AP® European History review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/euro/units/3/3-6)
Unit 3 · Topic 3.6
3.6 Balance of Power
After 1648, European states fought mostly over territory, trade and royal succession rather than religion. When one power, like Louis XIV's France, grew too strong, the others formed coalitions to stop it, a system called the balance of power, while the Ottomans retreated and Poland was carved up.
Key terms
- balance of power
- War of the Spanish Succession
- Treaty of Utrecht (1713)
- Siege of Vienna (1683)
- partitions of Poland
- military revolution
See it on a map: 1648: The Peace of Westphalia · 1715: After the War of the Spanish Succession
What the balance of power means
The balance of power is the idea that no single state should become strong enough to dominate the rest. If one threatened to, others joined together to check it, even if they were usually rivals. Alliances shifted often, because each state acted on raison d'état, or reason of state: the idea, associated with Richelieu, that the state's interests come before religion or loyalty. The Peace of Westphalia had made sovereign states the main players, so diplomacy became a game among them.
Containing Louis XIV
Louis XIV fought four major wars to expand France's borders, including the Dutch War (1672–1678) and the Nine Years' War (1688–1697). Each time, coalitions including the Dutch, England and the Habsburgs pushed back.
The biggest was the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714). The childless Charles II of Spain died in 1700, leaving his throne to Louis's grandson, Philip of Anjou. A united France and Spain would have overwhelmed Europe, so Britain, the Dutch and Austria formed a Grand Alliance and won major victories like Blenheim (1704).
- Treaty of Utrecht (1713) and related treaties: Philip V kept Spain and its colonies, but the French and Spanish crowns could never be united.
- Britain gained Gibraltar and Minorca from Spain, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Hudson Bay lands from France, and the asiento slave-trade contract.
- Austria gained the Spanish Netherlands and much of Spanish Italy, including Milan and Naples.
- The duke of Savoy and the elector of Brandenburg-Prussia gained recognition as kings.
Shifts in the east
The Ottoman Empire besieged Vienna in 1683 but was defeated when a relief army led by King Jan Sobieski of Poland arrived. In the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699), the Ottomans gave most of Hungary to the Austrian Habsburgs. Ottoman power in Europe slowly declined after that.
In the Great Northern War (1700–1721), Peter the Great's Russia defeated Sweden, notably at Poltava in 1709, and gained a coastline on the Baltic Sea. Russia joined the great powers, and Sweden fell back.
Poland-Lithuania was large but weak. Its nobles elected the king and used the liberum veto, which let any single member of the parliament block a decision. Neighbors meddled freely. Russia, Prussia and Austria took land in the First Partition (1772); Russia and Prussia took more in 1793; and the third partition in 1795 erased Poland from the map.
The military revolution
Historians use military revolution for the big changes in warfare from about 1550 to 1700: much larger standing (permanent) armies, drilled infantry with firearms, and huge star-shaped fortresses built to resist cannon. Sweden's Gustavus Adolphus showed the new style in the Thirty Years' War with drilled musketeers and light, mobile field guns, and Habsburg Spain and Louis XIV's France built armies far larger than before. These armies cost enormous sums, which pushed states to build bureaucracies and tax systems. Historians still debate exactly when and how fast this happened, but the link between war and state building is central.
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
Applying a concept
Short-answer practice: Explain how the War of the Spanish Succession shows the principle of the balance of power.
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: Define the balance of power briefly.
- Step 2: Describe the threat.
- Step 3: Show how the outcome restored balance.
Answer: Model answer: The balance of power means preventing any one state from dominating. When Louis XIV's grandson inherited Spain in 1700, a joint French-Spanish empire threatened to overwhelm Europe, so Britain, the Dutch and Austria allied against France. The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) let Philip V keep Spain but banned any union of the French and Spanish crowns, restoring the balance.
Common mistakes
- Saying religion still drove most wars after 1648. Territory, trade and succession were the main causes.
- Assuming alliances were permanent. States switched sides as their interests changed.
- Mixing up the partitions: Austria joined in 1772 and 1795 but not in 1793.
On the exam
- Balance-of-power reasoning comes back in the Congress of Vienna (5.7) and before World War I (7.3). Recognize the pattern.
- Map questions may show changing borders. Look for France's expansion or Poland's disappearance.
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
4 questions on 3.6 Balance of Power. Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
Britain, the Dutch Republic and Austria fought the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) mainly to
The failure of the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 was significant because it
Which of the following best explains why Poland was partitioned out of existence by 1795?
The "military revolution" of the 1500s and 1600s most directly encouraged states to
0 of 4 answered