Maria Theresa

Archduchess of Austria (r. 1740-1780) and queen of Hungary and Bohemia (r. 1740-1780)

• Born: May 13, 1717
• Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
• Died: November 29, 1780
• Place of death: Vienna, Austria

Beset by adversity, Maria Theresa proved herself to be the greatest ruler produced by the House of Habsburg. She initiated reforms that transformed her vast holdings into a unified state and created modern Austria.

Early Life

Born to Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, and his extraordinarily beautiful wife, Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the beautiful and graceful Archduchess Maria Theresa was considered just another daughter by her father. The emperor was obsessed with the hope of fathering a son who would succeed him and consequently neglected to educate his eldest surviving daughter in the affairs of state. Maria Theresa’s only brother died in infancy, as did one of her sisters, but these tragedies did not deter her father in his quest for a male heir. He was convinced that he would outlive his empress, who was in frail health, and then he could marry a princess who would give him many sons. The empress outlived her husband, however, and Charles died unexpectedly on October 20, 1740, of a fever contracted on a hunting expedition. He was the last Habsburg in the direct male line.

Despite really not believing that Maria Theresa would succeed him, Charles had taken elaborate precautions to protect his empire and ensure its continued existence. The device by which he sought to accomplish the preservation of the state was the Pragmatic Sanction. To win the support of the various rulers of Europe for this scrap of paper, he made a number of concessions to friend and foe alike. While each in his turn solemnly swore to recognize Archduchess Maria Theresa as her father’s successor, not one of them intended to support the provisions of the Pragmatic Sanction beyond their own interests. The emperor was particularly concerned about the elector of Bavaria, who was married to his niece, Maria Amelia. Charles had become emperor in 1711, after the death of his brother, Joseph I, who left two daughters, one of whom was the wife of Charles Albert of Bavaria. In the event of his death, Charles VI was determined that his daughter must be protected from her cousins and their claims on the Habsburg inheritance. He believed that the Pragmatic Sanction would provide that security.

If he could not produce a son of his own, Charles might at least hope for a grandson to whom he might leave his crown, and so in 1736, Maria Theresa was married to her cousin, Francis Stephen of Lorraine. Unfortunately, Francis arrived in Vienna almost a man without a country. At the insistence of France, the new archduke had to exchange his native Lorraine for Tuscany before the marriage could be sanctioned by the great powers, who seemed bent upon humiliating the emperor and his house. Maria Theresa, for her part, cared little for the jealousies of Austria’s neighbors, for she was already hopelessly in love with her bridegroom. She was never blind to Francis’s faults, but she adored him and defended him until his death in 1765. She spent the rest of her life mourning him. Unfortunately for her father’s peace of mind, the three children born to Maria Theresa and Francis before 1740 were all girls, but the child she was carrying at the time of her father’s death was the future Emperor Joseph II.

Life’s Work

Maria Theresa inherited a realm near bankruptcy. There was no one to advise her during the first critical weeks of her reign; Archduke Francis had a head for finance but little else, and her counselors were ancient incompetents inherited from her father. Her army was at half strength, all of the primary sources of her imperial revenues were mortgaged, and there was a crushing national debt. Maria Theresa did not hesitate to face these problems and the other burdens that threatened to crush her spirits, but then Frederick the Great struck.

In the spring of 1740, Frederick William I of Prussia died in Berlin, and his son succeeded him. The old king had always been loyal to the emperor, and it was assumed that his son would be as well. In December, 1740, Frederick the Great invaded Silesia. Austria was not prepared to withstand such a blow, but Maria Theresa would not surrender a scrap of territory without a struggle. Her refusal to follow the advice of her ally Great Britain to accommodate Prussia led to the War of the Austrian Succession, which lasted until 1748. Maria Theresa did not regain Silesia, but she proved her mettle and rallied the diverse peoples of the empire to her cause.

Often Maria Theresa had reason to despair in the years between Frederick’s invasion and the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1742, she had made peace with the Prussians at Berlin, only to have her old enemy reenter the war when he feared that he would not receive his fair share of the spoils. On January 24, 1742, Frederick engineered the election of Charles Albert of Bavaria as Holy Roman Emperor, with the title Charles VII. Maria Theresa was furious that her husband had been denied that honor by treachery, and she was determined that Charles VII would not enjoy his triumph. Harried from his capital of Munich, the Holy Roman Emperor became a mere pawn in the hands of the diplomats. On January 25, 1745, he died, and Maria Theresa immediately secured the election of her husband as Emperor Francis I. Only after his election in 1745 and his coronation in 1746 was Maria Theresa able to bear the title of empress; however, there was never any doubt in anyone’s mind, including that of Francis, who really exercised the power.

Having prevented the dismemberment of her kingdom, Maria Theresa began to plan her revenge on Frederick the Great. Great Britain had to be discarded as an ally, because George II and his ministers had proved unreliable: They were more interested in preserving the Kingdom of Hanover than in fulfilling their obligations to the empress. During the eight years that separated the War of the Austrian Succession from the Seven Years’ War, Austria and France effected a diplomatic revolution that left the traditional alignment of European nations in disarray. Sworn enemies for generations, Austria and France became allies, while Prussia was forced into an uneasy arrangement with Great Britain, its former adversary. The final seal on Maria Theresa’s brilliant diplomatic coup would be the marriage of Marie-Antoinette, her ninth child, to the dauphin of France, the future Louis XVI.

During the brief years of peace, Maria Theresa was also able to devote her energies to reforming the antiquated institutions of her empire, while centralizing its government. Blessed with the rare talent for choosing able subordinates and then placing each in the area best suited to his talents, she slowly rebuilt her cabinet.

The great nobles of the empire had regularly ignored any directives from Vienna and ruled their holdings like independent rulers, while the provincial estates passed laws with little or no concern for the central government. Under Maria Theresa, these abuses ceased. Count Haugwitz had been the governor of a portion of Silesia when Frederick invaded that province, and he had observed at close range the reforms the Prussians imposed on their new subjects. With the support of the empress, he then instituted similar reforms in all parts of the empire except Hungary, which was protected by special privileges.

For the first time, the nobility was forced to pay taxes. Increased revenues permitted Maria Theresa to create a centralized bureaucracy, a permanent standing army serviced by military academies, and a system of secondary education. In 1749, the administrative and judiciary functions of the government were separated, and a complete codification of the law was ordered. Begun in 1752, it was finally finished in 1811 during the reign of Maria Theresa’s grandson.

Beginning in the forests of North America, the Seven Years’ War soon involved most of the world. When the conflict ended in 1763, France was near bankruptcy, while Great Britain was without question the most powerful nation in the world. Austria did not recapture Silesia, but it did regain much of its lost international prestige. Maria Theresa had the satisfaction of watching her archenemy brought to the brink of destruction. Only the accession of a new ruler in Russia and his own daring saved Frederick from disaster. With the war’s completion, Maria Theresa resolved never again to commit her nation to battle save in self-defense.

Two years after the peace was signed, Emperor Francis I died unexpectedly. Despite her loss, Maria Theresa sought to devote herself to the service of the state. Her children continued to bring her great joy and at times disappointment. None of them was as difficult as her heir, Joseph II.

Burning with a zeal to reform Austria, the new emperor lacked both tact and caution. Only his mother’s resolve kept his often ill-directed enthusiasm in check. Together, they ruled the empire until Maria Theresa’s death, but it was not always a cordial relationship. In 1772, Joseph outraged his mother’s sense of decency by engaging in the first partition of Poland. Maria Theresa’s prediction that no good would come of this despicable act, which was shared with Prussia and Russia, was ignored by Joseph. Mercifully, the empress did not live to see the final dismemberment of Poland. Maria Theresa died in Vienna on November 29, 1780, after a long and painful illness.

Significance

Against all odds, Maria Theresa succeeded in saving the ramshackle empire that she inherited from her father. She was the architect of modern Austria, and, thanks to her care, the empire survived into the early twentieth century. She had an uncanny talent for selecting subordinates and then placing them in positions that allowed them to employ their talents to the fullest. Even her own husband, Francis I, was assigned to that area of government he best understood, finance. With her advisers, she centralized the imperial government, putting an end to centuries of inefficiency and mismanagement. Only the Hungarians resisted her reforms, but Maria Theresa charmed the Magyars into submission and contained their fierce longing for independence. By her frugality, she restored the financial integrity of her nation, and with the profits of her labor, she built Schönbrunn Palace, her favorite residence, and perhaps the finest example of the Austrian Baroque style.

When she effected a diplomatic revolution by making her country’s ancient enemy, France, her firm ally, Maria Theresa sacrificed her daughter to seal the bargain, but she would not willingly countenance the cynical dismemberment of Poland. Her court was adorned with artists, writers, and musicians, such as Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but Maria Theresa never forgot that to the ordinary folk she was like a mother. Seeking to improve their lot, she initiated a number of reforms for which her successors were often given the credit. She was the greatest ruler of the Habsburg Dynasty.

Bibliography

Anderson, M. S. Europe in the Eighteenth Century, 1713-1783. 3d ed. London: Longman, 1987. A solid treatment of the period. Well written and very easy to follow; it has an excellent annotated bibliography for further study.

Crankshaw, Edward. The Habsburgs: Portrait of a Dynasty. New York: Viking Press, 1971. A good introduction to the rather complicated story of Austria’s development under the Habsburgs. The chapters on Maria Theresa are quite useful and contain a good outline of her life and reign. Excellent photographs.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Maria Theresa. New York: Viking Press, 1969. Like the Hungarian nobility, Crankshaw has fallen under the spell of the beautiful empress, and therefore this work must be read with care. Yet it is a well-written biography and contains a very useful bibliography.

Gooch, G. P. Maria Theresa and Other Studies. Reprint. New York: Archon Books, 1965. The two essays that begin this work, “Maria Theresa and Joseph II” and “Maria Theresa and Marie Antoinette,” are based on the correspondence between the empress and her children. The humanity of Maria Theresa, as well as her deep feelings for her son and daughter, are easily discernible in these two chapters.

Ingrao, Charles W. The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618-1815. 2d ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Describes how the Habsburg state emerged as a military and cultural power of enormous influence. Includes information on the reign of Maria Theresa.

Pick, Robert. Empress Maria Theresa: The Earlier Years, 1717-1757. New York: Harper & Row, 1966. A remarkably well-written work, meant for the scholar. Balanced, sensitive, and illuminating, it is perhaps the best biography of Maria Theresa in English.

Roider, Karl A., Jr., ed. Maria Theresa. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973. This slender volume is a treasury of materials dealing with Maria Theresa. Part 1 contains the empress’s letters and papers on a number of subjects. Part 2 contains views of Maria Theresa by her contemporaries. Part 3 contains eight brief statements by historians.

Wandruszka, Adam. The House of Habsburg: Six Hundred Years of a European Dynasty. Translated by Cathleen Epstein and Hans Epstein. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1964. The portions of this work concerned with Maria Theresa are valuable, because they briefly analyze her approach to governing and to reform. The influence of the empress on the two sons who succeeded her is carefully considered. Good bibliography.

Wheatcroft, Andrew. The Habsburgs: Embodying Empire. New York: Viking Press, 1995. Wheatcroft focuses on the values, concerns, and other personal qualities of the Habsburg rulers, including Maria Theresa.