Peace Summary and Analysis

After twenty years of continuous war, Europe experiences a long period of peace. During this peace, the map of Europe is "redrawn" to reflect the balance among the five great powers, Russia, Britain, France, Austria and Prussia.

A "concert of Europe," a form of international congress, is formed, but disintegrates after a few years as the interests of the main powers diverge. The main powers do all agree that revolutionary movements should be contained in the interest of overall stability, however movements start that benefit on or more of the powers, they are supported. Russia and Britain both support an independence movement in Greece; however, they are at cross purposes in Turkey.

None of these tensions reach the level of international war, however. This is partly due to the relative strengths and ambitions of the major powers, Hobsbawm writes. Austria and...