Three wars that never happened

Abstract

This article discusses three serious wars that were averted and the three men who averted them. In 1478–79, Pope Sixtus IV's hatred of the Medici culminated in aggressive war against Florence, supported by his powerful ally King Ferrante of Naples. The initial stags of this war were indecisive, but it was about to become much more serious, probably involving all the Italian states and possibly meaning the total destruction of Florence. Lorenzo il Magnifico sailed to Naples, convinced Ferrante this more serious war was against his interests and obtained a generous peace. In 1861, the British Government responded to the boarding of a British ship by a vessel of the American North with a peremptory letter. Albert, Prince Consort, though dying of typhoid fever amended the letter to save Lincoln's face and thus averted war with the North. From 1871 to 1890, Otto von Bismarck worked for a stable peace between the European powers to be attained by arranging meetings of most or all of them to accustom them to solving disputes by negotiation. Two such meetings in Berlin secured 36 years of peace between the powers, despite many disputes, and in particular averted war for possessions in Africa, which could have involved them all.