhaps gain parts of Canada, and the British, hoping to quash an upstart rival, finally go to war. Now, as I said before, it will probably require alternate leadership on at least one side of the Atlantic, but that can be attributed to butterflies easily enough. My question is what would such a war look like? While the title says 1871, it really could be anywhen from 1866 til 1871, however. And I understand that this makes quite a difference; on the one hand the USA may or may not have demobilized since the Civil War, but on the other hand, the USA may or may not have recovered from the horrors and damage that were the Civil War. As to the British, the war may be going on during the Franco-Prussian War, which could cause pain for the British if butterflies do their magic and suddenly the British realize they want to intervene in European affairs. But that said, Alternate History is an inexact science, so we need to make the best of what we can work with.
As a final note, I feel that this threat will inevitably bring up the classic 'America vs. British' topics-that is, the Royal Navy mops the seas, and British soldiers march to Washington in an anglo-wank vs. the vast legions of American soldiers rise to defend their glorious homeland and the USA trades Canada for peace. As many other arguments, I'm sure that the truth lies somewhere in between, so I ask you all to be courteous and cite your sources when possible.
It's not hard to see how the series of events could lead to a war. Lets start with the Fenian Raids being worse, with far more accusations on the British side of American involvement. Naturalized Irish-American Fenians are caught in Britain, and Americans furious about the Alabama affair, demand they be returned to the United States and Britain recognize American standards of citizenship as per the Expatriation Act of 1868. The British public being more antagonized by the Fenian affair, refuses. Suddenly, the border dispute and so called "Pig War" of 1859 are brought up by antagonistic politicians on both sides, whom of course believe that their side should have the border dispute settled in their favor. At this point, we have what is really needed; willingness on both sides for a war. The American leadership hoping to unify their nation once again against a European enemy and perhaps gain parts of Canada, and the British, hoping to quash an upstart rival, finally go to war. Now, as I said before, it will probably require alternate leadership on at least one side of the Atlantic, but that can be attributed to butterflies easily enough. My question is what would such a war look like? While the title says 1871, it really could be anywhen from 1866 til 1871, however. And I understand that this makes quite a difference; on the one hand the USA may or may not have demobilized since the Civil War, but on the other hand, the USA may or may not have recovered from the horrors and damage that were the Civil War. As to the British, the war may be going on during the Franco-Prussian War, which could cause pain for the British if butterflies do their magic and suddenly the British realize they want to intervene in European affairs. But that said, Alternate History is an inexact science, so we need to make the best of what we can work with.
As a final note, I feel that this threat will inevitably bring up the classic 'America vs. British' topics-that is, the Royal Navy mops the seas, and British soldiers march to Washington in an anglo-wank vs. the vast legions of American soldiers rise to defend their glorious homeland and the USA trades Canada for peace. As many other arguments, I'm sure that the truth lies somewhere in between, so I ask you all to be courteous and cite your sources when possible.
