What's interesting is that, during the roughly 40 years between German & Italian unification and WWI, it was one of the most peaceful times in history for Weste

What's interesting is that, during the roughly 40 years between German & Italian unification and WWI, it was one of the most peaceful times in history for Western Europe. Yes, there were wars, but they were mostly small conflicts in far away lands. However, if you look at many of the great thinkers from the era (its been a while since I studied the period, but Lord Kelvin jumps to mind first), they are extremely pessimistic and think the end of days is soon approaching.