text: Excerpt: "The England of our own days is so strong, and the Spain of our own days is so feeble, that it is not easy, without some reflection and care, to comprehend the full extent of the peril which England then ran from the power and the ambition of Spain, or to appreciate the importance of that crisis in the history of the world."
  The Battle of Blenheim, AD 1704
  Excerpt: "Had it not been for Blenheim, all Europe might at this day suffer under the effect of French conquests resembling those of Alexander in extent and those of the Romans in durability."
  The Battle of Pultowa, AD 1709
  Also called the Battle of Poltava.
  Excerpt: "The decisive triumph of Russia over Sweden at Pultowa was therefore all-important to the world, on account of what it overthrew as well as for what it established"
  Victory of the Americans over Burgoyne at Saratoga, AD 1777
  Excerpt: "The ancient Roman boasted, with reason, of the growth of Rome from humble beginnings to the greatest magnitude which the world had then ever witnessed. But the citizen of the United States is still more justly entitled to claim this praise."
  The Battle of Valmy, AD 1792
  Excerpt: "the kings of Europe, after the lapse of eighteen centuries, trembled once more before a conquering military republic."
  The Battle of Waterloo, AD 1815