Topic 3.6 Notes – Balance of Power

What the Balance of Power Was

After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, diplomacy revolved around stopping hegemony, meaning one state or dynasty dominating Europe. That did not mean all states were equal. It meant the strongest states would combine to block any power that got too strong.

This post-1648 map helps you picture the fragmented political order, especially inside the Holy Roman Empire.

Europe after the Peace of Westphalia, 1648

A few things changed after Westphalia:

• Religion mattered less as the main cause of interstate war. States still cared about religion, but rulers increasingly acted by raison d’état, or state interest.
• Sovereignty got stronger, especially for princes in the Holy Roman Empire. The emperor had less power to impose unity.
• Alliances became flexible. Catholic and Protestant states could work together if a bigger threat appeared.

What rulers wanted usually fit into three motives:

• Dynastic interests like marriages, inheritance, and disputed successions.
• State interests like strong borders, buffer zones, ports, trade routes, and avoiding encirclement.
• Imperial interests like colonies, naval power, and overseas trade.

The exam loves this distinction. The balance of power limited conquest more than it prevented war.

Louis XIV and How Anti-French Coalitions Worked

France became Europe’s strongest continental power after 1648. It had a huge population, a centralized state, a strong economy, and a large army. Under Louis XIV, that strength kept triggering coalitions against France.

Dutch War

In 1672 to 1678, Louis attacked the Dutch Republic to weaken a commercial rival and push French power toward the Rhine.

• William of Orange led Dutch resistance.
• The Dutch flooded land to slow the French invasion.
• Spain, the emperor, and German states joined against France.
• The Treaties of Nijmegen gave France gains such as Franche-Comté, but also showed that expansion would bring opposition.

Nine Years’ War

In 1688 to 1697, France fought the League of Augsburg, also called the Grand Alliance.

• Coalition members included England, the Dutch Republic, Spain, the emperor, and German princes.
• William of Orange became William III of England after the Glorious Revolution, which strengthened the anti-French side.
• The Treaty of Ryswick checked French expansion.

War of the Spanish Succession

This was the clearest balance-of-power crisis. When Charles II of Spain died childless in 1700, Philip of Anjou, Louis XIV’s grandson, inherited Spain. Europe feared a Bourbon union of France and Spain.

• War lasted 1701 to 1714.
• Grand Alliance included England, the Dutch Republic, Austria, and German states.
• Key commanders were Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy.

The settlements at Utrecht, Rastatt, and Baden reshaped the map of western and central Europe.

Europe after the Peace of Utrecht, 1713

They did three major things:

• Philip V kept Spain, but the French and Spanish crowns could not unite.
• Austria gained the Spanish Netherlands, Milan, Naples, and Sardinia.
• Britain gained Gibraltar, Minorca, Acadia, Newfoundland, Hudson Bay claims, and the asiento.

Utrecht is the classic balance-of-power treaty because it accepted a dynasty but blocked hegemony.

Shifting Alliances and Great-Power Rivalry in the Eighteenth Century

After Louis XIV, the main powers were Britain, France, Austria, Prussia, and Russia.

• War of the Austrian Succession (1740 to 1748) began when Frederick II of Prussia seized Silesia after Maria Theresa inherited Habsburg lands. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle confirmed Prussian control. That made Prussia a major power.
• The Diplomatic Revolution of 1756 flipped alliances. Austria allied with France, Britain allied with Prussia, and Russia opposed Prussia. This is a great example of strategy beating ideology.
• In the Seven Years’ War (1756 to 1763), Prussia fought Austria, France, Russia, and others in Europe. It survived partly because Peter III pulled Russia out.
• Globally, Britain and France fought in North America, India, the Caribbean, West Africa, and at sea. The Treaty of Hubertusburg kept Silesia Prussian. The Treaty of Paris made Britain the top colonial and naval power.

In the north and east:

• The Great Northern War weakened Sweden and raised Russia. Poltava and the Peace of Nystad were key.
• The Battle of Vienna in 1683 stopped Ottoman westward expansion. The Treaty of Karlowitz gave Austria major gains in Hungary.

Military Revolution and Why Some States Won

Diplomacy only worked if states had the power to back it up. The military revolution changed who could compete.

• Infantry and firearms became more important than armored cavalry.
• Pike-and-shot formations gave way to flintlock muskets and socket bayonets.
• Mobile cannon and coordinated fire made armies deadlier.
• Trace italienne star forts made sieges central. Vauban is the key name here.
• States built larger standing armies with drill, uniforms, officers, and supply systems.

A star fort plan like this helps show why fortifications became such a big part of early modern warfare.

Trace italienne star fort

This favored fiscal-military states, governments able to tax, borrow, and build bureaucracy.

Poland-Lithuania shows the opposite. Its elected monarchy, powerful nobility, Sejm, and liberum veto blocked reform, taxation, and military strength. Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned it in 1772, 1793, and 1795, wiping Poland off the map.