Answer:
Before the Civil War, the South thought that European countries that needed cotton would assist them.
Explanation:
Once the war with the United States began, the chances of survival of the Confederation went through the support and military intervention of France and Great Britain.
The Confederates thought that the United Kingdom would support them to obtain cotton, they even used a phrase that they proclaimed, "cotton is king". Later it would be shown that they were wrong, as British merchants in 1861 had large stores of cotton and could also get more cotton from the crops of India and Egypt, while the food supply in Britain depended much more on wheat and barley that were imported from the United States.
The best chance for the official recognition of the Confederation by the United Kingdom occurred after the Second Battle of Manassas, when the British government prepared to mediate the conflict, but the victory of the Union in the Battle of Antietam and Lincoln's proclamation of emancipation, together with internal opposition, caused the government of Great Britain to stay out of the conflict; In fact, diplomatic recognition of the slave Confederation in Europe was unfeasible as the British and French had advocated for the emancipation of black slaves for so long.
