Definitions of Balance Of Power
The equilibrium of power among members of the family of nations as will prevent any one of them from becoming sufficiently strong to enforce its will upon the others.
The power equation between states is based on an assessment of each state’s relative power capabilities and this assessment provides the basis for the conduct of relations between them.
Balance Of Power from a historical perspective
From 1648 (Peace of Westphalia) to 1789 (French Revolution) was a golden age of classical balance of power, when the princes of Europe began accepting BoP as the supreme principle of foreign policy.
Evident use of BoP is also noted in the mid-17th cent., when it was directed against the France of Louis
XIV. Balance of power was the stated British objective for much of the 18th and 19th cent., and it characterized the European international system, for example, from 1815-1914.