The Balance of Power in Europe

The theory of balance of power was the prime factor in determining the political moves of European nations during the war. Before the war, Louis XIV and William of Orange had tried to find a solution to the succession problem of Charles II that would keep the balance of power between the great powers in Europe stable. European leaders feared Louis XIV’s designs on the continent and wanted to prevent him from gaining enough power to upset the balance. Different nations had different reasons for fighting Louis, but they shared the common fear of French, more properly Bourbon, dominance.

The War of Spanish Succession came about because Charles II’s death upset the balance of power between Europe’s two great families, the Bourbons and the Hapsburgs. With the chance that either family could control Spain, the nations of Europe picked sides based on both national interest and a desire to maintain the balance of power. England sided with the Catholic Hapsburgs because William of Orange feared French designs on the United Provinces. Protestant Bavaria sided with Catholic France because they saw a chance to break away from the Hapsburgs. While these actions were in the interests of the states, they contributed to the greater balance of power in Europe. Prussia supported the Austrians in return for the Holy Roman Emperor making Prussia a kingdom.

The location of the fighting saws a lot about the true aims of this war: most of the important fighting took place outside of Spain between France and the Grand Alliance. The Spanish succession crisis was simply the spark that ignited the larger conflict for European dominance. The focus of the war was on Louis, not Phillip, because Louis was the true threat to the balance of power in Europe. The allies saw a chance to change that through this war and so they did. By the end of the war the balance of power in Europe had shifted. France no longer dominated the continent. Britain was becoming increasingly powerful, as was Austria. This marked shift away from French dominance demonstrates that this war was really more about the balance of power than the Spanish throne. The eighteenth century would belong to Britain, as the seventeenth had to France, and the sixteenth to Spain.