Chapter 21 10. Lincoln's Russian Allies

When the kings of Europe sent a large number of troops to the Americas to prepare to split the United States at the most dangerous moment around the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Lincoln immediately thought of the old enemy of the European monarchs—Russia.Lincoln sent envoys to Tsar Alexander II for help.When the Tsar received Lincoln's letter, he did not open it right away, but weighed it in his hand, and said: "Before we open this letter or know its contents, we will agree in advance to any request it makes." There were several reasons why the Tsar was prepared to intervene militarily in the American Civil War.One is the worry that the lips are dead and the teeth are cold. During the time of Alexander II, the international financial forces sweeping across Europe had already knocked on the door of the Kremlin.The bankers strongly demanded to establish a privately owned central bank based on the experience of advanced European financial countries. The Tsar had already seen through the killer move and resolutely rejected this request.When he saw that another President Lincoln who opposed international financial power was in danger, if Alexander II did not help, he was afraid that it would be his turn next.Another reason is that on March 3, 1861, before the outbreak of the American Civil War, Alexander II announced the law for the emancipation of serfs. In terms of the abolition of slavery, the two sides were somewhat sympathetic and sympathetic.Another layer is that Russia had just been defeated by Britain and France in the Crimean War that ended in 1856, and Alexander II was still ashamed.

On September 24, 1863, the Russian fleet under General Revsky entered New York Harbor without declaring war.The Russian Pacific Fleet under General Popov arrived in San Francisco on October 12.For Russia's behavior, Keating.Wales commented: They came at a time when the South was at a high tide and the North was at a low tide, and their presence caused England and France to hesitate, and ultimately bought time for Lincoln to turn things around. After the Civil War, the U.S. government went to great lengths to pay for the Russian fleet, which totaled $7.2 million.Because the president has no constitutional authority to pay for the war costs of foreign governments, then-President Johnson reached an agreement with Russia to buy Russian land in Alaska to pay for the war.This event is known in history as the Seward Folly, and Seward was the Secretary of State at the time, and he was strongly criticized for spending $7.2 million on wasteland that seemed worthless at the time.

Alexander II was unsuccessfully assassinated in 1867 for the same reason.On March 1, 1881, Alexander II finally died at the hands of the assassins.