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Erik Rutins -> RE: Why did they fight? (7/17/2007 2:26:51 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: MengCiao
For example, in the game, the British Empire has a good chance of allying with the Confederacy, an event that, in Marx's view, was extremely unlikely. Marx seems to have been right about that as well as about the importance of the Emancipation Proclaimation.
The game in fact seems to suggest that the War wasn't caused by anything in particular, especially since the Confederacy can be given the option of emancipating its own slaves.
The game actually makes no such suggestion - those are included as "what if" options simply because players and historians wonder about them. If you've ever actually had the conditions right in the game for the CSA to emancipate and actually done it, you'll also find it comes with a very steep cost. The idea itself was tossed around as things went downhill for them, though I agree that it's just a "what if" rather than something that really would have had much chance of happening historically. Similary, the game offers an option to turn off any chance of the European powers intervening and even by default it's pretty easy for the Union to keep them out of the war with sustained diplomacy.
quote:
I think the game exaggerates the rationality or prudence of the Confederate scheme, but as so often in games that simulate unequal conflicts, the losing side has to be given better grounds for hope than it actually had, otherwise it would be a pointless game since I doubt many players would want to fight for the South in hopes of winning by surrendering even a few days later than happened historically.
Sure, but it's really just an often requested "what if".
Regards,
- Erik
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