1863

Extremes Meet. Punch, Volume 45, October 24, 1863, p. 169

Incensed by Russia's brutal repression of the Polish independence movement, the British looked askance at diplomatic overtures between the United States and the Russian Empire. Though Lincoln and Tsar Alexander II never actually met, this cartoon's metaphorical encounter juxtaposes their shared determination to quell rebellion. There are several interesting parallels between the two leaders: both were political moderates who nonetheless felt compelled to use force to avoid the loss of what each believed to be national territory; both resorted to controversial military conscription; both were committed to massive social change through emancipation (black slaves in America, serfs in Russia). Throughout the 1860s, America's westward expansion and sense of "manifest destiny" were mirrored by Russia's own eastward transcontinental push through Siberia towards the Pacific.

The words "Greek Fire" appearing above Lincoln's head probably refer to the Union Navy's use of incendiary shells during the siege of Charleston, South Carolina, which set fires indiscriminately throughout the city. The Tsar is backed by images of bearded Cossacks bayoneting Polish civilians. The obvious implication is that these two unlikely allies are linked by their willingness to resort to unconventionally brutal methods of warfare that the British deem uncivilized, including "collateral damage" to non-combatants.

The Western European powers, especially Britain and France, considered intervention in the Polish insurrection of 1863, as they would continue to discuss intervening in the American Civil War. Seeking common cause against Britain and France, Russia made diplomatic overtures to the Lincoln administration. The arrival in September of a number of Russian Navy warships on an extended courtesy visit to New York was widely seen as a gesture of support for the Northern war effort, and Tsarist officers were feted by the city's elite in a series of grand balls celebrating amity between the two powers.