THE PERIOD OF DYNASTIC WARS (1648-1763).
From Westphalia to Utrecht international rela tions in Europe were dominated by the aggres sions of France. which, after passing through a period of civil disorder (see FaoNDE), attained under Louis XIV. (q.v.) such power as to threat en for a time the other States of Europe with the same fate that France had feared from the power of Charles V. The European States were forced to unite against him; Holland, England. and Sweden in 1667: Holland. Spain, Brandenburg. and the Empire in 1672: Holland. England. Spain, Sweden, the.Empire, Bavaria. and in 16S9. In the course of these wars the theory of the balance of power was worked out in great detail, and the War of the Spanish Succes sion, in which the French armies were repeatedly worsted, demonstrated the superiority of the State system of Europe to the power of any single State, no matter how strong. The defeat of Louis XIV. carried with it the overthrow of the Swedish power in Germany. Brandenburg. strengthened by its union with Prussia (1618), and under the astute gmidanee of the Great Elector (1640-88), had made common cause with the enemies of Louis XIV., and by its victory over the Swedes at Fehrbellin (1675) had entered upon its destiny as the successor of Sweden on time southern shot-es of the Baltic. While Louis XIV. was battling against the Grand Alliance, Sweden was assailed by Denmark. Poland. and Prussia. and. in spite of its heroic King (see CHARLES XII.), lost all of its possessions on the southern shore of the Baltic with the exception of a small part of Pomerania; Prussia and Russia entering into its inheritance. The treaties of 'Utrecht (1713), Rastadt (1714), and Nystadt (1721) signalize momentous changes in the political balance of Europe, and things begin to assume an aspect that is familiar. The power of France is checked by the aggrandizement of Austria, which now obtains possession of the Spanish Nether lands and becomes the dominant power in Italy. France loses the control of the sea
to England, which enters upon a successful career of commerce and colonization. Prussia is raised to the rank of a kingdom, and stands forward as the leading State of northern Ger many. Russia under Peter the Great has gained a foothold on the Baltic. Savoy is made a king dom. and, by the acquisition of Sardinia, becomes a prominent factor in Italian affairs. The period that follows to the French Revolution is in gen eral one of development on these lines. France, exhausted by the wars of Louis XIV. and the excesses of his profligate successor, declines in power steadily in spite of a temporary success over Austria in the War of the Polish Succes sion. Prussia, under the able and unscrupulous Frederick the Great (q.v.), assumes the leader ship in Germany and holds it in the great Seven Years' War (q.v.) against the united forces of Austria, France, and Russia. In this struggle Prussia receives some aid from England; but England is more actively interested in world politics than in the Continental polities, and to England fall the immense possessions of France In the New World and the ultimate control of India. Russia increases its territory at the ex pense of the Turks, who, since their great defeat at Vienna (1683), have rapidly been swept back, Carlowitz (1699), Passarowitz (1718), Kutsehuk Kainardji (1774), marking the qeady decline of their power. The greed for territory, since 1644 the moving spirit of European politics, reaches its climax in the despoliation of Poland by Rus sia, Prussia, and Austria, acting under the in spiration of Catharine 11.