Europe in the 17th century
🇱🇹 “Viduramžiai: atlasas, konspektas, žodynas”, Briedis, 2010
In 1648, a concert of nations was established. The starting point is
the separate treaty concluded on January 30 between the United Provinces
and Spain: there we see the idea of balance appearing, no longer
against the defeated Habsburgs but against a France which would be too
preponderant; hence the failure of the project cherished by Mazarin of
an exchange between Catalonia and the Netherlands.
The theory of
balance triumphed at the Treaties of Westphalia and a new Europe
appeared, within which large states developed on the basis of reciprocal
independence: the notion of empire as the ecumenical power of
Christianity thus disappeared. definitely. However, France’s
centuries-old conflict against the Habsburgs has had such a profound
impact on diplomatic traditions that it is impossible for France to
think about international politics outside of this very conflict. Louis
XIV thus ignored the importance of maritime and commercial aspects,
leaving France to fall behind England. Indeed, if the Franco-Spanish War
which ended in 1659 was a land war, it was coupled with a maritime war
during which England sided with France with the aim of seizing Dunkirk.
Furthermore, with his eyes fixed on France’s traditional alliances in
Eastern Europe, Louis XIV did not worry about the development of Russian
power after 1660, following the Northern War.
The consequence is
that France’s forces are then wasted in obsolete enterprises of useless
struggles which only bring together ever-reviving coalitions against it –
including the Grand Alliance of 1689. In 1715, France certainly found
itself equipped with a border better than in 1648, but territorially
equal to itself, in a Europe where other States have significantly
progressed. While in 1648 it had undeniable pre-eminence, at the death
of Louis XIV it was no more than one of the elements of the European
balance.