• waigl@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    The American Civil War was arguably not actually a civil war, but a war of secession.

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I’m curious about this, because by definition, the American Civil War was a “civil war” (emphasis mine):

      A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.

      • the dopamine fiend@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Those who don’t like calling it a “civil war” believe that the Confederacy actually became a legitimate separate country during that time, therefore it doesn’t count. It’s a mainly academic argument, until you realize that the reason they persist in calling it something else is that they think it’s still a separate country and that the Union is an illegal and illegitimate occupation force.

        You can, of course, imagine the other stuff they also believe.

    • snooggums@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      It is arguably about northern aggression since arguing anything is possible. That doesn’t make it correct.

      It was a civil war because the states that declared they were seceding never successfully seceded. Otherwise there would have been a step where they rejoined the union, which wasn’t necessary because they were still member states of the US. That makes it a civil war.