American civil war 186 1 ~ 1865, the war between the northern states dominated by American industrial capitalism and the slave-holding states in the south that launched the rebellion. Also known as the Civil War.

After the 1940s, the industrial production in the north of the United States developed rapidly, and the plantation slavery in the south, which was based on cruel exploitation of slaves and massive consumption of land, became a serious obstacle to the development of American capitalism. The struggle between the two social systems is becoming more and more fierce. 1860165438+10 In October, Republican A. Lincoln, who opposed the expansion of slavery, was elected president, and the southern slave owners lost control of the federal government. In February of the following year, seven slave-holding states in the south (later increased to 65,438+065,438+0) withdrew from the Union, established the League of American States (hereinafter referred to as the "Southern Union"), elected J Davis as the "President" and made Montgomery its capital (later moved to Richmond), which led to national division. On April 12, Confederate troops shelled Fort Sumter, South Carolina, which was guarded by federal troops, and began the civil war. In terms of strength comparison, there is a big gap between the north and the south: the land area is 3∶ 1, the population is 2.5∶ 1, the total industrial output value is1/,and the total railway mileage is 3∶ 1. However, the northern war was not well prepared. When the civil war broke out, the army had only 1.6 million people and more than 40 naval combat ships. To this end, in April of 15, Lincoln ordered the urgent recruitment of 75,000 volunteers, with a service period of only three months. The war preparations in the south are relatively well-prepared, with 654.38 million volunteers serving for one year, a large number of weapons and ammunition, and a group of well-trained officers. They have the advantage of staying in the army for the time being. Strategically, they can fight on interior lines and get the support of Britain and France. The battlefield of this war starts from the east coast of the United States in the east and reaches the Mississippi River valley in the west. East of the Appalachian Mountains is the eastern theater, and west is the western theater. Washington-Richmond area and Tennessee-Mississippi River area are the main battlefields. The war is divided into two stages.

In the first stage (186 1 ~ 1862), the federal government tried to suppress the rebellion quickly and restore national unity without touching southern slavery. The "Long Snake Plan" formulated by General W Scott stipulated that the navy blocked the southern coast and cut off the connection between the Confederacy and Europe; The army went south along the Mississippi River, occupied and controlled the important towns along the river, split the south in two, then besieged and blocked the main body of the south-the southeast States, and finally forced the south to yield. The Southern Alliance pursues the strategic policy of active defense, winning foreign aid and waiting for opportunities to attack. 186 1 After the Yugoslav army captured Fort Sumter in April, it quickly occupied Harpers Town and Norfolk Naval Base. On may 6th, confederate general P.G.T beauregard led 18000 people into the railway hub Manakas, threatening the federal capital. On 24th, I. mcdowell led 35,000 main union troops south to Virginia to meet them. On July 2 1, the two armies fought the Boer River in the first battle, and the Union army was defeated and retreated to Washington. Since then, the two sides have further strengthened their combat readiness. The federal parliament authorized the president to recruit 500 thousand volunteers, increasing the strength of the federal army to more than 800 thousand; The Southern Union Parliament also approved the recruitment of 400,000 volunteers.

1at the beginning of 862, the union army launched an attack on the east-west line. In the western theater, from February 6th to16th, American Grant commanded Tennessee Army to conquer Fort Henry and Fort Donielson successively with the support of naval gun fire. From February to June, the Union Army occupied Nashville on the Cumberland River, Columbus on the Mississippi River, 10 Island, New Orleans, Memphis and Collins. At this time, the whole of Kentucky, most of Tennessee and most of the Mississippi River were controlled by the Union Army. In the East War Zone, in March, General G.B. McClellan led the Potomac troops with more than 6,543,800 people, reached the eastern end of the peninsula between the James River and the York River by water, and then moved westward to Richmond, but the progress was slow. It took only one month to encircle Yorktown, which made the South Army prepared. After the "Seven-Day Battle" (6.25 ~ 7. 1), R.E. Lee led the Northern Virginia Army to repel the attack of the Union Army, and McClellan was forced to retreat. Li chengsheng went north and fought the second battle of the Boer river with the Virginia legion under the command of J. Pope on August 29 ~ 30. The Union Army suffered heavy losses again, losing14,000 people. Li Juntuan immediately crossed the Potomac River and threatened Washington. Mcclellan led his troops to fight with Li Juntuan in Antietam on September 17, repelling the Confederate army, but failed to pursue it, resulting in Li Juntuan's safe retreat. 65438+February 65438+March, the Potomac troops led by A. burnside 12000 fought with nearly 80,000 Li Legions in Fort fredericks, and the Union Army lost, with casualties 12000.

In the second stage (1863 ~ 1865), due to the continuous defeat of the union army on the battlefield, the people strongly demanded that the Lincoln administration carry out the war in a revolutionary way. On June 1 863 65438+1October1day, Lincoln officially promulgated the The Emancipation Proclamation, announcing the liberation of slaves in rebel states. This revolutionary document, together with the Homestead Law promulgated by 1862 in May, and a series of measures taken later, such as arming blacks, implementing conscription system and punishing counter-revolutionaries, mobilized the enthusiasm of the masses, especially blacks (about 179000 blacks joined the army during the war), thus making the war enter a new stage. On may 4th, 1863, 133000, the Potomac army led by J. Hook and 62000 Li troops fought fiercely in Chancellesville, resulting in casualties of the Union Army 17000 and losses of the Confederate Army 13000. In June, Li Juntuan's 76,000 people went north again and invaded Pennsylvania. At the beginning of July, G.G. Meade led 90,000 Potomac troops to defeat the Confederate army at the Battle of Gettysburg. Meanwhile, the Grant Corps in the Western Theater won the Battle of Vicksburg. The victory of the northern army reversed the whole war, and the southern army gradually lost its strategic initiative. On July 8, Union troops occupied Hudson Harbor, opened the Mississippi River and divided the Confederacy into two parts. On September 9th, W.S. Rosecrans led Cumberland's army to capture Chattanooga, the transportation hub and industrial center, and gained a forward base for attacking the south. 165438+1On October 23-25, Grant led the army to defeat the siege enemy.

1864 In March, Lincoln appointed Grant as commander-in-chief of the Union Army and W.T. Sherman as commander of the Western Theater. Under the auspices of Lincoln, Grant and Sherman made a new strategic plan and decided to act in concert with the East and West theaters: Grant personally led the Potomac army, with the main goal of annihilating Li Jun and capturing Richmond with cameras; Sherman went from west to southeast, went deep behind enemy lines, marched into coastal areas, and made a breakthrough in the eastern part of the Confederacy. At the end of April, Grant led 1 18000 people to the south. From May to June, he fought with more than 60,000 Li Juntuan in Yuan Ye, Spocevania and Port Cod, losing more than 50,000 people, but it was quickly replenished. /kloc-in June of 0/5, the union army besieged Petersburg south of Richmond and held a stalemate with the confederate army for 9 months. At the beginning of July, General Lee sent 20,000 men from J.A. Earle's interest rate department to attack Washington, and General P.H. sheridan of the Union Army led his troops to stop it. From August of the same year to March of the following year, in the battle of Shenandoah Valley, the early Yugoslav army was completely annihilated. In the western theater, Sherman led 65,438+/kloc-0,000,000 troops from Chattanooga,/kloc-0,864, and marched into Georgia, with the goal of annihilating the Confederate J.E. Johnston heavy group (53,000 men) and destroying the war potential of the south. He took circuitous tactics and occupied Atlanta on September 2. 1October 6th, 165438+65438, he led 62000 elite soldiers to start the famous "March to the sea". In order to confuse the enemy, he divided his troops into two ways, so that Johnston did not know his main attack direction and could not be prevented. On 23rd, the two armies joined forces in milic and continued eastward. On June 5438+February 2/Kloc-0, they captured the seaside town of Savannah with the cooperation of the navy. In this operation without a rear area, the Union army marched more than 300 kilometers, destroying the logistics base of the Confederate army, destroying its communication lines, destroying plantations along the way, and dealing a heavy blow to slavery. 1865 65438+ 10, Sherman sent troops to the north to cooperate with Grant in a joint attack on the Yugoslav army. On April 2 ~ 3, Grant led troops to capture Petersburg and Richmond successively. On the 9th, Li led 28,000 remnants to surrender in Abo Mattox. On the 26th, Johnston also led his troops to surrender to Sherman. The four-year civil war ended here. During the war, the Union Army suffered more than 630,000 casualties and the South Army suffered more than 480,000 casualties.

The American Civil War was the second bourgeois revolution in American history. It not only restored and consolidated the union, destroyed slavery, liberated productive forces, and removed internal obstacles for the development of American capitalism, but also had a positive impact on the European revolution, the workers' movements in various countries and the black movement. From a military point of view, the main features of this war are: cavalry carried out long-range raids, and large corps went deep into enemy lines; A large number of new weapons and equipment such as rifles, armored ships and armored trains were used, and balloons were used for photographic reconnaissance. Telegraph and railway have played an important role in communication and troop mobilization. The emergence of new technologies has promoted the application and development of open formation, field fortifications and infantry melee operations, and improved the cooperative combat capability of the army and navy.