ABSTRACT
Both future superpowers suffered the experience of war on their own soil early in the second half of the nineteenth century. Russia was invaded again little more than forty years after Napoleon had reached Moscow. On this occasion, hostilities from 1854-6 were confined mostly to the Black Sea and the Crimea. Yet the international consequences were significant, the alignment of the European powers was determined for several years to come, and some of the rivalries exacerbated by the conflict were to influence the nature of the onset of the First World War. Internally, the poor performance of the Russian armed forces was a major reason for the emancipation of the Russian serfs. Similarly, the American Civil War from 1861-5 was to lead to the liberation of the Afro-American slaves. Like most events of its kind, the war was passionate and bloody, and left scars which took a long time to fade. In the short run, the victory of the North accelerated the process of industrialisation, and the achievement by the USA of great power status.
