Maria Theresa
On the 20th of October 1740, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI died in Vienna, leaving behind a treasury containing only 100,000 florins and an army reduced to about 108,000 men. Maria Theresa found herself without money, credit, or experience when she ascended the throne at age twenty-three. Her father had spent his entire reign securing international signatures for the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 while neglecting Prince Eugene of Savoy's advice to build a strong military. The War of the Polish Succession and the Russo-Turkish War (1735, 1739) had bankrupted the state before he even passed away. Within days of his death, Saxony, Prussia, Bavaria, and France all repudiated the sanction they had previously recognized during his lifetime. Frederick II of Prussia promptly invaded the affluent Habsburg province of Silesia, beginning an eight-year conflict known as the War of the Austrian Succession. Maria Theresa initially did not know enough about matters of state and relied on her husband Francis Stephen to handle affairs, a decision that later caused regret. She dismissed the possibility that other countries might try to seize her territories immediately after taking power.
Frederick II of Prussia began a Third Silesian War in August 1756 by invading Saxony, which sparked the wider Seven Years' War. Maria Theresa and Prince Kaunitz wished to exit this war with possession of Silesia, but Austria faced overwhelming odds against Prussian forces. The Battle of Lobositz in 1756 proved indecisive, leading to the replacement of Maximilian von Browne with Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, who turned out to be an incompetent military leader. Austrian troops under Leopold Joseph von Daun achieved a decisive victory at the Battle of Kolín in June 1757, causing Frederick to lose one third of his troops before leaving the scene. Despite victories at Hochkirch in October 1758 and Kunersdorf in August 1759, these successes could not enable the Habsburgs to win the war overall. French and Habsburg armies were destroyed by Frederick at Rossbach in 1757, followed by another defeat at Torgau on the 3rd of November 1760. After Empress Elizabeth's death in early 1762, Russian support vanished, forcing Maria Theresa to realize she could no longer reclaim Silesia without it. The Treaty of Hubertusburg and Paris concluded the conflict in 1763, confirming that Silesia remained under Prussian control despite years of fighting.
Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz modernized the empire by creating a standing army of 108,000 men paid for with 14 million florins extracted from crown lands. He instituted taxation of the nobility, who had never before been required to pay taxes, establishing central government responsibility for funding the military. By 1760, there was a class of government officials numbering around 10,000 following his radical centralization of state institutions down to the District Office level. Maria Theresa doubled state revenue from 20 to 40 million florins between 1754 and 1764 through these financial reforms. In 1775, the Habsburg monarchy achieved its first balanced budget, reaching 50 million florins in state revenue by 1780. She refounded the Hofkammer in 1762 as a ministry controlling all revenues and created the Council of State composed of the chancellor, three high nobles, and three knights. The Directory transformed into the United Austrian and Bohemian Chancellery in 1761, equipped with independent judiciary and separate financial bodies. These changes strengthened Austria's international standing despite the loss of Silesia during the Seven Years' War.
Maria Theresa regarded both Jews and Protestants as dangerous to the state and actively tried to suppress them throughout her reign. In December 1744, she proposed expelling approximately 10,000 Jews from Prague amid accusations of disloyalty during the Bavarian-French occupation. The order was expanded to all Jews of Bohemia and major cities of Moravia but retracted only in 1748 due to economic pressures from countries including Great Britain. Her hatred for Jewish people ran so deep that she tolerated Protestant businessmen like Johann von Fries since she wanted to break free from Jewish financiers. In 1762, she forbade the forcible conversion of Jewish children to Christianity, and in 1763 she prohibited Catholic clergy from extracting surplice fees from Jewish subjects. She exiled Protestants from Austria to Transylvania, including 2,600 from Upper Austria in the 1750s. Any sign of returning to Protestant practice was treated harshly, often by exile, though practical considerations prevented mass expulsions. In February 1780, after Moravians publicly declared their faith, Joseph demanded general freedom to worship, which Maria Theresa refused until her death.
Emperor Francis died on the 18th of August 1765 while celebrating his second surviving son Leopold's wedding in Innsbruck, leaving Maria Theresa devastated. Joseph became Holy Roman Emperor but ruled less land than his father had in 1740 since he gave up rights over Tuscany to Leopold. Maria Theresa declared Joseph her new co-ruler on the 17th of September 1765, initiating frequent ideological disagreements between mother and son. Despite her protestations, Joseph and Prince Kaunitz arranged the First Partition of Poland, which hurt Polish people according to her sense of justice. Austria entered negotiations following the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca signed in 1774 that concluded the Russo-Turkish War (1768, 1774). In 1775, the Ottoman Empire ceded northwestern Moldavia known as Bukovina to Austria. Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria died without children on the 30th of December 1777, triggering the War of the Bavarian Succession in 1778. Although Austria gained the Innviertel area, this Potato War caused financial setbacks with 100 million florins spent against only 500,000 florins annual revenue from 100,000 inhabitants.
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Common questions
When did Maria Theresa ascend to the throne of Austria?
Maria Theresa ascended to the throne on the 20th of October 1740 following the death of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in Vienna. She was twenty-three years old when she inherited a treasury containing only 100,000 florins and an army reduced to about 108,000 men.
What happened during the War of the Austrian Succession under Maria Theresa?
Frederick II of Prussia invaded Silesia within days of her father's death starting an eight-year conflict known as the War of the Austrian Succession. The Treaty of Hubertusburg and Paris concluded the conflict in 1763 confirming that Silesia remained under Prussian control despite years of fighting.
How did Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz reform the Habsburg economy?
Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz modernized the empire by creating a standing army of 108,000 men paid for with 14 million florins extracted from crown lands. He instituted taxation of the nobility who had never before been required to pay taxes establishing central government responsibility for funding the military.
Why did Maria Theresa expel Jews from Prague in December 1744?
Maria Theresa proposed expelling approximately 10,000 Jews from Prague amid accusations of disloyalty during the Bavarian-French occupation. The order was expanded to all Jews of Bohemia and major cities of Moravia but retracted only in 1748 due to economic pressures from countries including Great Britain.
When did Emperor Francis die and how did it affect Maria Theresa?
Emperor Francis died on the 18th of August 1765 while celebrating his second surviving son Leopold's wedding in Innsbruck leaving Maria Theresa devastated. She declared Joseph her new co-ruler on the 17th of September 1765 initiating frequent ideological disagreements between mother and son.