Cotton Diplomacy: The South held a crucial advantage in the global cotton trade. Prior to the war, it supplied a majority of the world's cotton, giving it substantial economic leverage in international relations. This "Cotton Diplomacy" enabled the Confederacy to seek recognition and support from Britain and France – major industrial powers heavily dependent on Southern cotton for their textile industries. If these European nations had officially recognized the Confederacy and intervenedmilitarily, the Union's war effort would have been significantly impeded.