If the CW ended differently...

[Craig Hipkins]

Although it is almost impossible to say what would have happened had the south won a few comparisons might be of interest.

First, I agree with some of the other comments on this thread that militarily and economically we here in the States would be a lot weaker. One only has to look at the Germany before Bismarck unified the country in 1871. Sure, before this time, Prussia had been a military powerhouse, but after consolidating the smaller German States Germany would go on to become a superpower, eclipsing the French army and defeating it in the Franco-Prussian war. Later on they would also challenge the Royal Navy for power of the seas. This, they came real close to accomplishing.

If the South had won the war I believe it would have been like the effete German states before the unification. In all probability, New England would have eventually left the Union. These smaller countries most definitely would have had an impact on the results of future European wars that would take place in the 20th century.

Another, somewhat older comparison can be seen in the Spanish unification of Castile, Aragon and Navarre in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

Craig