Europe Is Like an Arsenal

‘Abdu’l-Bahá reached Sacramento, California, on October 25, 1912. On the morning of the 26th, before leaving the city by train that afternoon, He spoke in the Assembly Hall of the Hotel Sacramento. Bijou Straun took the notes preserved in The Promulgation of Universal Peace.

He began with California. He had visited the Capitol and its gardens, and He hoped that, as the Capitol was distinguished above others, the people of California would become the most exalted and perfect altruists of the world. Then He spoke of peace and war. The First Balkan War had broken out earlier that month.

The issue of paramount importance in the world today is international peace. The European continent is like an arsenal, a storehouse of explosives ready for ignition, and one spark will set the whole of Europe aflame, particularly at this time when the Balkan question is before the world.

Even now, He said, war was raging in some places, innocent blood was being shed, and homes were being destroyed.

Therefore, the greatest need in the world today is international peace.

He hoped that the first flag of international peace might be raised in California. He went on to say that some believe the bounties of God have ceased, and that this is a mistaken idea:

The reality of Divinity is like unto the sun, and revelation is like unto the rays thereof.

Revelation, He said, may be likened to the rain: ever on the face of the earth somewhere rain is pouring down. The kernel of religion had become obscured and only the shell remained, and so the foundation of the religions had to be restored. This, He said, was what Bahá’u’lláh had done.

He closed with an appeal:

Therefore, it is necessary that we should cast aside all the prejudices of ignorance, discard superannuated beliefs in traditions of past ages and raise aloft the banner of international agreement.

War broke out in Europe less than two years later, in August 1914.

A retelling based on The Promulgation of Universal Peace (talk of 26 October 1912 at the Assembly Hall, Hotel Sacramento), with details of the visit from Mahmúd’s Diary. For the fuller account, see the original.

'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1922). *The Promulgation of Universal Peace*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/