Balance of Power, History of

Abstract

‘Balance of power’ in the relations between states can refer first to a situation in which the Great Powers—regional or global—possess roughly equal power resources. But the concept acquired a more specific meaning in the eighteenth century as a policy of Great Powers to prevent one of them from becoming the hegemonic power. This required that alliances between them should be geared to that purpose and thus be flexible. Balance of power policy was quite successful between reasonably satisfied dynastic states whose power resources were reasonably even. But the policy failed when that power balance suddenly became more uneven, as in the cases of Jacobin and Napoleonic France or the unification of Germany by Prussia. Balance of power policy developed further after the Congress of Vienna into the idea and practice of the ‘Congress of Europe,’ based on the premise of the common interest of the Great Powers in maintaining peace and stability. Because the Great Powers were rivals as well as allies, the ‘Concert’ idea could not prevent World War I. But it forms the basis of all later attempts to preserve or restore peace between states through collective security and international organization, such as the Concert of Europe, the League of Nations, and the United Nations.