Some historians will tell you that the Peace of Vienna lasted from the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, (that is, 99 years.) Some historians actually believe that. But I contend that the Peace of Vienna didn’t last that long. Instead, I contend that it lasted for about half a century.
You see, while there may not have been a general European war between 1815 and 1914, there was still lots of strife. There were many smaller wars. In the words of Russian historian Alexis Troubetzkoy:
“In the forty years preceding Crimea none of the great European powers had fought each other, but in less than twenty-five years following that struggle Europe suffered five great wars: Franco-Austrian (1859), Danish-Austro/Prussian (1864), Austro-Prussian (1866), Franco-Prussian (1870), and Russo-Turkish (1878).
With this statement in mind, the European peace was shattered, not by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, but by the Anglo-Franco-Turkish invasion of Russia in 1854.
In reality, can there really be peace until the coming of Christ? Secularists may tell you there can be, but judging by Troubetzkoy’s statement, there is most likely no chance of peace until Jesus returns.
TeawiththeDukeofWellington 