Chapter VIII: How Europe Lost Its Commanding Position in the World
Chapter VIII: How Europe Lost Its Commanding Position in the World The superpowers eclipse the European nation- states. Despite the intense political rivalry among the European Great Powers, Europe in the 19th century managed to avoid the widespread destruction of the 20th century’s two World Wars. The 19th century after the end of the Napoleonic Wars was a time of relative peace compared to the 20th century. As Henry Kissinger noted in his A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 181222, European armed clashes of that century tended to be of local significance and short duration. The outcomes did not represent total defeat for the losing side. It was only later when rivalry among European states was subsumed into global competition involving continental powers, such as Russia and the US, that military conflicts assumed a total aspect. Although recurring tension and periodic clashes characterized the period after the Congress of Vienna, the major European nations never seriously contemplated the total elimination of their strongest rivals. It was tacitly accepted that competition should remain at the margins, observed Kissinger. The former US Secretary of State did not expand on this intriguing observation, beyond stating that the major 155
