Trends Leading to PEACE
Late 19th Century Europe
La Belle Epoque
Historian John Keegan: Europe in the summer of 1914 enjoyed a peaceful productivity so dependent on international exchange and co-operation that belief in the impossibility of general war seemed the most conventional of wisdoms.
International Organizations International Telegraph Union (1865) International Postal Union (1875) International Conference for Promoting Technical Uniformity in Railways (1882)
International Organizations International Meteorological Organisation (1873) International Radiotelegraph Union (1906) International Bureau of Weights and Measures (1875) First International Copyright Conventions (1880s) First Geneva Convention (1864)
Growth of Common European Culture University graduates across Europe shared a body of knowledge Tourism became a pastime for the middle classes
One Big Happy Family? Queen Victorias Grandchildren: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany Queen Sophia of Greece King George V of Great Britain Queen Maude of Norway Tsarina Alexandra of Russia Queen Marie of Romania Queen Margaret of Sweden Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain
Tsar Nicholas II and King George V Nicky and Georgie
Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II Willy and Nicky