Seward Doctrine○Taimocracy翻譯

Seward Doctrine○Taimocracy翻譯

One of the most important victories won by the United States during the Civil War was not fought on a battlefield.  

Rather, it was a series of diplomatic victories that ensured that the Confederacy would fail to achieve diplomatic recognition by even a single foreign government.  Although this success can be attributed to the skill of Northern diplomats, the anti-slavery sentiments of the European populace, and European diversion to crises in Poland and Denmark, the most important factor still rises from the battlefields on American soil.  The Confederate states were incapable of winning enough consecutive victories to convince European governments that they could sustain independence.

美國在南北戰爭中，最重要的勝仗之一並不在戰場上，而是一連串的外交勝利。這些外交成果，確保南方邦聯連一個外國政府的外交承認都無法取得。此外交上的勝利，雖然可歸功於北方聯邦的外交官、歐洲人對「反奴隸」的同情、以及歐洲因波蘭與丹麥的危機無暇他顧；但是，最重要因素仍然來自美國國內的戰場。南方邦聯各州無法取得足夠的連續性勝利，以說服歐洲各國政府自己有能力維持獨立。

Southerners began the war effort confident that the cotton their plantations provided European textile manufacturers would naturally ally their governments to the Confederacy, especially Great Britain.  After declaring succession, the North would declare a blockade on Southern ports.  Any interruption of cotton supply would disrupt the British economy and reduce the workers to starvation, they thought.  Britain would have to break the blockade and provoke a war with the North that would allow Confederates to solidify independence and gain international recognition.

南方人開啟戰爭時信心滿滿，認為棉花供給歐洲紡織工業，必然使得各國政府與南方邦聯站在同一陣線，尤其是大不利顛。在宣告分裂後，北方將會宣告封鎖南方港口。他們認為，任何干擾棉花供應的行為將擊垮不列顛的經濟，使其勞工飢饉。到時候不列顛將必須破除封鎖，開啟對北方的戰爭，使得南方邦聯得以鞏固獨立並取得國際承認。

When the Union did declare a blockade upon the rebel states in April 1861, however, it did not prompt the response expected from the Europeans.  The blockade's legal and political implications took on greater significance than its economic effects because it undermined Lincoln’s insistence that the war was merely an internal insurrection.  A blockade was a weapon of war between sovereign states.  In May, Britain responded to the blockade with a proclamation of neutrality, which the other European powers followed.  This tacitly granted the Confederacy belligerent status, the right to contract loans and purchase supplies in neutral nations and to exercise belligerent rights on the high seas.  The Union was greatly angered by European recognition of Southern belligerency, fearing that it was a first step toward diplomatic recognition.  But British Foreign Secretary Lord John Russell said, "The question of belligerent rights is one, not of principle, but of fact."

北方聯邦在1861年4月的確宣告了封鎖反叛各州，但此舉並未促使歐洲國家採取南方邦聯所預期的反應。封鎖行動的法理與政治意涵的重要性，超過經濟效應，因為它削弱了林肯將戰爭定調為國內叛亂的堅持。封鎖，是主權國家之間的武器。五月間，不列顛以宣告中立對封鎖做了回應，而歐洲其他國家也跟隨。此宣告默許了南方邦聯交戰團體的地位，使其擁有從中立國家借款與購買補給品的權利，並得以在公海行使交戰團體的權利。歐洲國家承認南方邦聯交戰團體的地位，北方聯邦為此而震怒，唯恐此乃朝向外交承認的第一步。但不列顛外交大臣Lord John Russell說：「交戰權利是一個事實問題，而非原則問題。」

Sensitive to any further international recognition of the Confederates as statesmen rather than rebels, Secretary of State William H. Seward instructed Charles Francis Adams, Minister to England and the son of former Secretary of State and President John Quincy Adams, to warn the British not to "fraternize with our domestic enemy," whether officially or unofficially, or risk an Anglo-American war.  But the Union realized that Europe’s declarations of neutrality also constituted official acceptance of the blockade, a position with many longstanding implications.  Although international law stated that a blockade must be "physically effective" to be legally binding on neutral powers, the definition was ambiguous.  From before the War of 1812, the United States had insisted upon a strict definition in order to maintain trading rights as a neutral.  Now, however, the United States was the belligerent and Britain the predominant neutral power.  By officially respecting the Union blockade, even if it was not fully "physically effective," Britain maintained a consistent position on belligerent rights.  The U.S. reversal of its traditional position stressing neutral rights set the precedent that it would be obligated to respect the British argument in future naval issues.

唯恐國際進一步承認南方邦聯為政治團體而非叛軍，國務卿William H. Seward 指令駐英部長Charles Francis Adams (前國務卿暨前總統John Quincy Adams之子)警告不列顛，不得正式或非正式「與我國內敵人友好」，否則將會導致英美戰爭。但是，北方聯盟也理解到，歐洲國家的中立宣言同時也等於是官方正式接受了封鎖行動，此立場具有長遠的意涵。雖然國際法表明封鎖必須「實質有效」，才對中立國具有法理效果，但此定義模糊不明。從1812年戰爭之前，美國即堅持採嚴格的定義以維持中立國的貿易權利。然而，現在美國成了交戰團體，而不列顛是主要的中立國。不列顛藉由官方遵守北方聯邦的封鎖，即便封鎖並未「實質有效」，不列顛對於交戰團體的權利，保持了一致的立場。而美國從強調中立國權利的傳統立場，轉換為交戰團體的角色，則創了在未來海軍議題上不得不尊重不列顛的先例。

Additional Reading:
D.P. Cook. Diplomacy During the Civil War. (New York, 1975).

http://future.state.gov/when/timeline/1861_timeline/prevent_confederacy.html

The Cairo Conference, 1943○DoS【附中譯文】