The Concert of Europe, which began with the 1814 Congress of Vienna, was a balance-of-power informal agreement established by Europe's great powers following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was meant to deter yet another great European war, as the continent had seen almost continuous high-intensity warfare for the last 300 years. The "first phase" of the Concert ran from 1814 until the wars of national unification, especially the rise of the German Empire. The "second phase" ran from the 1878 Congress of Berlin to 1914, with the beginning of the Great War. Much of the history of contemporary Europe can be said to be a result of this great continental struggle.
The Concert of Europe
World History - Victorian Age
1815 to 1914