How did the concept of "balance of power" fuel the European wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth century?
What will be an ideal response?
Answers will vary. Two pivotal ideas that played into the wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were the balance of power, the idea that the European states should have power more or less equitably distributed among them, and the diplomatic revolution, which saw shifts in various alliances between the players in the war games of the time. Several key examples of this include the War of the League of Augsburg, in which various states came together to oppose the expansionist plans of Louis XIV of France, including England, Austria, the Netherlands, and Spain. Later, several of those participants came together to block Louis again in the War of the Spanish Succession. The concept of balance of power was tested again with Prussia's challenge of Maria Theresa's rule of Austria, with Prussia taking Silesia to ensure she did not threaten their territory. In the Great Northern Wars, participants included Peter the Great of Russia versus Sweden for control of the Baltics, which would allow Russia to participate in European politics. Catherine the great also participated in the balance of power when she joined an alliance with Austria and Prussia to divide Poland between them in 1772. The combination of the wars of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great indeed brought Russia into the European orbit of power players and statebuilders. Finally, the Seven Years' War utilized the diplomatic revolution as Prussia and Austria fought again, but this time with the inversion of alliances, as England and France switched sides as this best suited their individual goals.
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