What would the world look like today if the Civil War had been fought to a standstill, and eventual truce?

SN Greg Wright — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 02:05:30 -0500

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 5 at 2017 2:11 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 02:11:02 -0500

That's an interesting question considering how much of our infantry and special forces commands reside in bases that would be part of the Confederated States.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Jan 5 at 2017 2:19 AM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 02:19:40 -0500

Interesting. Wow! 2 Countries! My Wife was a "Southern Belle" My Son is a "Rebel" with the Confederate Flag Tattooed on His Shoulder and Quite Proud of His Southern Heritage. You always ask interesting Questions CTOSN. I'm not so sure My Family would be what it is.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 5 at 2017 2:25 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 02:25:05 -0500

Then the Mason-Dixon line would be the US version of the 38th Parallel.

Response by CW3 Harvey K. made Jan 5 at 2017 7:29 AM

CW3 Harvey K. — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:29:04 -0500

A fellow by the name of J.R.R. Tolkien did a great job with "imaginary history". I recently read some "alternative history" by Ward Moore, a novel called "Bring the Jubilee". His picture of both the country (or countries) and the world, if the South had won the Civil War is not a pretty one.

Response by MSgt James Mullis made Jan 5 at 2017 5:17 PM

MSgt James Mullis — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 17:17:37 -0500

I think that was the premise of a book by Harry Turtledove called The Guns of the South. As I recall, a time traveler gave Robert E. Lee a bunch of AK-47's and much hysteria ensued.

Response by Sgt Kelli Mays made Jan 5 at 2017 5:17 PM

Sgt Kelli Mays — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 17:17:46 -0500

SN Greg Wright There are probably a thousand different possibilities.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jan 5 at 2017 10:45 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 22:45:01 -0500

I expect you are referring to the US Civil War SN Greg Wright and not the English, Spanish, Greek or many other significant Civil Wars.
If the US Civil War had been fought to a standstill
1. Spain would still be the colonial master of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines
2. Germany would have won WWI which means that the Weimar Republic would not have been formed and Adolph Hitler would not have risen to power and therefore no WWII, League of nations, UN, etc.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 5 at 2017 11:24 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 23:24:58 -0500

Mind blowing question! Great feed and other insights as well. I'm out of Vote ups or I would vote this feed up. At midnight perhaps...lol... I'm wire I'll be awake.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 5 at 2017 11:27 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 23:27:58 -0500

One likely course would be that we would have had an uneasy peace with some border skirmishes until WWI when the South would take the Allied side to reward GB's support for them (I'm assuming the South won with active English help) during the Civil War. The North with it's heavy German population would enter the war on the Axis side, part out of loyalty to ethnicity, and part out of hate for the britts and South. This would have brought WWI to our soil, causing us to refight the Civil War. Most likely scenario? The North wins.

Another course that I've thought of is that as the south industrialized and modernized, slavery becomes financially and socially untenable. The South's economy would suffer, and the South asks to be readmitted to the Union.

I truly believe that our country would have been better off if the Civil War had not been fought. The North wasn't THAT much more moral than the South. What I mean by that is that it was easy for the North to believe slavery was wrong when our economy didn't depend on slavery. Once a financial motivation for slavery was removed, it would have been much easier to convince the South slavery was wrong. I believe that if the war hadn't been fought, as time went on, the cotton industry would have become mechanized, making slavery financially untenable. As plantation owners freed their now "valueless" (forgive me for saying that about a human being) slaves, it would have been one plantation at a time, not all at once. Combined with social pressure from the North, I believe that the integration of blacks into American society would have been much smoother without the war.