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Maria Theresa and Hungary

R. J. W. Evans

in Austria, Hungary, and the Habsburgs: Central Europe c.1683-1867

This chapter presents an essay concerning the place of Hungary in the Habsburg Monarchy during the centralist reform begun by Queen Maria Theresa and continued by her son Joseph II. It suggests that ... More

This chapter presents an essay concerning the place of Hungary in the Habsburg Monarchy during the centralist reform begun by Queen Maria Theresa and continued by her son Joseph II. It suggests that Maria Theresa cooperated enough with the ruling elite in Hungary to achieve a significant part of her programme. However, elemental antagonisms persisted and these subsequently frustrated almost all of Joseph's reform measures. Even the accomplishments of Maria Theresa created a gap between Hungary and the rest of the Habsburg lands.Less

Decline or Maturity? the Reich From Charles VII to Leopold II, c.1740–1792

Joachim Whaley

in Germany and the Holy Roman Empire: Volume II: The Peace of Westphalia to the Dissolution of the Reich, 1648-1806

The accession of Frederick the Great as king of Prussia in 1740 has been regarded as the start of Austro-Prussian dualism and the beginning of the end of the Reich. The years 1740-1763, culminating ... More

The accession of Frederick the Great as king of Prussia in 1740 has been regarded as the start of Austro-Prussian dualism and the beginning of the end of the Reich. The years 1740-1763, culminating in the Seven Years War, were dominated by Austria's unsuccessful efforts to regain Silesia, but these conflicts strengthened the Reich. After the short and disastrous rule of the Bavarian emperor Charles VII, the princes turned to the Habsburgs again and elected Maria Theresa's husband as Francis I; he restored equilibrium in the Reich. Joseph II's efforts to reform the Reich and plans to exchange the Austrian Netherlands for Bavaria aroused intense opposition. A league of princes (Fürstenbund) opposed him but Prussia was unable to exploit this. The Reich's central and intermediate institutions (Reichstag, Kreise, law courts) functioned well; this inspired S.J. Pütter to define the Reich as a state ‘composed of other particular states’.Less

The Austrian Alliance, the Seven Years’ War and the Emergence of a French ‘National’ Foreign Policy, 1756–1790

Thomas E. Kaiser

in The Crisis of the Absolute Monarchy: France from Old Regime to Revolution

When during the French Revolution the deputies of the National Assembly pondered the reasons for France's decades-long decline as a world power, many attributed it to the Franco-Austrian alliance of ... More

When during the French Revolution the deputies of the National Assembly pondered the reasons for France's decades-long decline as a world power, many attributed it to the Franco-Austrian alliance of 1756, which had allegedly produced the humiliating outcome of the Seven Years' War. This chapter demonstrates how, why, and with what political effects the alliance was represented by its critics from its inception as the work of a powerful pro-Austrian ministerial lobby willing to sacrifice the interests of the nation to those of the dynasty and the Habsburgs. Reinforcing this view was the repeated appointment of incompetent military commanders loyal to the lobby supporting the alliance. At a time of rising national consciousness, the tale of infidelity, defeat, and impotence told by the alliance's many critics helped convince the general public that France was in desperate need of a new, nationally centred foreign policy as part of its general regeneration.Less

‘Our Blood and Life’: The Great Empress

Richard Bassett

in For God and Kaiser: The Imperial Austrian Army, 1619-1918

This chapter focuses on Charles VI's eldest daughter Maria Theresa, the heir to the House of Austria. Maria Theresa became the most impressive monarch of the eighteenth century. An unashamed ... More

This chapter focuses on Charles VI's eldest daughter Maria Theresa, the heir to the House of Austria. Maria Theresa became the most impressive monarch of the eighteenth century. An unashamed innovator and moderniser despite her personal conservatism, she left her mark on every area of her realm. There would be no later Austrian or indeed Central European economic, administrative, public health, legal, educational, or military institution that could not in some way trace its roots to her energetic reforming zeal and retain the imprint of her measures even centuries later. Maria Theresa also redefined the relationship between the Habsburg monarchy and her peoples. She injected a new style of sovereignty into the Imperial house, eliminating the “forbidden zone” that surrounded the person of earlier Habsburg rulers in Vienna. She became truly popular with her subjects. Nearly all vestiges of the Spanish Habsburgs' elaborate and formal mystique were dismantled during her reign.Less

The Origins of Enlightenment in the Habsburg Lands

R. J. W. Evans

in Austria, Hungary, and the Habsburgs: Central Europe c.1683-1867

This chapter presents an essay on the historical origins of Enlightenment in the territory of the Habsburg Monarchy. There were two different kinds of Enlightenment movement in the Habsburg territory ... More

This chapter presents an essay on the historical origins of Enlightenment in the territory of the Habsburg Monarchy. There were two different kinds of Enlightenment movement in the Habsburg territory in Central Europe. One was the officially sponsored reform programme launched under Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II and the other was the campaigns for cultural renewal among the nations of the region. This chapter explores the common genesis of these two movements.Less

Introduction: The Old Dispensation

David Vital

in A People Apart: A Political History of the Jews in Europe 1789–1939

The affair that Maria Theresa of Austria's decree of banishment calls attention to most precisely is the fragility of the balance between the new, civilizing impact of the Enlightenment on the ... More

The affair that Maria Theresa of Austria's decree of banishment calls attention to most precisely is the fragility of the balance between the new, civilizing impact of the Enlightenment on the approach of some among the prominent princes and governments of Europe to the matter of the Jews, and the older, more deeply rooted, countervailing considerations that governed the conduct of others. It calls attention too to the degree to which public action on behalf of a segment of the Jewish people still turned in the mid-eighteenth century on the contingency of personal access to the governing lay and ecclesiastical authorities in the lands of their Dispersion; and indirectly to the fact that the system of governance which lay at the heart of the matter of power and authority under the Old Dispensation was a dual one: sovereign power on the one hand, largely autonomous internal governance on the other.Less

Austria Resurgent: Theresian Military Reforms

Richard Bassett

in For God and Kaiser: The Imperial Austrian Army, 1619-1918

This chapter discusses the reform of Maria Theresa's armies. The reforms they underwent in the run-up to the Seven Years War improved their morale and effectiveness dramatically. The remainder of the ... More

This chapter discusses the reform of Maria Theresa's armies. The reforms they underwent in the run-up to the Seven Years War improved their morale and effectiveness dramatically. The remainder of the chapter covers the modernization of the Austrian artillery; the reform of the cavalry, the hussars, and the infantry; the establishment of the Wiener Neustadt Military Academy; and the reform of the army's medical services. All these reforms were more or less implanted in a period of eight years, the brief interlude between the wars of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War. The proof of their success was demonstrated in the coming conflict when Frederick of Prussia would ruefully observe on the battlefield: “unfortunately these are no longer the old Austrians”.Less

Proposals

David Vital

in A People Apart: A Political History of the Jews in Europe 1789–1939

The conventional wisdom on the Jews being, even at the government level, negative, critical, restrictive, and minatory, it was natural that a collective, blanket, and free admission of the Jewish ... More

The conventional wisdom on the Jews being, even at the government level, negative, critical, restrictive, and minatory, it was natural that a collective, blanket, and free admission of the Jewish segment of the population into whatever it was that passed for civil society was unthinkable. For all these reasons, what the periodic flurries of official interest in the matter tended to produce was a series of awkward compromises between what seemed to rulers and officials to be dictated by new-wave étatism, and pragmatic notions of government and what had been carried over from older times. The difference in tone, terminology, and content between Empress Maria Theresa's Judenordnung of May 5, 1764 and her son and successor's Toleranzpatent of January 2, 1782 will serve to mark the transition.Less

From Přcmyslids to Habsburgs: Moravian Jewry in the “Land of Canaan”

in Rabbis and Revolution: The Jews of Moravia in the Age of Emancipation

This chapter discusses the transformation and disruption of religious, communal, and demographic patterns experienced by Moravian Jewry during the Age of Emancipation. It examines the origins and ... More

This chapter discusses the transformation and disruption of religious, communal, and demographic patterns experienced by Moravian Jewry during the Age of Emancipation. It examines the origins and development of the Moravian Jewry from the Přemyslid dynasty until the Habsburg dynasty. Because of the tremendous population growth of Jews after the Thirty Years War, the Bohemian and Moravian estates took steps to reduce the Jewish population. These include the so-called separation and confinement of the Jews, implemented under the influence of the Catholic Church; the Familiants Laws; and the edicts of the expulsion of Bohemian and Moravian Jewry by Maria Theresa. The reign of Joseph II ushered in a new era for the Jews of the Habsburg monarchy. He issued the Edicts of Tolerance as a means of transforming the Jews into productive citizens and integrating them into society, breaking down the social barriers that separated them from the Christian population.Less

Bureaucratic Enlightenment and Galicia

Iryna Vushko

in The Politics of Cultural Retreat: Imperial Bureaucracy in Austrian Galicia, 1772-1867

This chapter presents an overview of the development of the bureaucratic enlightenment within the Habsburg monarchy towards the province of Galicia. The bureaucratic enlightenment started when ... More

This chapter presents an overview of the development of the bureaucratic enlightenment within the Habsburg monarchy towards the province of Galicia. The bureaucratic enlightenment started when Empress Maria Theresa and her son and Co-regent Joseph II initiated reforms in the administration of the Habsburg monarchy, for the purpose of creating a unified state out of a conglomerate of diverse provinces. They managed to transform relationships between the rulers and ruled and between elites and lower classes, as well as staffed the monarchy's administrative offices with professional German descent bureaucrat officials. However, despite their collective efforts, professional insecurity and financial difficulties plagued most of the bureaucratic officials, which manifested in their rule of Galicia.Less

Reform, Credit, and Compromise, 1749–63

William D. Godsey

in The Sinews of Habsburg Power: Lower Austria in a Fiscal-Military State 1650-1820

This chapter deals with two distinct periods following the reform of the annual Contribution in 1748. The years between 1749 and 1756 were characterized by the government’s persistent and largely ... More

This chapter deals with two distinct periods following the reform of the annual Contribution in 1748. The years between 1749 and 1756 were characterized by the government’s persistent and largely successful attempt to ensure that the new Contribution was actually paid, as well as by a range of other reforms that induced prolonged conflict with the Estates. These initiatives included a “rectification” of the tax registers and the revitalization of the local princely domain. It was at this time that the “circle offices” as the extended arm of central authority in the countryside were established. With the outbreak of the Seven Years War (1756–63), the domestic tension subsided as the Estates and government reached a political compromise. Without the credit raised by the Estates’ good offices, the war effort could hardly have been sustained.Less

The Turkish Subjects of Gluck and Haydn: Comic Opera in War and Peace

Larry Wolff

in The Singing Turk: Ottoman Power and Operatic Emotions on the European Stage from the Siege of Vienna to the Age of Napoleon

This chapter focuses on the 1760s and 1770s, especially in the Habsburg monarchy, as Gluck and Haydn began to compose comic operas on Turkish themes making use of Janissary percussion and alla turca ... More

This chapter focuses on the 1760s and 1770s, especially in the Habsburg monarchy, as Gluck and Haydn began to compose comic operas on Turkish themes making use of Janissary percussion and alla turca style. Cultural interest in the Ottomans was conditioned by the presence of Ottoman envoys in Vienna in the age of Maria Theresa and, especially, by the international circumstances of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768 to 1774. Gluck’s and Haydn’s French and Italian versions of the same subject, Les Pèlerins de la Mecque and L’incontro improvviso, are discussed with reference to the comical figure of the Kalender. Haydn’s comic opera Lo speziale, performed at Esterháza in 1768, is considered in relation to operatic Turkish travesty and disguise. The news of the ongoing war between the Turks and Russians created a climate encouraging for comic operas about Turks, including works by Niccolò Jommelli and Georg Joseph Vogler.Less

Civilizers at Work: 1772–1794

Iryna Vushko

in The Politics of Cultural Retreat: Imperial Bureaucracy in Austrian Galicia, 1772-1867

This chapter explores Galician governance under bureaucrat officials, focusing on Johann Baptist Anton Count von Pergen (1772–1774) and Joseph Karl von Brigido (1780–1794). Appointed by Empress Maria ... More

This chapter explores Galician governance under bureaucrat officials, focusing on Johann Baptist Anton Count von Pergen (1772–1774) and Joseph Karl von Brigido (1780–1794). Appointed by Empress Maria Theresa of the Habsburg monarchy, Pergen became the first imperial bureaucrat governor of Galicia. He engaged with local elites and made efforts to improve the governance in Galicia. However, due to a series of problems including unprogressive systems of infrastructure and communication, the resistance of Polish nobles, and understaffed administrative offices, he opted to resign from the position. Brigido, unlike Pergen, spent almost two decades in Galicia reforming Austrian policies and decisions. Towards the end of his term in 1794, Brigido advocated the empowerment of personnel in all administrative offices, as well as the autonomy of the Austrian bureaucracy in Galicia.Less

Toward a “Military, Cameral, and Debt System,” 1733–48

William D. Godsey

in The Sinews of Habsburg Power: Lower Austria in a Fiscal-Military State 1650-1820

This chapter examines the Estates against the background of the war-induced crisis of government that began in 1733. It shows that the Habsburg fiscal-military state was more effective in this period ... More

This chapter examines the Estates against the background of the war-induced crisis of government that began in 1733. It shows that the Habsburg fiscal-military state was more effective in this period in one of its central territories than has been assumed. The ordinary and extraordinary sums approved by the Estates for the government in the last couple of years of the War of the Austrian Succession roughly equaled the sum that would be negotiated as the reformed Contribution in 1748. The leading opponent of the reformed Contribution at the level of the central government, the grand aulic chancellor, Count Friedrich Harrach, belonged to a family that had dominated the Lower Austrian Estates in the previous generation. Harrach’s personal and financial circumstances cast illuminating light on the forces of resistance to reform at the territorial level.Less

Mater Castrorum

Richard Bassett

in For God and Kaiser: The Imperial Austrian Army, 1619-1918

This chapter discusses the victory of Maria Theresa's armies against Prussia. Six years of war cost Austria nearly half a million men, but Prussian casualties were much higher. With two French armies ... More

This chapter discusses the victory of Maria Theresa's armies against Prussia. Six years of war cost Austria nearly half a million men, but Prussian casualties were much higher. With two French armies crossing the Rhine, a Swedish army advancing on Pomerania, and a Russian force headed for East Prussia, the very existence of Frederick's kingdom became open to question. By the end of the war Prussia, both as a state and military machine, was a wasteland. Austria's armies, on the other hand, enjoyed a high reputation while the Empress came to be seen as a Mater Castrorum, Mother of War.Less

The Army and the Josephinian Enlightenment

Richard Bassett

in For God and Kaiser: The Imperial Austrian Army, 1619-1918

This chapter focuses on the reforms implemented by Maria Theresa's son Joseph. The great victories of the Seven Years War not only thwarted a coalition of attempts to annihilate Austria as a great ... More

This chapter focuses on the reforms implemented by Maria Theresa's son Joseph. The great victories of the Seven Years War not only thwarted a coalition of attempts to annihilate Austria as a great power, but also gave Austrian arms a prestige unrivalled in Europe. There was no danger of complacency setting in, as in earlier times, because Joseph was a man in a hurry. Convinced that it was his destiny to modernise his empire and to prepare its armies for the challenges ahead, Joseph scorned tradition as he rushed ahead into radical reforms. No walk of life or entity or religious or racial group was immune from his reforming zeal, and the army and the Church were at the top of his list. His supporters noted that his keen intelligence saw what was coming and his haste was essential to ensure that the explosion about to occur in Paris in 1789 did not happen in Vienna first. His detractors, however, viewed this obsession to intrude into every walk of Imperial life as the misdirected energy of the greatest egotist of his age, in an admittedly competitive field.Less

The Jewish Question in Galicia: The Reforms of Maria Theresa and Joseph II, 1772‒1790

Stanisław Grodziski

in Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry Volume 12: Focusing on Galicia: Jews, Poles and Ukrainians 1772-1918

This chapter focuses on the reforms imposed by the Austrian authorities, who did not recognize the institutions and legal norms that had been inherited from Polish times in the annexed territory of ... More

This chapter focuses on the reforms imposed by the Austrian authorities, who did not recognize the institutions and legal norms that had been inherited from Polish times in the annexed territory of Galicia. Specifically, it examines those reforms that pertained to the legal status of the Jewish population and can be separated quite easily from the wider Theresian–Josephine reforms. Here, the status of the Jews was by no means a secondary issue. The consequences of these reforms may be appraised on several levels. The chapter takes into consideration, first, the economic, social, and legal situation of the Jewish population in Galicia; second, that population's degree of loyalty to the new authorities; third, Jewish coexistence with the Polish population (and, to the degree that the Ukrainian nationalist movement developed, also with the Ukrainian population); and fourth, the situation of Galician Jewry in comparison with the position of Jews under the Polish republic before partition and with the situation of those Jews who found themselves under Russian rule after 1795.Less