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SUMMARY:Citizen Soldiers and National Armies: European Observers and the A
 merican Civil War - Adrian Brettle\, Sam Houston State University
DTSTART:20250506T160000Z
DTEND:20250506T173000Z
UID:TALK231151@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:119986
DESCRIPTION:The American Civil War\, often described as the first modern w
 ar\, unfolded at a time when European states were grappling with the legac
 ies of the 1848 revolutions and reassessing the foundations of state power
 . European military and diplomatic observers\, both official and unofficia
 l\, followed the American conflict with intense interest. From afar\, Helm
 uth von Moltke dismissed the Civil War as “two armed mobs chasing each o
 ther around the country\, from which nothing could be learned.” This dis
 missive attitude toward American volunteer soldiers resembled the report f
 rom Frenchman Marquis de Radepont\, who professed to be shocked by the U.S
 . troops in Mexico in 1847 with their “total want of all that unity of a
 ction which is deemed indispensable for the success of military operations
 .” And yet an examination of European military and consular reports reve
 als a more complex picture. This talk explores how observers’ attitudes 
 changed over time and varied by nationality. European commentators display
 ed a growing appreciation of the unprecedented scale of the American Civil
  War and the willingness of volunteer soldiers to sacrifice their independ
 ence and careers for military service. In an atmosphere of military and po
 litical reform at home\, European impressions of American citizen armies a
 ssumed considerable significance. 
LOCATION:Engelsberg Room\, Centre for Geopolitics\, Fitzwilliam House\, 32
  Trumpington Street\, Cambridge
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