From the Balance of Power to a political equilibrium - Foreign policy of Leopold II, Holy Roman emperor (1790-1792)

With regard to modern European history, the Congress of Vienna in 1815 crea ted the base for a unique peace order. The participants recanted extensivel y the basic law of European power-politics, the Balance of Power, and devot ed themselves to a new doctrine, a political equilibrium, which aimed at a peaceful settlement of conflicting interests. Following a thesis of Paul W. Schroeder, the article discusses the question whether Emperor Leopold II ( 1790-1792) can be considered as an intellectual "ancestor" of the peace ord er born in Vienna. Focusing on his position during the war against the Turk s and during the French and the Polish Revolution the essay shows how Leopo ld broke with eighteenth century politics and tried to create a peace-keepi ng European "concert." Yet, when he died in 1792, his plan had failed. Only one generation later, after the disasters of the Napoleonic Wars, European statesmen acknowledged the necessity of a new international system.