What did/do non-Americans think of the U.S. Civil War? What was their opinion of the Union/Confederacy? What is the consensus of the cause of the Civil War?
Reason I'm asking is it is hard to get an unbiased perspective on the subject in the U.S. I'm curious as to what third parties thought of it.
My general question is if slavery was really the impetus of the war?
I grew up in the West, the narrative we were taught was that the South was wanted slavery and the North did not and they went to war over it.
I find that hard to believe. Sure slavery was a big part of the Civil War, but to me it sounds like a nice narrative to hide the true motives of the war (similar to the Afghanistan War being about terrorism).
Maybe I'm wrong though?
The US Civil War was unquestionably about slavery.
Causes of the American Civil War written by u/Borimi
Was the civil war about states rights or slavery? written by u/freedmenspatrol
As for contemporary European views and involvement during the US Civil War, see this thread What was Europe's reaction to the U.S. Civil War? Why was there no outside attack from any European nation during this time of American vulnerability? written by u/mormengil and u/Georgy_K_Zhukov
and
How did European Nations react to the American Civil War? written by u/The_Alaskan and u/dandan_noodles and u/Rittermeister