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Ottoman Empire. Despite its alliance with the French in the Crimean War,
Britain viewed the Second Empire of Napoleon
III with some distrust,
especially as the emperor constructed ironclad warships and began returning
France to a more active foreign policy.
American Civil War
During the American Civil War (1861–1865), British leaders favoured
the Confederacy, a major source of cotton for textile mills. Prince Albert was
effective in defusing a war scare in late 1861.
The British people, however,
who depended heavily on American food imports, generally favoured the
Union. What little cotton was available came from New York, as the blockade
by the US Navy shut down 95% of Southern exports to Britain. In September
1862, Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation. Since
support of the Confederacy now meant supporting
the institution of slavery,
there was no possibility of European intervention.The British sold arms to
both sides, built blockade runners for a lucrative trade with the Confederacy,
and surreptitiously allowed warships to be built for the Confederacy. The
warships caused a major diplomatic row that was resolved in the Alabama
Claims in 1872, in the Americans' favour.
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