I still think it’s a bit harsh to judge it as contradictory without the rest of the paper. Another valid interpretation:
“The Civil War was inevitable [given the sequence of historical events], but it didn’t have to be that way [if we hypothetically could change a couple small pivotal scenarios].”
The rest of the paper would need to support that title of course, but a catchy title that causes someone to rage-read your paper is the literary equivalent of clickbait and a time honored tradition of aspiring writers.
“The Civil War was inevitable [given the sequence of historical events], but it didn’t have to be that way [if we hypothetically could change a couple small pivotal scenarios].”
The rest of the paper would need to support that title of course, but a catchy title that causes someone to rage-read your paper is the literary equivalent of clickbait and a time honored tradition of aspiring writers.