“The Battle of Sedan in 1870 sealed the fate of the French Emperor” [Napolean III]: - “this false and boastful monarch suffered in the end, and till his death, the same exile as that which, in the case of Bahá’u’lláh, he had so heartlessly ignored”

The significance of the somber and pregnant words uttered by Bahá’u’lláh in His second Tablet was soon revealed. He who was actuated in provoking the Crimean War by his selfish desires, who was prompted by a personal grudge against the Russian Emperor, who was impatient to tear up the Treaty of 1815 in order to avenge the disaster of Moscow, and who sought to shed military glory over his throne, was soon himself engulfed by a catastrophe that hurled him in the dust, and caused France to sink from her preeminent station among the nations to that of a fourth power in Europe.

The Battle of Sedan in 1870 sealed the fate of the French Emperor. The whole of his army was broken up and surrendered, constituting the greatest capitulation hitherto recorded in modern history. A crushing indemnity was exacted. He himself was taken prisoner. His only son, the Prince Imperial, was killed, a few years later, in the Zulu War. The Empire collapsed, its program unrealized. The Republic was proclaimed. Paris was subsequently besieged and capitulated. “The terrible Year” marked by civil war, exceeding in its ferocity the Franco-German War, followed. William I, the Prussian king, was proclaimed German Emperor in the very palace which stood as a “mighty monument and symbol of the power and pride of Louis XIV, a power which had been secured to some extent by the humiliation of Germany.” Deposed by a disaster “so appalling that it resounded throughout the world,” this false and boastful monarch suffered in the end, and till his death, the same exile as that which, in the case of Bahá’u’lláh, he had so heartlessly ignored. 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

The amazing timing of the Báb’s “captivity amid the mountain fastnesses of Ádhirbayján” and Persia’s affliction “with a sudden reverse of fortune, such as he had never known before and which struck at the very foundations of his State.”

No sooner had Muhammad Sháh condemned the Báb to captivity amid the mountain fastnesses of Ádhirbayján than he became afflicted with a sudden reverse of fortune, such as he had never known before and which struck at the very foundations of his State. Appalling disaster surprised his forces that were engaged in maintaining internal order throughout the provinces.  The standard of rebellion was hoisted in Khurásán, and so great was the consternation provoked by that rising that the projected campaign of the Sháh to Hirát was immediately abandoned. Hájí Mírzá Aqásí’s recklessness and prodigality had fanned into flame the smouldering fires of discontent, had exasperated the masses and encouraged them to stir up sedition and mischief. The most turbulent elements in Khurásán that inhabited the regions of Quchán, Bujnurd, and Shíraván leagued themselves with the Salar, son of the Asifu’d-Dawlih, the elder maternal uncle of the Sháh and governor of the province, and repudiated the authority of the central government. Whatever forces were despatched from the capital met with immediate defeat at the hands of the chief instigators of the rebellion. Ja’far-Qulí Khán-i-Namdar and Amír Arslán Khán, son of the Salar, who conducted the operations against the forces of the Sháh, displayed the utmost cruelty and, having repulsed the attacks of the enemy, mercilessly put their captives to death. 

- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

1989: Appointment of First European Bahá’í Youth Council

20 October 1989

To all National Spiritual Assemblies in Europe

Announce appointment first European Bahá’í Youth council with following members: Onno Frank van Bekkum, Morten Bergsmo, Nadi Hofmann, Alessandra Lanfranconi, John McGill, Bahiyyih Tahzib, Robert Weinberg.

Duties Council will include coordination those activities European Bahá’í Youth having continental impact; assistance and advice to Continental Board of Counselors, National Spiritual Assemblies and National Bahá’í Youth Committees on matters related to Bahá’í youth activities; representation of European Bahá’í youth on continental basis with non-Bahá’í youth groups and other agencies.

First full meeting Council scheduled for weekend 4 to 6 November 1989 in London.

Hail this new development Bahá’í youth work, eagerly anticipate great enhancement potential for promotion Faith throughout continent. Praying Holy Shrines outpouring divine bounties confirm initial steps assumption

highly meritorious tasks.

The Universal House of Justice

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)