It was the first modern war...the machine gun, the submarine, and trench warfare were among many of the new developments that would later scourge the world in the 20th century.
More importantly, the U.S. emerged from the civil war more fully committed to universal political and economic rights in the context of a modern industrial society, a philosophy that drove the nation's explosive growth across North America and still guides U.S. foreign policy today. Clearly the world would be vastly different in 2009 had the Confederacy and the institution of slavery survived on a divided North American continent.
This is what Ang Lee, the non-american director of the Civil War movie "Ride With the Devil" said:
"I grew up in Taiwan, where older people always complained that kids are becoming Americanized: they don’t follow tradition, and so we are losing our culture. As I got the chance to go around a large part of the world with my films, I would hear the same complaints. It seems so much of the world is becoming Americanized. When I read Daniel Woodrell’s book Woe to Live On, which we based Ride with the Devil on, I realized that the American Civil War was, in a way, where it all started. It was where the Yankees won not only territory but, in a sense, a victory for a whole way of life and of thinking."
I wonder...do any of our compatriots in the UK or any other part of the world for that matter hold old wars and battles in reverence? Are there reenactors of prior battles and such in your parts of the world? I am partial to believing this is more of an American cultural phenomena.
Oh no. You've heard of the Protestant marches in Ireland commemorating some battle, that used to stir up trouble. Also, I was in Lexington MA on some round-number anniversary of the Revolutionary War, and re-enactors of the British side came over from Britain. All that way, to be on the losing side! Thanks guys.
I think that's a great question. Quite honestly, my post should have been "Why the Civil War is Important to Me"
The lessons about democracies under duress, the nature of war, effective management styles for large organizations, and history are applicable anywhere. In fact, I'd like to see somebody pick up Lee's management style and turn it into a business leadership book. There are lots of good analogies here.
So yes, it's applicable, but the article is not slanted at an international audience, unfortunately.
