1869

Napoleon III of France declared that there were good prospects for peace in Europe. That was despite Prussia's victory over Austria in 1866, part of Otto von Bismarck's unification of Germany. France's army was, in Napoleon's opinion, perfect, equipped with the most modern weapons, and he could therefore sit back and smoke the peace pipe. Wilhelm I of Prussia made a similar utterance, that nothing would shake the confidence of his nation. The Herald said all the great powers of Europe could "fall back in a state of repose, sleeping, it may be, but sleeping with one eye always open".