It is only after a great war of destruction, a day of Yahweh's great judgment, that the dominion of God will begin " (Bousset).
The signing of the peace of Teschen, which averted a great war with Prussia, on the 13th of May 1779, was the last great act of her reign, and so Maria Theresa judged it to be in a letter to Prince Kaunitz; she said that she had now finished her life's journey and could sing a for she had secured the repose of her people at whatever cost to herself.
In every great war we find them ranged on opposite sides, except when superior force constrained both.
The Great War must have taught us all that a calm and sensible discussion of all our differences is possible."
During the last five years of the great war it was Mazarin alone who directed the French diplomacy of the period.
