US-Russian Alliance in ACW

I read in a book that the Russians were considering joining the US in the ACW, what would they do this for and how would it turn our?
 
I read in a book that the Russians were considering joining the US in the ACW
They weren't. In 1863, tensions in Europe were rising over Russia's rather bloody suppression of a rebellion in Poland. During the Crimean war, Russia had been forced to scuttle its entire Black Sea fleet rather than take on the British and French navies, and was rather hoping to avoid having to do the same next time round. As such, in the autumn of 1863 they sent squadrons of ships to New York and San Francisco with the intention of using these vessels for commerce raiding in the event of war. Many Northern newspapers, in light of the rather diplomatically isolated position of the country at the time, interpreted this as a Russian gesture of solidarity with the Union and believed that it was intended warn Britain and France against recognising the Confederacy. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case: the myth keeps getting repeated, though, despite Golder first debunking it as long ago as 1915.
 
Russia just had a strange fascination with the USA at the time, seeing both itself and the Americans as powers which were being underestimated by the "established" European powers, hence why they offered to help out the Union against the CSA. Lincoln refused due to him not wanting foreign intervention in an internal conflict.

But if the Russians were to join... Expect the Russian Baltic fleet to be temporarily deployed to, say, NYC and a bunch of Cossacks and other small Russian forces to help out a bit. That might speed up the Civil War by a couple of days, maybe a week or two. But I wouldn't expect too much, which also includes no increased chance of a French or British intervention for the Confederate side (well, maybe France, because the sole thing that stopped Nappy III was that the British said they wouldn't tolerate it).
 

Gaius Julius Magnus

Gone Fishin'
Very unlikely Lincoln would accept help from direct Russia for the war, it would be a propaganda coup for Confederates and anti-war Democrats. At most I can see some volunteer Russian regiments.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Very unlikely Lincoln would accept help from direct Russia for the war, it would be a propaganda coup for Confederates and anti-war Democrats. At most I can see some volunteer Russian regiments.

Even volunteer Russian regiments would probably be declined, for they, too, would be a propaganda coup for the Confederates. They would be compared to the Hessians who fought against the Americans in the Revolutionary War. More importantly, many of the Central European immigrant communities who supported the Union war effort well remembered the role played by Russia in crushing the 1848 Revolution in Hungary and would be outraged if Lincoln accepted Russian help.

Lincoln had much, much, much more to lose than to gain by accepting Russian help, even if it had been offered (which it wouldn't have been).
 

TFSmith121

Banned
The Russians were in the enviable position of not

I read in a book that the Russians were considering joining the US in the ACW, what would they do this for and how would it turn our?

The Russians were in the enviable position of not having any interests in conflict with the US, and vice-versa - and the sale of Alaska had been discussed since the 1850s, for obvious reasons; given the role of the British and French in supporting the rebellion, not really surprising the US looked at the Russians positively, and vice-versa.

NYT's Disunion had a good piece on the Russian squadrons' visits to New York and San Francisco.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/the-russians-are-coming/?_r=0

Best,
 
The Czar was strapped for cash so if Lincoln offered gold bullion for the use of the fleet or troops he'd jump at the chance AFTER Brits and/or France entered into the war. Garibaldi offered to fight for the Union also.
So Grant with Cossack Cavalry, Italian Red Shirts, the Iron Brigade and the Russian Fleet ruining Brit Caribbean trade it would at least be colorful. Throw in Zeppelin and Thaddeus Lowe, the 52nd Mass. and Berdan's Sharpshooters just for spits and giggles.
Add French and Brits to the Rebs, how colorful and bizarre would that be?
 

Gaius Julius Magnus

Gone Fishin'
Even volunteer Russian regiments would probably be declined, for they, too, would be a propaganda coup for the Confederates. They would be compared to the Hessians who fought against the Americans in the Revolutionary War. More importantly, many of the Central European immigrant communities who supported the Union war effort well remembered the role played by Russia in crushing the 1848 Revolution in Hungary and would be outraged if Lincoln accepted Russian help.

Lincoln had much, much, much more to lose than to gain by accepting Russian help, even if it had been offered (which it wouldn't have been).

Very true. The only way I could see the Lincoln administration accepting a foreign country's aide would only be if the Confederates were already directly allied with another foreign nation. In this circumstance it would pretty much admit to the populace and world governments that the U.S. Government can't put down its own rebellion by itself.
 
if Lincoln offered gold bullion for the use of the fleet or troops he'd jump at the chance
If the US had enough gold bullion to bribe the Czar into the war, they wouldn't have been issuing paper money worth 71c to the dollar by 1866.

Garibaldi offered to fight for the Union also.
Garibaldi refused to fight for the Union because they weren't sufficiently antislavery. Given that he also decried rancour between the US and Britain because "their noble race is now-a-days the bulwark of the rights of nations... despotism foments dissentions between them because it fears them, and because it knows that if they were on good terms it would be impossible for it to execute its designs, which are fatal to liberty everywhere", he's hardly going to join one side over the other.

Grant with Cossack Cavalry
While I'm sure the Cossacks would have made a significant contribution to the March to the Sea, there's a fairly low probability that the Russians would have been able to ship them past the inevitable British blockade from Baltic or Black Sea ports. Conversely, by the time they'd marched to the newly-founded Vladivostok, crossed the Pacific, arrived in San Francisco, and crossed the American continent, the war would probably be over.

Russian Fleet ruining Brit Caribbean trade
Not massively probable, given the extent to which Confederate commerce raiders relied on neutral British ports and the Union navy not adopting convoy.

the 52nd Mass.
What's special about the 52nd Massachusetts? If you mean the 54th, then it's worthwhile pointing out that they were armed with P53 Enfield rifles purchased from Britain- as were 39% of the soldiers Massachusetts had mustered into service during 1862. On the other hand, there were a number of all-black Canadian volunteer militia units who would have seen action in the event of a war between the Union and Britain.
 
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