And then Europe — that by now famously unrobust confederation — would, in fact, meet its "historic test".
The British foreign secretary, William Hague, described the moment as a "major test, a historic test for the E.U".
This study found that R/B values for AGR test fuel are comparable to R/B obtained in historic tests.
With the refugee crisis of 2015, Europe, Chancellor Merkel (commonly referred to as "the Decider") said, was about to face its "historic test".
A historic test for the Bishnois came 250 years ago when a Maharajah sent troops to cut timber for a palace he was building.
Speaking after EU nations including Britain, Germany, Portugal and Spain, said they were throwing their weight behind his challenger, Maduro said his country was facing a historic test.
"I'm sure they'll get a great reception when they come to Scotland for the first time for this historic Test".
Appalled at the huge scale of the suffering and outraged by the narrow-mindedness of Germany's southern neighbours, she declared the moment represented "a historic test" for Europe and threw Germany's gates open.
Just as Paddy Ashdown famously asked Tony Blair, "Are you a control freak or a pluralist?", Brown would be offering Ming and his would-be successors a potentially historic test: would the Lib Dems choose progressive pluralism or purist impotence?
