跨大西洋视角下的“特伦特号”事件与内战初期的美英危机外交

The Trent Affair and the Crisis Diplomacy between the United States and Great Britain during the Civil War

1861年秋天,南部同盟特使詹姆斯·梅森和约翰·斯莱德尔乘坐的英国邮轮“特伦特号”在巴哈马附近海面被美国海军截获,美国海军在带走梅森和斯莱德尔后将邮轮放行。这一事件在大西洋两岸引起轩然大波,美英两国围绕“特伦特号”事件进行了紧张的危机外交。最终,“特伦特号”事件以美国释放梅森和斯莱德尔而告终。这是一个双赢的结果:英国在国际社会赢得了面子,大英帝国貌似依然神圣不可侵犯;而美国则赚足了里子,在“特伦特号”事件的外交交涉中,英国的政治家要求美国释放两位特使的依据,恰恰是自杰斐逊时代开始美国一直在争取的海上中立权利。更为重要的是,“特伦特号”事件的和平解决,排除了英国对美国内战可能的干预,为美国联邦政府平定叛乱创造了良好的外部环境。

In the fall of 1861,the British cruise ship Trent which the Confederate envoys James Mason and John Slidell were on board were intercepted by the United States Navy off the coast of the Bahamas.The US Navy released Trent after taking Mason and Slidell.The incident caused an uproar on both sides of the Atlantic,and the United States and Britain engaged in tense crisis diplo⁃macy over the Trent affair.This case ended with the release of Mason and Slidell by the United States.It was a win-win result:Brit⁃ain won face in the international community.The British Empire seemed still sacred.But in the diplomatic negotiations over the Trent affair,British politicians demanded the release of the two envoys on the basis that the right to maritime neutrality that the United States had been fighting for since Jefferson times,which had earned the United States a good deal.More importantly,the peaceful settlement of the Trent affair ruled out possible British intervention in the American Civil War.It created a good external environment for assessing rebellion.