as long as we're going down

I'm glad someone picked up on the parentheses thing. :D And I think you're right about the post-war era--it's almost like retirement; you're past your prime, but you get to relax more. Post-war Austria in particularly always strikes me as very bittersweet, though, simply because he was a major power for so long, and now, well, isn't.

At any rate, thank you for reading! ^_^