On April 22, 1867, the London Peace Conference convened. Representatives from more than twenty countries around the world gathered in London to discuss this extraordinary war.
Since the Anti-French War, this had been the largest war in the world in terms of the number of countries affected, the breadth of the combat zones involved, and its overall scale.
Without a doubt, it was also the war with the heaviest casualties and greatest economic losses. The combined military losses of both sides exceeded two million men, while the total economic losses of all countries surpassed two billion Divine Shields.
(Approximately one billion pounds sterling, equivalent to 7,322.38 tons of gold.)
Setting everything else aside, the casualties and economic losses alone left the nations of the world collectively speechless. Many countries had populations of less than two million; their entire nation was not even worth two billion Divine Shields.
The Russians had naturally suffered the greatest losses. Not only had their military been devastated and their domestic economy dealt a crushing blow, they had also lost cities and territory, throwing away their hard-won position as the world hegemon.
If they could do it over again, the Russians certainly would not have charged in so recklessly.
At the Paris Conference, the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been assigned to Denmark. Prussia's war of invasion against Denmark had drawn opposition from all European countries; they could have resolved the issue through more circuitous means.
Of course, the Russians were not skilled at roundabout diplomatic methods. They did not look imposing enough, nor could they display the might of Europe's overlord.
Who could have imagined that a war meant to establish their authority would instead bury the Russian Empire's grand ambitions, leaving a great empire gasping its last breath.
The negotiations descended into