Lincoln's Diplomacy

[Don1946]

(01-22-2014 09:59 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Laurie, IMO D. B. Mahin's "One war at a time" is a very good book, too (and has one chapter on cotton).

(01-17-2014 11:37 PM)Don1946 Wrote:  Seward was the mastermind behind Union diplomacy.

...Nevertheless I think Lincoln was not as unaware, ignorant, and uninvolved in foreign politics as many authors claim, but he had already more than enough business to do "at home". ...

I believe if Lincoln had had sufficient time, he would have tried to further educate himself on the subject as he did with military strategies and warfare.

What is your opinion - did Abraham Lincoln have an influence on or interest in foreign politics or not, and why (not)?

I think your perception of Lincoln's role is accurate and that his home-grown political savvy and his strong grasp of republican ideology and America's role as an inspiration to the world served him very well in understanding foreign affairs.

My take on Seward and Lincoln is that they were not rivals for long in 1861, that they developed a very close working and personal relationship. Each took the lead in developing complementary domestic and foreign policies. Seward was a politician who saw diplomacy as international politics. Some criticize him for that, but this is what led him to launch what I argue is the first sustained program in public diplomacy aimed at influencing public opinion rather than just government to government diplomacy. Lincoln let Seward direct foreign policy, but the two worked closely together and both were aware how domestic policies and events affected foreign affairs.

They were apart over emancipation, which was foreign policy as much as domestic and military strategy, I would argue. Lincoln insisted, and Seward resisted, the emancipation and arming of blacks in the South. Seward feared an emancipation edict would prompt European intervention and CSA independence. Lincoln thought it would bring the foreign public on the Union's side and make it impossible for any European nation to side with those fighting to preserve slavery.

One of Lincoln's most important and earliest informants on this matter was the German 48er Carl Shurz who in September 1861 pleaded with Seward and later met with Lincoln to implore that the Union make this a war against slavery. This would arouse the European public to side with the Union and thwart aristocratic Europe's plans to intervene on behalf of the South, Shurz thought. Lincoln and Schurz proved right, but it was not clear until later in 1863 when Europe really embraced the Emancipation Proclamation as a sincere turn in the Union's purpose in the war.