Austria regained the Tyrol, Salzburg, the Illyrian Provinces and Lombardy-Venetia, among other territories. Prussia gained Westphalia, Danzig, and much of Saxony, while dividing the Duchy of Warsaw with Russia, which also was allowed to keep Finland. Britain was confirmed in control of the Cape Colony. Each of these countries was a major power during the Napoleonic Wars and a victor in the War of the Seventh Coalition which defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. Belgium, however, was retained in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and did not gain its independence until 1830.

Woodrow Wilson saw the United States through World War I and during that time he developed his famous “Fourteen Points.” These were things that he wanted to see accomplished when the war was over that he felt would bring about peace. Wilson believed that it was critical to establish an international organization of countries to foster greater dialogue and cooperation. Wilson believed that this organization would be key to preventing future wars and conflicts. While the League of Nations was established, the United States was never a member as the Senate refused to ratify the treaty. The lack of the United States contributed to the League of Nation’s lack of effectiveness. It was eventually replaced by the United Nations.

The Treaty of Portsmouth ended that Russo-Japanese War, which lasted from 1904 until 1905 and was fought over Russia’s expansion into East Asia. The established Russian Empire was picked to win the conflict, but Japan surprisingly found military success and fought well against the Russians. This conflict was Japan’s entrance onto the world stage and established the nation as a future world power. This conflict was very unpopular in Russia and contributed to the frustration of the Russian people with the Tsar. President Theodore Roosevelt helped bring about a peace agreement by working with Japan and Russia and getting their diplomats to meet in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to settle the conflict. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in bringing about this treaty.

The Peace of Westphalia concluded the Thirty Years War, ending conflict among most of the major European states as well as many kingdoms of the Hapsburg Empire. 

President Woodrow Wilson's 14-point plan, which he presented to the assembled statesmen at the Peace of Paris following World War I, included such points as freedom of the seas, freedom of national self-determination, the guarantee of Belgian sovereignty, and a proposal for the League of Nations. It did not, however, include a proposal for the Marshall Plan, which came in the aftermath of World War II.

The League of Nations, conceived as part of Woodrow Wilson's 14-point plan, was partly intended to prevent global scale violence from breaking out again. It failed in this duty, given the rising tensions of the interwar period and, finally, the outbreak of global war again in 1939.

After the Napoleonic Wars were over an Austrian politician, Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, hosted a meeting of the major powers of Europe to decide how the redraw the map of Europe so as to avoid further wars like the Napoleonic Wars, which had brought Europe to the point of exhaustion.

The Congress of Vienna was meant to stabilize Europe by surrounding France with several powerful nations, thus discouraging them from attempting large scale military invasions like they had in the Napoleonic Wars.

The Edict of Nantes sought to end the religious wars by separating religion from public life. The reasoning behind the Edict was that if protestants and Catholics were both allowed the same universal rights regardless of religion, a secular society could be built in the aftermath of the protracted, bloody religious conflict.

The Berlin Conference and Russian Revolution both took place before the League of Nations was created. It didn't prevent the collapse of the Weimar Republic and many historians think that the lack of American support weakened the League. However, the League did emerge out of the peace following World War I.