If we had a civil war again here, would Russia intervene?

[Scootaloo]

9. The British were ready to intervene for the Confederacy

The thing was the confederates had to demonstrate staying power - the British weren't going to invest in a losing cuase. The Confederates never managed that, so the British sat it out.

Which ultimately probably kept America from becoming a commonwealth state - the Confederacy's trade would have wholly relied on the British, and the northern states would be squashed against two crown dependencies and also reliant on British trade as a result, effectively resulting in a British re-acquisition of North America, if only de facto.

harry Turtledove never followed through on THAT alternate history reality