Swiss you were here!

Today’s post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty.

This story on “Discovering the Civil War” appeared on the front cover of the Culture section of Switzerland’s largest newspaper

The New York Times called it “engrossing and eminently fascinating.” The Richmond Times Dispatch said “Discovering the Civil War” “isn’t your typical Civil War retrospective.” And the Neue Zurcher Zeitung called the National Archives’ newest exhibit, “einer grandiosen Ausstellung in Washington.”

Wait . . . was that German?

Yes, DCTW isn’t just making a splash in the United States, it’s big in Switzerland, too, and even got a mention in Der Spiegel, Germany’s largest paper.

Such international reviews only underscore part of what DTCW tells us about the Civil War: that it was an international affair. From the Confederate envoys sent to Europe to secure the blessing of the Pope to Chinese blockades of Confederate goods and ship raids by the CSS Alabama off the shores of South Africa, the Civil War was not just a domestic dispute.

Part one of “Discovering the Civil War” runs through September 2010. Part two, “Consequences,” opens November 2010.

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