european history

News Stories

President Jackson Confronts France: The Spoliations Showdown, 1834-1836

For years the issue of unpaid indemnity – otherwise known as spoliations – caused consternation among successive U.S. diplomats in Paris as the French government refused to address it.

Read More
News Stories

General Grant Encounters Terrorism in Madrid: The 1878 Attempted Regicide of King Alfonso XII

When former U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant visited Europe on a post-presidential world tour in the late 1870s political terrorism was in its nascent stage. The International Workingmen’s Association (or First International) split in 1872 between anarchist and statist factions and disbanded in 1876. After that, violence against heads of state increased.

Read More