The Union lost the war of 1861, commonly referred to as the Civil War in the north, and the Second War for Independence in the south.

The British had joined the war, on the side of the south, after the "Trent Incident" - where a Union Vessel had stopped a British vessel and forced two Confederate emissaries bound for England and France, off the ship under threat of violence. Great Britain would not stand for such a move, and as a result ignored Lincolns almost groveling, apologetic note to them.

Antietem, Gettysburg, and many other battles were lost that should have been won by the North. Such moral and militaristic losses caused the Native Americans and other border states to join the war, or other otherwise agitate.

Originally doing well along the Mississippi, with victories at Shilo Hill thanks to General Grant and the Anaconda plan, the north suffered several minor defeats that ultimately led to the loss of the great river, and the south remained united with the aide of the British.

In an effort to continue enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine in the same year, the north threatened the French with arming rebels in Mexico if the French did not leave, causing the french to join the war as a third party.

Surprisingly, the only real theatre of war the North won unequivacally was in the far north, Ontario and Quebec falling to Grant's army quickly.

By the year of 1865, despite it's industrial might and numerical superiority to the less industrial and numerically inferior South, the North was alone but for a somewhat supportive Russia. Despite the odds stacked against the Union, it was not able to strike a decicive, war ending blow against the Confederate states, and vice versa. This equal power eventually forced the two Americas to the negotiating table, where-in Britain lost Canada, Both America's agreed to abolish slavery in due time, France gave up any and all claims in Mexico, though had already installed a puppet regime there.

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That's all for now. More lore incoming soon.