In the years before WWI, European nations came to believe they had moved passed war. The last great war on the continent was the Napoleonic Wars that ended in 1815. They saw war as a dead relic. Progressives both in Europe and America believed they could solve all the world’s problems with diplomacy and the Progressives’ solutions. For a time, it looked as if they were correct, but WWI would shatter their beliefs and bring about an end of the Progressive movement in America.
Historically Speaking 