The cause of all nations opens at the start of the us civil war with an enterprising us diplomat making a pilgrimage to visit giussepe garibaldi the mid 19th century celebrity military commander and liberal revolutionary to propose deputizing him as general in the union army the idea being that garibaldi fighting for the union would be a pr coup in the court of world opinion as both the csa and usa tried to court the world to their causes. In the cause of all nations distinguished historian don h doyle explains that the civil war was viewed abroad as part of a much larger struggle for democracy that spanned the atlantic ocean and had begun with the american and french revolutions while battles raged at bull run antietam and gettysburg a parallel contest took place abroad both in the marbled courts of power and in the public square foreign observers held widely divergent views on the war from radicals such as karl . The cause of all nations is extensively well researched and is a useful history of both the american story and european states international relations during this period above all it sets the civil war in its proper place in history as a global affirmation of self government and freedom. In the cause of all nations distinguished historian don h doyle explains that the civil war was viewed abroad as part of a much larger struggle for democracy that spanned the atlantic ocean and