Whether or not there has been progress in the forms of internationalorder maintenance since 1815, there has undeniably been much change. In scale and substance, as well as in political and technological context, the conduct of international relations is appreciably different from that which prevailed at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Even when the informal norms of the Great Powers suggest continuity, as in their adherence to ideas of balance, these norms are applied in demonstrably altered conditions. Indeed, the core of the debate about change and progress is concerned with whether the altered substance and context of international relations amounts to a qualitative transformation. On this issue, opinions remain divided. In order to facilitate some judgement, this chapter will describe, and assess the significance of, the macro change that has occurred over that period. This will permit a more detailed discussion of developments within specific historical periods in the succeeding chapters.

While there has been much change within this period, it should also be emphasised that the early nineteenth century itself represented a point of significant transformation such as to warrant a survey that begins at that date. On the basis of the diplomatic mechanisms established in 1815, the altered relationship between European international relations and the outside world, and the stabilising function of ‘buffer’ states, one historian has recently proclaimed that ‘a prima facie case exists that a profound, durable change occurred in international politics after 1815’.