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{{Short description|International relations doctrine}}
The '''European balance of power''' is a tenet in [[international relations]] that no single power should be allowed to achieve [[hegemony]] over a substantial part of Europe. During much of the [[Modern Age]], the balance was achieved by having a small number of ever-changing [[alliances]] contending for power,<ref>René Albrecht-Carrié, ''A Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna'' (1958), 736pp; a basic introduction, [https://archive.org/details/diplomatichistor0000albr_b4c1 online free to borrow]</ref> which culminated in the [[World Wars]] of the early 20th century.

==History==
===Antiquity to Crusades===
The emergence of city-states (''[[poleis]]'') in [[ancient Greece]] marks the beginning of [[classical antiquity]]. The two most important Greek cities, the [[Ionians|Ionian]]-democratic [[Athens]] and the [[Dorians|Dorian]]-aristocratic [[Sparta]], led [[Greco-Persian Wars|the successful defense of Greece]] against the invading [[Persians]] from the east, but then clashed against each other for supremacy in the [[Peloponnesian War]]. The [[Kingdom of Macedon]] took advantage of the following instability and [[league of Corinth|established a single rule over Greece]]. Desire to form a [[universal monarchy]] brought [[Alexander the Great]] to annex the entire [[Persian Empire]] and begin a [[hellenization]] of the Macedonian possessions. At his death in 323 BC, his reign was divided between his [[Diadochi|successors]] and several [[hellenistic kingdoms]] were formed.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1177/1354066107076951 | title=Testing Balance-of-Power Theory in World History | date=2007 | last1=Wohlforth | first1=William C. | last2=Little | first2=Richard | last3=Kaufman | first3=Stuart J. | last4=Kang | first4=David | last5=Jones | first5=Charles A. | last6=Tin-Bor Hui | first6=Victoria | last7=Eckstein | first7=Arthur | last8=Deudney | first8=Daniel | last9=Brenner | first9=William L. | journal=European Journal of International Relations | volume=13 | issue=2 | pages=155–185 | s2cid=145419574 | doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[Roman Empire|Rome]] expanded into the whole of [[Roman expansion in Italy|Italy]] around the same period and then [[Rise of Rome|rose]] to prominence in the western and [[Eastern Mediterranean]] through the [[Punic wars|Punic]] and [[Macedonian wars]], but was then shaken by a [[Crisis of the Roman Republic|century-long political crisis]]. Meanwhile, the popularity and wealth of Roman generals increased:  notably [[Julius Caesar]] acquired fame for projecting military power north of the [[Alps]] into [[Gaul]], east of the [[Rhine]] into [[Germania]] and across the [[English Channel]] into [[Roman Britain|Britain]]. A group of senators afraid of Caesar's title of ''[[dictator for life]]'' assassinated him on the [[Ides of March]] of 44 BC. The adoptive son of Caesar, [[Octavian Augustus]], defeated the killers of his father and became the first [[Roman Emperor]] (''[[Princeps]]'') in 27 BC.<ref>Daniel Deudney, "'A Republic for Expansion': The Roman Constitution and Empire and Balance-of-Power Theory." ''The Balance of Power in World History'' (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2007) pp. 148–175. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/William_Wohlforth/publication/266574529_The_Balance_of_Power_in_World_History/links/54b3c2910cf26833efcecd4f.pdf#page=159 online]</ref>

The [[Roman Empire]] peaked during the [[Pax Romana]], stagnated during the [[crisis of the third century]] AD and ultimately [[Greek East and Latin West|split]] between the [[Western Roman Empire|Latin West]] and the [[Byzantine Empire|Greek East]]. Both parts of the Empire abandoned pagan [[polytheism]] in order to [[Edict of Milan|tolerate]] monotheistic [[Christianity]] and finally [[Edict of Thessalonica|make it the state religion]]. The West [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|collapsed around 476]], following centuries of [[Migration Period|attacks by Germanic and Slavic peoples]] and several [[Barbarian kingdoms|"barbarian" kingdoms]] were established on its former territory. The East continued to be ruled by the [[Byzantine Empire]] for an additional thousand years.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

Among the successor kingdoms in the West, that of the [[Francia|Franks]] was the largest, and under [[Charlemagne]] managed to unite most of present-day France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Low Countries and Italy under one rule: he was subsequently crowned [[Holy Roman Emperor]] the day of Christmas in 800 by [[Pope Leo III]]. Meanwhile, the [[Iberian -Peninsula]] fell under [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|Muslim]] control. The beginning of the [[Reconquista]] of Christian forces is traditionally dated to the [[Battle of Covadonga]] (718 or 722), in which an [[Kingdom of Asturias|Asturian]] army achieved the first Christian victory over the forces of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] since the beginning of the military invasion.<ref>{{harvnb|Collins|1989|p=147}}; {{harvnb|Reilly|1993|pp=75–76}}; {{harvnb|Deyermond|1985|p=346}}; {{harvnb|Hillgarth|2009|p=66 n. 28}}</ref> Its culmination came in 1492 with the [[Granada War#Last stand at Granada|fall of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada]] to the united Spanish Crown of [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] and [[Isabella I of Castile]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/balance-of-power |title= Balance of power INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS |publisher= Encyclopaedia Britannica | access-date= June 8, 2019 }}</ref> The Germanic Emperor (Holy Roman Emperor) and the [[Roman Pontiff]] (Pope in Rome) came to be known as the [[universal power]]s of Europe, but then entered in conflict during the [[investiture controversy]] and the [[guelphs and ghibellines|clash between their factions]]. Their rivalry made possible the birth of autonomous [[Italian city-states|city-states in northern Italy]] and the rise of an independent [[feudal monarchy]] in France under the [[House of Capet]]. Around the same period, the [[Norsemen|Norse]] was taking place with the [[Norman Conquest of England]] happening in 1066 and [[Kingdom of Sicily|that of Sicily]] in 1130. With the [[Holy Land]] lost to Islam and the Byzantine Empire seeking help from [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], the Pope initiated the [[crusades]] against Muslims in an attempt to restore Christian unity following the [[East–West Schism|Eastern Schism]] of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] from the Catholics.<ref>Bryce Lyon, ''Medieval Constitutionalism: A Balance of Power'' (1961).</ref>

Most of the crusades did not achieve their objective, but some of them had a massive impact on the political and economic landscape of Europe: the [[First Crusade]] (1099) re-opened the trade routes in the Mediterranean and ushered the [[commercial revolution]]; the [[Fourth Crusade]] (1204) resulted in the formation of the [[Venetian Empire|Venetian maritime empire]]; and the Sixth Crusade (1228) temporarily made [[Frederick I of Sicily|Frederick II]], heir of both the [[Kingdom of Sicily]] and the [[Holy Roman Empire]], also [[King of Jerusalem]]. At the same time, was taking place in the Iberian Peninsula and the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]], [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] and [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]] were formed. A vast part of the French nobility took part in the crusades under the leadership of their king: this made possible the formation of a strong centralized French monarchy. The rise of medieval France began with the [[Battle of Bouvines]] (1214) and the [[Avignon Papacy]] (1309) but ended with the outbreak of the [[Hundred Years' War]] (1337) with England and the [[War of the Eight Saints|return of the papacy to Rome]] (1378). After Europe recovered from the [[Black Death]], the [[goldsmith]] [[Johannes Gutenberg]] invented the movable-type printing press, which started the [[Printing Revolution]]. A [[Renaissance]] in art and science began in Italy and spread to the rest of the continent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Renaissance {{!}} Definition, Meaning, History, Artists, Art, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance |access-date=2023-08-12 |website= Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

===Crusades to Westphalia===
{{Main|European wars of religion|French–Habsburg rivalry}}
Portugal formed the first European colonial empire in 1415 with the [[conquest of Ceuta]]. In 1453, the French expelled the [[Battle of Castillon|English from their land]], and the [[Ottoman Turks]] [[Fall of Constantinople|conquered Constantinople]], initiating the dominance of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in Europe. At the end of the 15th century, following the marriage of [[Isabella I of Castile]] and [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] Spain was [[Dynastic union|dynastically unified]] and ''Reconquista'' concluded successfully. Portugal and Spain, followed by France and England, ushered in the [[Age of Discovery]]. During the early 16th century, France and the [[House of Habsburg]] clashed during the [[Italian Wars]]. In 1519, [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V of Habsburg]], already Duke of Burgundy, King of Spain, and Archduke of Austria, became Holy Roman Emperor. After the defeat in the [[Battle of Pavia]], [[Francis I of France]] allied with the [[Muslims|Muslim]] Ottoman [[sultan]] [[Suleiman the Magnificent]]. After the [[Fall of Tenochtitlan|annexation of the Aztec Empire]] and [[Battle of Cajamarca|conquest of the Incas]], Emperor Charles used the gold and silver coming from the Americas to finance the defence of his German territories in Austria from the Ottoman Empire ([[Siege of Vienna (1529)|Siege of Vienna]]) and of his Italian territories in the [[Duchy of Milan]] from France ([[Battle of Pavia]]). In response, European rival states sanctioned [[privateers]] to raid Spanish or Portuguese ships full of gold and silver, most especially in the [[Piracy in the Caribbean|Caribbean]]. Ultimately, Charles V conceded the [[Peace of Augsburg]] and abandoned his multi-national project with a series of abdications in 1556 that divided his hereditary and imperial domains between the Spanish Habsburgs, headed by his son [[Philip II of Spain]], and the [[Habsburg monarchy|Austrian Habsburgs]], headed by his brother [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand]]. Ferdinand had been Archduke of Austria in Charles's name since 1521 and the designated successor as emperor [[1531 Imperial election|since 1531]].<ref name="auto2">{{Cite book |last=Kanski |first=Jack J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GwV_DwAAQBAJ&q=Ferdinand+archduke+of+austria+1521&pg=PA50 |title=History of the German speaking nations |date=2019 |publisher=Troubador Publishing |isbn=978-1789017182 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite book |title=The Holy Roman Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arSYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |last1=Pavlac |first1=Brian A. |last2=Lott |first2=Elizabeth S. |year=2019 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn = 978-1440848568|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Peter H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7wodBQAAQBAJ&q=1556+Austrian+Habsburgs+Soanish+Habsburgs&pg=PR17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407035154/https://books.google.com/books?id=7wodBQAAQBAJ&q=1556+Austrian+Habsburgs+Soanish+Habsburgs&pg=PR17 |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 April 2022 |title=The Thirty Years War, a sourcebook |date=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1137069771 |language=en }}</ref>

The papacy launched the [[Catholic revival]] in an attempt to halt the growth of Protestantism and [[Ottoman wars in Europe|Ottoman expansion]]. Despite some successes, such as the [[Battle of Lepanto (1571)]] and the [[Siege of Paris (1590)]], the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|Anglo-Spanish War]] and the [[Long Turkish War]] questioned the Catholic ambitions. Ultimately, the papacy lost its status and influence with the [[Thirty Years' War]] (1618–1648) where the catholic French empire allied with the Protestant nations to defeat the Habsburg alliance. The Thirty Years War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history. Fought primarily in [[Central Europe]], an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle, famine, and disease, while some areas of what is now modern Germany experienced population declines of over 50%.{{Sfn|Parker|1984|p=189}} Related conflicts include the [[Eighty Years' War]], the [[War of the Mantuan Succession]], the [[Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)|Franco-Spanish War]], the [[Dutch-Portuguese War]] and the [[Portuguese Restoration War]]. Many Protestant states also experienced a golden age: the newly independent Netherlands formed the [[Dutch East India Company]] in [[Indonesia]]; Sweden formed [[Swedish Empire|an empire in northern Europe]]; and England began the [[English colonization of the Americas|colonization of North America]]. By the [[Treaty of Westphalia]] at the end of the Thirty Years' War, the Holy Roman Empire became a more decentralized entity in which constituent states, such as Prussia (which also had lands outside the Empire), were allowed to pursue their own foreign policy independent of that of the Austrian Habsburg Emperor. The Austrian Habsburgs also controlled some states outside of the Holy Roman Empire. It was France under [[Louis XIV]] who took the status of main continental power from the Habsburgs thanks to the [[Treaty of Westphalia]] and the [[Treaty of the Pyrenees]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ehne.fr/en/article/europe-europeans-and-world/organizing-international-system/european-balance-power |title= The European Balance of Power |publisher= EHNE | author=Éric Schnakenbourg, Fabrice Jesne | access-date= June 8, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/balance-of-power |title= Balance of power INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS |publisher= Encyclopaedia Britannica | access-date= June 8, 2019 }}</ref>

===Stately quadrille===
{{see also|Guarantor of the imperial constitution}}
In the 16th and 17th centuries, [[Kingdom of England|English]] and [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]] [[foreign policy]] strove to prevent a creation of a single [[universal monarchy]] in Europe, which many<ref>{{cite book |last1=MacKenzie |first1=Philip |title=Equilibrium: An Analysis of the Balance of Power Between European Nations |date=1996 |publisher=Granger Press |location=New York |page=275}}</ref> believed France or Spain might attempt to create. To maintain the balance of power, the English and Dutch made alliances with other [[State (polity)|states]]—including [[History of Portugal (1640–1777)|Portugal]] and the Holy Roman Empire—to counter the perceived threat. These [[Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)|Grand Alliances]] reached their height in the wars against [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] and [[Louis XV of France]]. They often involved the English (later the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]]) and Dutch paying large subsidies to European allies to finance large armies.

In the 18th century, this led to the [[stately quadrille]], with the major European powers of that century—[[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]], [[Prussia]], [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]], and [[Early modern France|France]]—[[Diplomatic Revolution|changing alliances]] multiple times to prevent the hegemony of one nation or alliance. A number of wars stemmed, at least in part, from the desire to maintain the balance of power, including the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], [[War of the Austrian Succession]], the [[Seven Years' War]], the [[War of the Bavarian Succession]] and the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. Following [[Great Britain in the Seven Years' War|Britain's success in the Seven Years' War]] during which it was allied with Prussia, many of the other powers began to see Great Britain as a greater threat than France. Several states, most particularly France, entered the [[American War of Independence]] in the hope of overturning Britain's growing strength by securing the independence [[Thirteen Colonies|of the Thirteen colonies]] of [[British America]].<ref>John R. Davis, "Britain and the European balance of power." ''A companion to nineteenth-century Britain'' (2004): 34+ [http://www.blc.arizona.edu/courses/schaffer/249/History/Blackwell%20Compan%2019h%20Century%20%20Britain.pdf#page=53 online]</ref>

===19th century===
{{See also|International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)|Pax Britannica}}
[[File:Europe 1815 map en.png|thumb|The national boundaries within Europe set by the [[Congress of Vienna]]]]
After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, during which France directly or indirectly controlled much of Europe except for Russia, and the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, the [[Concert of Europe]] tried to maintain the balance of power. The territorial boundaries agreed to by the victorious Great Powers (Prussia, Austria, Russia and Great Britain) at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 were maintained, and even more important there was an acceptance of the theme of balance with no major aggression.<ref>Gordon Craig, "The System of Alliances and the Balance of Power." in J.P.T. Bury, ed., ''The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 10: The Zenith of European Power, 1830–70 '' (1960) p 266.</ref> Otherwise the Congress system says historian Roy Bridge, "failed" by 1823.<ref>Roy Bridge, "Allied Diplomacy in Peacetime: The Failure of the Congress 'System,' 1815–23" in Alan Sked, ed., ''Europe's Balance of Power, 1815–1848'' (1979), pp 34–53</ref> In 1818, the British decided not to become involved in continental issues that did not directly affect them. They rejected the plan of Tsar Alexander I to suppress future revolutions. The Concert system fell apart as the common goals of the Great Powers were replaced by growing political and economic rivalries.<ref>C.W. Crawley, "International Relations, 1815–1830" in C.W. Crawley, ed., ''The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume 9, War and Peace in an Age of Upheaval, 1793–1830. Vol. 9'' (1965) pp 669–71, 676–77, 683–86.</ref> Artz says the Congress of Verona in 1822 "marked the end."<ref>Frederick B. Artz, ''Reaction & Revolution: 1814–1832'' (1934) p 170.</ref> There was no Congress called to restore the old system during the great [[Revolutions of 1848|revolutionary upheavals of 1848]] with their demands for revision of the Congress of Vienna's frontiers along national lines.<ref>Paul W. Schroeder, ''The Transformation of European Politics: 1763–1848'' (1996) p 800.</ref>

Britain, with its naval, maritime, commercial and financial dominance, was committed to the European balance of power after 1815.<ref>John R. Davis, "Britain and the European Balance of Power," in Chris Williams, ed., ''A Companion to Nineteenth‐Century Britain'' (2004) pp 34–52.</ref> Between the 1830s and 1850, Britain and France were the strongest powers in Europe, but by the 1850s they had become deeply concerned by the growing power of Russia, which had expanded westward towards Central Europe, and Prussia, which was increasingly assuming greater control and influence over the German lands, aside from Austria. The [[Crimean War]] of 1854–55 and the [[Second Italian War of Independence|Italian War of 1859]] shattered the relations among the Great Powers in Europe.<ref>René Albrecht-Carrié, ''A diplomatic history of Europe since the Congress of Vienna'' (1958) pp 65–68, 84–106.</ref>

The creation in 1871 and rise of the Prussian-led [[German Empire]] (excluding Austria) as a dominant nation (Prussia had quickly defeated both Austria and France in wars) restructured the European balance of power. For the next twenty years, [[Otto von Bismarck]] managed to maintain the balance of power, by proposing treaties and creating many complex alliances between the European nations such as the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]].<ref>Erich Eyck, ''Bismarck and the German Empire'' (1964) pp 58–68</ref><ref>René Albrecht-Carrié, ''A diplomatic history of Europe since the Congress of Vienna'' (1958) pp 163–206.</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.grin.com/document/346845 |title= The Balance of Power. A System of Peace in European International Politics Case Example: Congress of Vienna 1814/1815 |date= 2 December 2016 |publisher= GRIN | access-date= June 8, 2019 }}</ref>

===World Wars===
[[File:Map Europe alliances 1914-en.svg|thumb|Formal and informal military and diplomatic connections in 1914 {{legend|#83be58|[[Triple Entente]]}}{{legend|#b0a336|[[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]]}}]]
After 1890, the German Emperor [[Wilhelm II|Kaiser Wilhelm II]] set out on his imperialist course of [[Weltpolitik]] ("world politics") to increase the empire's influence in and control over the world.<ref>Christopher Clark, ''Kaiser Wilhelm II'' (2000) pp 35–47</ref><ref>John C.G. ''Wilhelm II: the Kaiser's personal monarchy, 1888–1900'' (2004).</ref> Newly created alliances were proven to be fragile, something that triggered the [[First World War]] in 1914 with Germany and Austria-Hungary on one-side against Great Britain, France, Italy and Russia (until 1917) on the other.<ref>{{citation | first=Diethher |last=Raff | title=History of Germany from the Medieval Empire to the Present | year=1988 | pages=34–55, 202–206}}</ref> One of the objectives of the [[Treaty of Versailles]], the main post-World War I treaty, was to abolish the dominance of the 'Balance of Power' concept and replace it with the (global) [[League of Nations]] and to form countries based mostly on ethnicity (although the diminished Austria containing only its German-speaking lands and the majority-German areas of the Czech lands were not permitted to join Germany).

This idea floundered as Europe split into three principal factions in the 1920s and 1930s: [[liberal democracy|liberal democratic]] states led by the UK and France, [[communist]] states led by the [[Soviet Union]], and [[authoritarian nationalism|authoritarian nationalists]] led by [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] and [[Kingdom of Italy#Fascist regime (1922–1943)|Italy]]. The failure of the democratic states to prevent the advance of Nazi Germany ultimately led to the [[Second World War]], which led to a temporary alliance between the UK and the Soviets. The UK did not condemn the [[Soviet invasion of Poland]] in 1939, but declared war on Germany. Later, they sided with the Soviet Union against Germany after the [[Operation Barbarossa|Axis invasion of the Soviet Union]].

===Post-World War II: Cold War period===
During the post-Second World War era, the Allies split into two blocs, a balance of power emerged among the [[Eastern Bloc]] (affiliated with the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[Socialism|Socialist]] nations of [[Central and Eastern Europe]], [[Central Asia]], and the [[Caucasus]]), the [[Western Bloc]] (affiliated with the [[Western world|Western]] [[Democracy|democracies]], particularly [[French Fourth Republic|France]], the [[United States]], and the [[United Kingdom]]), and neutral or non-aligned countries (including [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Sweden]], [[Switzerland]], [[Austria]], and [[Yugoslavia]]), with German lands divided up between them respectively as [[East Germany]] and [[West Germany]] until [[Fall of the Berlin Wall|1989]]. Most Western Bloc countries came together under the military alliance of [[NATO]], while the Eastern Bloc countries formed the [[Warsaw Pact]]. The first [[Secretary General of NATO|NATO Secretary General]], the British [[Hastings Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay|Lord Ismay]], famously stated the organization's initial goal was "to keep the [[Soviet Union|Russians]] out, the Americans in, and the Germans down."{{sfn|Reynolds|1994|p=13}}

===Post-Cold War era===
[[File:Secretary Kerry Joins President Obama for Meeting With Ukrainian President Poroshenko Before NATO Summit in Wales (15114372976).jpg|thumb|right|[[NATO Quint]] leaders discussing with [[Petro Poroshenko]] the [[Russo-Ukrainian War]]]]
The three most powerful members of the [[European Union]] — France, Italy and Germany — as well as the [[United Kingdom]] are referred to as the [[Big Four (Western Europe)|Big Four]] of [[Western Europe]]. They are [[regional power|major European powers]] and the only EU countries individually represented as full members of the [[G7]], the [[G8]], and the [[G20]]. The [[NATO Quint]] is made up by the [[United States]] and the Big Four.

The term [[G4 (EU)|G4]] is especially (although not only) used to describe meeting of the four nations at the leaders' level. In addition, the term [[EU three]] (or G-3) was used to describe the grouping of foreign ministers from France, the United Kingdom, (at the time is still a European Union member state) and Germany (now re-unified) during the [[comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme|Iran nuclear talks]]. On the other hand, the grouping of interior ministers that includes Spain and Poland is known as the [[G6 (EU)|G6]]. Germany (which has the largest economy in Europe) is often regarded as the EU's economic leader, such as with the ongoing [[European sovereign debt crisis]], whilst France and the United Kingdom (both permanent members of the [[UNSC]]) often lead in defence and foreign policy matters, such as the [[2011 military intervention in Libya|intervention in Libya]] in 2011. This, to an extent, represents a balancing of leadership power for the Western sphere of the continent.{{Citation needed|reason=Unsubstantiated claim|date=March 2015}} How this balance will change after the [[Brexit]] vote in 2016 and the UK's exit from the European Union in 2020 is still an open matter.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://ypfp.blogactiv.eu/2018/10/23/brexit-germany-and-the-european-balance-of-power/ |title= Brexit, Germany, and the European Balance of Power |publisher= Blogactiv |date= October 23, 2018 |access-date= June 8, 2019 |archive-date= June 8, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190608221133/https://ypfp.blogactiv.eu/2018/10/23/brexit-germany-and-the-european-balance-of-power/ |url-status= dead }}</ref>
{{Update inline|date=August 2024}}

However, there continues to be a wider, strategic balance of Western and (now) Russian power, albeit with the boundary between the two pushed further east since the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]], with many former Communist countries in [[Central Europe]] having since joined the EU and NATO.{{Citation needed|reason=Unsubstantiated claim|date=August 2019}}

==See also==
* [[Balance of power (international relations)]]
* [[Concert of Europe]]
* [[Great power]]
* [[International relations (1814–1919)]]
* [[Precedence among European monarchies]]
* [[Treaty of Versailles]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* Albrecht-Carrié, René. ''A Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna'' (1958), 736pp; basic survey
* Bartlett, C. J. '' Peace, War and the European Powers, 1814–1914'' (1996) brief overview 216pp
* Clark, Christopher. ''Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia 1600–1947.'' Penguin Books, 2007
*{{cite book | last = Collins | first = Roger | author-link = Roger Collins | title = The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710–797 | publisher = Blackwell Publishing | location = Oxford | year = 1989 | isbn = 0-631-15923-1}}
*{{cite journal |first=Alan |last=Deyermond |title=The Death and Rebirth of Visigothic Spain in the ''Estoria de España'' |journal=Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos |volume=9 |issue=3 |year=1985 |pages=345–67}}
*{{cite book |first=J. N. |last=Hillgarth |location=Toronto |publisher=Pontifical Institute for Medieval Studies |year=2009 |title=The Visigoths in History and Legend }}
* [[Paul Kennedy|Kennedy, Paul]]. [[The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers|''The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers Economic Change and Military Conflict From 1500–2000'']] (1987), stress on economic and military factors
* Kissinger, Henry. ''Diplomacy'' (1995), 940pp; not a memoir but an interpretive history of international diplomacy since the late 18th century
* Langer, William. ''An Encyclopedia of World History'' (5th ed. 1973); highly detailed outline of events
* {{Cite book |last=Parker |first=Geoffrey |title=The Thirty Years' War |publisher=Routledge |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-415-12883-4 |edition=1997 |author-link=Geoffrey Parker (historian)}}
* {{cite book |author=Reilly|first= Bernard F. |title=The Medieval Spains |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1993 |isbn=0-521-39741-3 |series=Cambridge Medieval Textbooks}}
* {{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=David |title=The Origins of the Cold War in Europe: International Perspectives |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1994 |url=https://archive.org/details/originsofcoldwar00reyn |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-300-10562-9 }}
* [[Simms, Brendan]]. ''Three Victories and a Defeat.'' Penguin Books, 2008.
* Strachan, Hew. ''The First World War.'' Simon & Schuster, 2006

{{Great Power diplomacy}}
{{International power}}

[[Category:International relations]]
[[Category:History of Europe|Balance of power]]
[[Category:Political realism]]
[[Category:International security]]
[[Category:History of international relations]]

European balance of power - Revision history

imported>Braganza: /* Stately quadrille */