European balance of power Austria which continued to rule as Holy Roman Emperor. Hapsburg Austria did directly control some states outside of the Holy Roman Empire. It was France who took the status of dominant continental power from the Habsburgs thanks to the Treaty of Westphalia and the Treaty of the Pyrenees. In the 16th and 17th centuries, English foreign policy strove to prevent a creation of a single universal monarchy in Europe, which many believed France or Spain might attempt to create. To maintain the balance of power, the English made alliances with other states—including Portugal, the Ottoman Empire, and the Netherlands—to counter
Treaty of Addis Ababa and France, which had colonial possessions bordering Ethiopia, also concluded treaties with Ethiopia which treated her as an equal. The treaty with France was signed in late January 1897, while the treaty with the United Kingdom was signed 14 May 1897. In the Italian text of the Treaty of Wuchale, Ethiopia was obliged to conduct all foreign affairs through Italy, which effectively made Ethiopia an Italian protectorate, while the Amharic version merely gave Ethiopia the option of communicating with third powers through the Italian government. Learning of this divergence from the Amharic text, Emperor Menelik believed he had been deceived