Richmond, served as the capital of the Confederate States of America for the whole of the American Civil War. It was a vital source of weapons and supplies for the war effort, the terminus of five railroads; the Union made many attempts to invade Richmond. In the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, General George McClellan moved up the James River to the suburbs of the city, but was beaten back by Robert E. Lee in the Seven Days Battles. In 1864-5, General U. S. Grant laid siege to nearby Petersburg. By April 1865, the Confederate government realized the siege was over and abandoned the city lest they be captured; the retreating Confederates chose to burn military supplies rather than let them fall into Federal hands. In the 1860 United States Census, Richmond was the 25th largest urban area in the United States, with a population of 37,910; the city had been the capital of Virginia since 1780, became the third largest city in the Confederacy. The Confederate States of America was formed in early 1861 from the first states to secede from the Union.

Montgomery, was selected as the Confederate capital. After the Confederate Army fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861, beginning the Civil War, additional states seceded. Virginia voted to secede from the Union on April 17, 1861, existed thereafter as an independent republic before joining the Confederacy on June 19, 1861. However, on May 8, 1861, in the Confederate Capital City of Montgomery, the decision was made to name the City of Richmond, Virginia as the new Capital of the Confederacy. Shortly thereafter, in recognition of Virginia's strategic importance, the Confederate capital was moved to Richmond; the Seal of the Confederate States, adopted April 30, 1863, features a depiction of George Washington based on the Washington Monument adjacent to the Confederate Capitol building. Richmond remained the capital of the Confederacy until April 2, 1865, at which point the government evacuated and was re-established, albeit in Danville, Virginia. Positioned on the Fall Line along the James River, the city had ready access to an ample supply of hydropower to run mills and factories.

The Tredegar Iron Works, sprawling along the James River, supplied high-quality munitions to Confederacy during the war. The company manufactured railroad steam locomotives in the same period. Tredegar is credited with the production of 10,000 artillery pieces during the war, about half of the South's total domestic production of artillery between the war years of 1861–1865; the foundry made the 723 tons of armor plating that covered the CSS Virginia, which fought the first battle between ironclad warships in March 1862. The Tredegar works were adjacent to the Richmond Arsenal, recommissioned in the lead-up to the war. On Brown's Island, the Confederate States Laboratory was established to consolidate explosives production to an isolated setting in the eventuality of an accidental explosion. Numerous smaller factories in Richmond produced tents, uniforms and leather goods and bayonets, other war material; as the war progressed, the city's warehouses became the supply and logistical center for much of the Confederate forces within the Eastern Theater.

Richmond was a transportation hub. It was the terminus of five railroads: the Richmond and Potomac Railroad. In addition, the James River and Kanawha Canal ran through it with access to the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. At the fall of Richmond in April 1865, all but the Richmond and Danville Railroad and the canal had been cut off by Union forces. In the late spring of 1862, a large Federal army under Major General George B. McClellan landed on the Virginia Peninsula. McClellan, who had enjoyed early publicity from a series of successes in western Virginia, was assigned the task of seizing and occupying Richmond, his military maneuvers and the resulting battles and engagements became collectively known as the Peninsula Campaign, culminating in the Seven Days Battles. McClellan's starting base was the Union-held Fort Monroe at the eastern tip of the Peninsula. Efforts to take Richmond by the James River were blocked by Confederate defenses at the Battle of Drewry's Bluff on May 15, about eight miles downstream from Richmond.

The Union Army advance was halted shortly outside of the city at the Battle of Seven Pines on May 31 and June 1, 1862. Over a period of seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, Richmond's defensive line of batteries and fortifications set up under General Robert E. Lee, a daring ride around the Union Army by Confederate cavalry under General J. E. B. Stuart, an unexpected appearance of General Stonewall Jackson's famous "foot cavalry" combined to unnerve the ever-cautious McClellan, he initiated a Union retreat before Richmond; as other portions of the South were falling, the failure of the Peninsula Campaign to take Richmond led to three more years of warfare between the states. As a result of its proximity to the battlefields of the Eastern Theater and its high level of defense, the city processed many casualties of both sides: as home to numerous hospitals and various cemeteries. On March 13, 1863, the Confederate Laboratory on Brown's Island was rocked by an explosion that killed dozens of workers.

On April 2, 1863, the city was beset by a large bread riot

Jakob Kaiser was a German politician and resistance leader during World War II. Jakob Kaiser was born in Lower Franconia, Kingdom of Bavaria. Following in his father’s footsteps, Kaiser began a career as a bookbinder, it was during this time that he became politically active as a member of a Catholic trade union, through which he became a leader of the Christian labour movement during the Weimar Republic. Kaiser increased his participation in politics by becoming a member of the Centre Party, where he began serving in the role of representative chairman of Rhineland in 1919, he was elected to the Reichstag in 1933. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Hitler abolished all unions, replacing them with the Nazi controlled German Labour Front. Kaiser opposed National Socialism and he joined the resistance in 1934, he was released shortly thereafter. Through his participation in the Cologne-resistance circle, Kaiser became a close associated of the former Mayor of Leipzig, Carl Goerdeler, his relationship with Goerdeler allowed him to come into contact with Claus von Stauffenberg.

Although he was not directly informed of the 20 July Plot, his knowledge of Stauffenberg’s intention to assassinate Hitler as well as his close ties to the resistance group forced him to go into hiding for the remainder of World War II. After the war, Kaiser returned to politics and worked with Andreas Hermes to found the East Berlin division of the Christian Democratic Union, he was elected president of the Berlin CDU. Kaiser belonged to a group within the CDU called the Christian Socialists, they called for the nationalisation of some major industries. In 1946 Kaiser helped. In the same year he was elected co-chairman of the East German CDU. Although his political views were progressive, he was critical of the Communist Party of Germany and its Soviet-supported leaders, his belief that the German Congress was controlled by the Soviets resulted in his refusal to join. In 1947 during the Ahlen conference – a joint conference of West and East German CDU leaders – Kaiser's plan of nationalisation of key industries and other moderate leftwing ideas were adopted by the party.

In 1947 the Soviets forced him to resign as party chairman. However, he remained a member of the party's Executive Committee. In 1948 Kaiser was forced to leave East Berlin and he went to West Berlin where he joined the West German Christian Democratic Union. Within the CDU he became a major rival of the party leader. Kaiser disagreed with Adenauer's social market economy and called for the nationalisation of key industries. Kaiser believed in a neutral, united Germany, hoped that Germany would be a bridge between the West and the East. In 1950 Kaiser was elected chairman of the West German CDU. From 1949 until 1957 he was Minister of All-German Affairs in Adenauer's cabinet. Kaiser died on 7 May 1961 in Berlin, he is buried in the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough of Berlin. Kaiser was married twice. In 1953, after the death of his first wife, he married his longtime colleague in trade union activism, Elfriede Kaiser-Nebgen, she was instrumental in helping to save his life after the failure of the 20 July Plot.

The Jakob-Kaiser-Platz, a transportation hub in Charlottenburg-Nord, was named after him on 12 May 1961, five days after his death. The Jakob-Kaiser-Haus is home to 1,745 offices, 314 of which belong to current members of the German Bundestag East Germany West Germany Konrad Adenauer Communist Party of Germany Christian Democratic Union Christian Democratic Union in Exile Christian Democratic Union Newspaper clippings about Jakob Kaiser in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

"For a Change" is a song written by John Scott Sherrill and Steve Seskin, recorded by American country music artist Neal McCoy. It was released in December 1994 as the first single from his album You Gotta Love That; the song reached number 3 on the U. S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and peaked at number 8 on the RPM Country Tracks in Canada; the music video was directed by Marc Ball and premiered in December 1994. "For a Change" debuted at number 73 on the U. S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of December 17, 1994. American country music parody artist Cledus T. Judd released a parody of "For a Change" titled "The Change" on his 1996 album I Stoled This Record. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics