[x]

Lincoln could either cave into the secessionists and let the country fall apart or else take a stand, maybe a purely formal stand, in an effort to keep the country from losing its capital. That was what Buchanan left him, and war was what the secessionists gave him.

[Pelham]

So you must think that war was forced on King George 90 years earlier. George could either cave to the colonials and see his empire fall apart or else take a stand etc.

[DiogenesLamp]

Lincoln could either cave into the secessionists and let the country fall apart...

Or hold it together by force and brutality like the Soviet Union.