Stately quadrille

"Stately quadrille" is a term popularly used to describe the constantly shifting alliances between the of Europe during the 18th century. The ultimate objective was to maintain the to stop any one alliance or country becoming too strong. It takes its name from the, a dance in which the participants constantly swap partners.

The most widely cited instance was in 1756, when Britain and abandoned their 25-year-long  and instead made new alliances with their former enemies,  and France, respectively. That was known as the.

Background
Shifting alliances had long been a factor in European politics and were often regarded as responses to shifting power and threat. During the 16th century and the early 17th century, much of the emphasis in European politics had been on restricting the power of Spain.

In the second half of the 17th century, Spain was replaced by France as Europe's leading power. Several European coalitions were formed against Spain and France, culminating in the, from 1702 to 1713.

Quadrille
In the years immediately after the war, Britain and France, which were widely considered to have been the leaders of opposing coalitions in the last war, formed an and recognised that they shared temporary, mutual interests. In the years that followed, they managed to defeat a resurgent Spain, formerly a French ally, in the. Spain sought an alliance with Austria and gained it in 1725.

By 1731 Britain and France were clearly drifting apart. A diplomatic initiative with Austria was begun by the British government, and a new was created. Spain withdrew its friendship with Austria and eventually ended up allied to France again.

In 1733, however the seemed under threat, when the British failed to assist the Austrians in the. Austria had to rely heavily on Russia for assistance and was forced to make huge concessions to France in the 1738 peace treaty. Britain realised that its failure to intervene had allowed France to become too strong.

In 1740, Prussia, an emerging power, attacked Austria. Britain and France soon became embroiled in the war, which ended in a stalemate in 1748, but Austria appeared to have lost most in the war. Despite extensive British funding, it was increasingly disillusioned about the and began looking for a replacement.

In 1756, Austria did what was considered unthinkable by many by abandoning its British connection to form a new alliance with France. Fearing that Continental Europe would be destabilised and led to war, Britain made an alliance with Prussia at the in the hope that a new  would prevent war.

Decline
The concept began to fade in the second half of the 18th century, as Britain and France became the dominant European powers. The failure to prevent the, in which over a million died, was a major factor. States began to seek a more stable and longlasting series of alliances: one of the most successful in the second half of the century was the between France and Spain, which endured throughout a number of major European conflicts, including the Wars of  and  Successions and the  and endured past the  in which French and Spanish support contributed towards British defeat.

After the, a was set up to create a forum for discussion rather than create shifting alliance patterns, which had a tendency to cause major wars. This was successful through most of the 19th century, until the collapsed the post-Napoleonic system amid increasingly acute nationalist tensions, which led to the formation of Germany and the collapse of the Austrian, Russian, and Ottoman empires.