ABSTRACT
William III was first and foremost a European, interested in establishing the peace of the Continent by maintaining a balance of power between the two major European dynasties, the Habsburgs and the Bourbons. Three main features of politics in the reign of William III are highlighted here. The first is the predominance of party political rivalries based on principles, not family and personal relationships. The second feature of Williamite politics is the fluidity of Whig and Tory parties divisions. The third feature of politics in William IIIs reign: both Whigs and Tories were undergoing a major transformation, so that by the end of the reign both parties were in certain crucial respects different from their predecessors at the time of Williams accession. This transformation of the Whigs and Tories took a long time to complete; but the process of creating a new Whig and a new Tory party had gone a long way by the last years of Williams reign.
