Maria Theresia

Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina) was born in Vienna on 13 May 1717 as the eldest surviving daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Because her father had no male heir, he designated her successor in the Habsburg lands through the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. Charles VI spent decades negotiating with the European powers to secure recognition of this arrangement. Nevertheless, several states withdrew their promises after his death. He had also neglected the army and state finances, so in 1740 Maria Theresa inherited a weakened and nearly bankrupt realm. Maria Theresa grew up as a serious and rather reserved child. She enjoyed singing, took part in court opera productions, and was interested in drawing, music, and dancing. Her education was supervised by Jesuits but was focused mainly on preparing her for the role of a future queen and consort. She received inadequate preparation for government: although she was occasionally allowed to attend council meetings from the age of fourteen, her father did not discuss political affairs with her. The search for a suitable husband began early. Several marriage plans failed for political or religious reasons before Maria Theresa grew close to Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine. They married in Vienna on 12 February 1736. Francis Stephen had to surrender his ancestral Lorraine possessions to France and instead became Grand Duke of Tuscany after the death of the childless Grand Duke Gian Gastone de’ Medici. Maria Theresa’s marriage was marked on her part by deep affection, but it was strained by her jealousy and her husband’s infidelity. In 1745, Francis Stephen was elected Holy Roman Emperor. Maria Theresa herself could not hold that office as a woman, but she remained the actual political ruler. After Charles VI died on 20 October 1740, Maria Theresa immediately had to defend her rule militarily. Frederick II of Prussia invaded Silesia, while Bavaria, Saxony, France, and Spain also claimed parts of the Habsburg inheritance. The resulting War of the Austrian Succession lasted eight years. Support from Hungary proved especially important. At her coronation as queen of Hungary in 1741, Maria Theresa won the sympathy of the deputies through a powerful appearance before the Hungarian Diet and secured the urgently needed troops. She held her ground against her opponents and preserved most of her territories, although she had to cede Silesia to Prussia. She temporarily reconquered Bohemia and was crowned queen there in 1743. Her attempt to recover Silesia during the Seven Years’ War also failed. For this purpose, Maria Theresa formed an alliance with France and Russia after Austria and France overcame their traditional hostility. Despite several Austrian victories, Frederick II retained his most important province. The war ended in 1763, after which Maria Theresa devoted herself more fully to the internal modernization of her monarchy. Although her husband and later her eldest son Joseph officially served as co-rulers, Maria Theresa governed independently and often autocratically. With the support of ministers such as Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz, and Gerard van Swieten, she centralized the administration, reorganized the army, and improved the finances. A standing army was established, government offices were unified, and state revenues increased substantially. New courts and financial institutions strengthened central government. The Council of State served as an advisory body without legislative or executive authority. Medicine and education were also important areas of reform. After several deaths from smallpox in her family, Maria Theresa promoted inoculation, arranged trials involving orphaned children, and subsequently established an inoculation centre. She founded medical institutions, regulated the handling of poisons, and banned lead in eating and drinking vessels. In education, schools were created for civil servants, military personnel, and diplomats. The school reform of 1774 introduced compulsory secular primary schools for children of both sexes. Instruction first in the mother tongue and later in German, together with improved teacher training, was intended to combat widespread illiteracy. Her policies nevertheless remained contradictory. Maria Theresa was a deeply devout Catholic and fundamentally rejected religious toleration. Protestants were pressured to convert, confined to workhouses, or deported to Transylvania. She considered Jews a danger to the state and ordered the expulsion of Prague’s Jews in 1744, although the measure was later withdrawn for economic and foreign-policy reasons. At the same time, she protected Jewish communities in certain cases and supported their economic activity. She restricted the influence of the Jesuits, tightened state control over the Church, and reduced religious holidays and monastic orders. Her government also institutionalized censorship and for a long time maintained torture and strict interference in private morality. Maria Theresa had sixteen children, ten of whom reached adulthood. She combined personal care with strict dynastic education and used her children’s marriages to secure political alliances. The marriage of her youngest daughter Maria Antonia, later known as Marie Antoinette, to the French heir became especially famous. Maria Theresa corresponded regularly with her children, but she often criticized them and expected obedience. Only her daughter Maria Christina enjoyed her complete confidence. After Francis Stephen’s death in 1765, Maria Theresa withdrew into deep mourning. Her son Joseph became emperor and also her co-ruler. The two repeatedly clashed politically and personally: Joseph pressed for more sweeping reforms, while his mother adhered to monarchical authority, religious restrictions, and a more cautious policy. Against her wishes, Austria took part in the First Partition of Poland in 1772. During the War of the Bavarian Succession in 1778–79, she ultimately advocated a settlement with Prussia. Maria Theresa died in Vienna on 29 November 1780. Since 1767, she had suffered from the health consequences of smallpox and later from shortness of breath, exhaustion, and edema. She was buried beside her husband in the Imperial Crypt. With her death, the original House of Habsburg became extinct, and her son Joseph II continued the rule. Maria Theresa’s forty-year reign strengthened Austria’s international position, created a more centralized administration, and ushered in an era of enlightened absolutism. Her legacy remained defined by the tension between practical modernization and deep conservatism.