Anglo-American war of 1895

From the Archdruid Reprt for April Apr 4, 2012

It really could have gone either way. In 1895, Britain and America very nearly ended up at war over the border between British Guiana and Venezuela. The Venezuelan government, at that time an ally of the United States, appealed to President Grover Cleveland to pressure Britain into arbitration; the Cleveland administration did exactly that, in belligerent language; British prime minister Lord Salisbury responded dismissively; public opinion on both sides of the Atlantic yelled for war. It took the sudden outbreak of a new crisis in South Africa—the Jameson Raid, one of the foreshocks of the Boer War—to provide enough of a distraction for passions to moderate and cooler heads to prevail.

Is he correct? If the war had happened, how would it have gone (remember, America was weaker and Britain stronger a dozen decades ago, and Canada was British).
 
I highly doubt there would be war. Both countries had way too much to lose and nothing to gain from war. Britain spent much of the late 19th century ensuring the Americans were kept close. not to mention the amount of money invested in the US. Like the Americans relied on A lot on British finance. It makes no sense for them to fight over Venezuela.
 

Zlorfik

Banned
It's a very minor pretext for war, especially considering their good relations, and at this stage the British navy dominates all the world's oceans still, so it will be practically impossible for america to seize any colonies from them.
 
Certain members of Congress blew the Anglo-Venezuelan spat out of proportion on jingoistic lines about the Monroe Doctrine. A commission claimed that if Britain's claims were completely fufiled it counted as grounds for war as land in the Americas was being wrongly seized by a European power.

Cleveland thought this was stupid but playing the press and Congress offered to have America mediate the whole thing. Britain was offended Washington was sticking its nose in to what to them was a dispute over a slither of jungle. Eventually to stop the tension and thinking a middleman might help to sort it out, Britain agreed to the US coming on board.

The Venezuelan president didn't want the US as arbiter, having hoped for full backing after the commission's tough talk, he called the compromise a national humiliation but agreed because he had little choice.

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You want a war, have an imperialist Republican like Foraker or someone get elected in 1892 and roll with Congress' Monroe Doctrine angle. Cleveland had no time for foriegn entanglements, hell he didn't Hawaii when it was being handed on a plate.
 
The British about this point have given up on successfully defending Canada in any meaningful war with the USA (by their own staff talks) and ruled out war with the USA.

The USA doesn't gain much from having its coasts blockaded (not entirely but still) and its finance strangled.


Both sides lose a lot and gain little. If the Brits win they now need a permanent garrison in Canada and a fleet that needs to be wary of fighting two powers on two oceans at a time. If the Americans win they have massive economic disruption and a hell of a lot angry Canadians next door or within their country for little gain.
 

LordKalvert

Banned
Is it possible that it blows up into war? Sure given the jingoistic attitudes of the time period. Britain was widely hated in America at the time (Russia was still seen as America's great ally) and driving the British from the western Hemisphere was the ultimate goal of America (actually driving everyone from the Western Hemisphere was America's goal)

How would it have gone? The French President at the time didn't think the Americans would gain any great victories- or that they would really need to do so. The British would suffer enough when America cut off her raw material exports to Britain.

Britain could never blockade America- just too many ports for one thing. Not to mention that many were thousand of miles away from any British base. So see the Americans arming merchant vessels by the hundreds, if not thousands, and rampaging about the high seas effectively ending the British merchant marine

It might take the Americans about a year to properly arm their national guard and state militia units but Canada's a sure goner

Its no wonder that the British caved on practically everything the Americans demanded between 1895 and 1900
 
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