War Scares

[SimonC]

Could anyone recommend any books that provide as much detail as possible on the war scares that occurred during the Victorian period but did not lead to conflict and were resolved politically or just faded away.
In particular, I'm thinking of the 1878 crisis with Russia and the tension with France in the 1860s, although I would also be interested in other crisis.

Thanks, Simon.

[Waggoner]

Simon,

There was the Venezuelan Crisis on 1895 between Great Britain and the USA over the Venezuelan border. Continuing along the theme of GB/USA crises, there was a number of them during the 1830s and 1840s, mostly to do with British North America. The main ones were the Rebellions of 1837/1838 in the Canadas and the American Patriot/Hunters Lodges support of the rebels, the Aroostook War of 1839 and the McLeod Trial of 1841 and the Creole Affair of 1841. The American government and people were strongly anti-British during this period and it was easy to elevate an incident to crisis proportions. Fortunately, common sense prevailed and the Third Anglo-American War was prevented.

Have a look at The Crisis of 1830-1842 in Canadian-American Relations (Albert B. Corey. New York: Russell & Russell, 1941 and 1970). It will give you a good introduction.

And don't forget the Trent Affair of 1861!

All the best,

Gary

[SimonC]

Thanks for that Gary. I knew of the 1895 Venezuelan Crisis but not the 1830-42 crisis.

Simon

[uzbashi]

The Fashoda Incident of 1898, in the Sudan nearly precipitated a conflict between Britain and France.

[John Colomb]

Hello there,
I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to request assistance for source finding, I hope I got it right.
I am writing on the development and implementation of Imperial Defence doctrine between 1860 and 1890 and need some sources on the War Scares which filled the papers in that time. I have many sources allready mentioning them but not many dealing with them in any particular detail. Specifically I need information about the French and Russian scares in the 1860s, 70s and 80s.

Note added by moderator:
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[Waggoner]

John,

Welcome to the Forum! Presumably you have the threat of war with the Northern Union covered?

All the best,

Gary

[John Colomb]

Thankyou Gary!
No, I have not thought to include them.I am pressed for space of some 1,500 words and so can only really examine the French invasion scares of Napoeloen III, the later Jeune Ecole, the Russian War Scare of the 1870s, a quick assessment on the potential of American commerce warfare examplified by the cruises of the Shenendoah and the Ticondoroga.

[Waggoner]

John,

Noted, although the Trent Affair came periously close to causing a war. I am not familiar with the two cruises that you mentioned.

All the best,

Gary

[John Colomb]

The trent affair and the Alabama affair, I think, I'll certainly have to examine.
I believe it was the Shenendoah which was a Confederate cruiser, circumnavigated the globe laying waste to vast amounts of Union shipping. It certainly turned some heads at the Admiralty. The Ticonderoga, I think it was, was a post-civil war vessel which set out to explore the Indian ocean and far east for potential trade ports for American markets