Excerpt from Europe: Since 1870 The author has attempted an outline of the history of Europe in the last fifty years, an era which began with the victories of the Germans in 1870 and ended with the destruction of their empire. N 0 period can be more interesting to the present student of events. The history of Europe during this half century was, indeed, the larger part of the history of all of the world, for most of the world's population was controlled by European powers or else associated with them and directly affected by their fate. The events of this time have touched the lives and the fortunes of most men and women now living. Successive years were thronged with vast developments and crowded with a multitude of per sons and events, the story moving like some drama on to its tragic end. Whether we wish it or not, the present and the future must be filled with great problems arising from this era, to be understood only in connection with it. Into con sideration of these problems we here in the United States are destined to be ever more nearly drawn. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.