Are we currently living through the longest peace that Europe has ever maintained?

by supplementwithrage
EmperorOfMeow

Well, since parts of Europe are at war right now, and then there's the Yugoslav wars... But if you're referring to wars of a major scale that involved large parts of Europe, then yes. Before the 20th century, there was a major war in Europe every 20-30 years, often between great powers. I found this list of major European wars since 1400, if you're interested.

BubblesStutter

I apologise in advance for the semi anecdotal nature of this but maybe someone else can clear it up. If we're focusing on Western Europe I recall being told of a Belgian town in which every generation had experienced an invasion of some sort from approx. 1000AD up until and including WWII, making this the longest period they've gone without being conquered. The town may have been Ghent although I am not 100% sure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent#History