<P> In the 16th and 17th centuries, English foreign policy strove to prevent a creation of a single universal monarchy in Europe, which many believed France or Spain might attempt to create . To maintain the balance of power, the English made alliances with other states--including Portugal, the Ottoman Empire, and the Netherlands--to counter the perceived threat . These Grand Alliances reached their height in the wars against Louis XIV and Louis XV of France . They often involved the English (later the British) and Dutch paying large subsidies to European allies to finance large armies . </P> <P> In the 18th century, this led to the stately quadrille, with a number of major European powers--such as Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, and France--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 Britain's success in the Seven Years' War, many of the other powers began to see Great Britain as a greater threat than France . Several states entered the American War of Independence in the hope of overturning Britain's growing strength by securing the independence of the Thirteen colonies of British America . </P> <P> During the 19th century, to achieve lasting peace, the Concert of Europe tried to maintain the balance of power . The territorial boundaries laid down at the Congress of Vienna were maintained, and even more important there was an acceptance of the theme of balance with no major aggression . Otherwise the Congress system says historian Roy Bridge, "failed" by 1823 . 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 . Artz says the Congress of Verona in 1822 "marked the end ." There was no Congress called to restore the old system during the great revolutionary upheavals of 1848 with their demands for revision of the Congress of Vienna's frontiers along national lines . </P> <P> Before 1850 Britain and France dominated Europe, but by the 1850s they had become deeply concerned by the growing power of Russia and Prussia . The Crimean War of 1854--55 and the Italian War of 1859 shattered the relations among the Great Powers in Europe . </P>

How did the treaty of versailles ending world war i change the balance of power in europe