Kaiserin Maria Theresia

Maria Theresia, Kaiserin, the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa (Vienna, 1717-80, Vienna), was the eldest daughter of the Emperor Karl VI and as such an archduchess. In 1736 she was married to Duke Francis of Lorraine (see Franz I), with whom she lived in happy marriage while maintaining her sovereign authority intact. When she succeeded her father in 1740 under the provisions of the Pragmatic Sanction (see Pragmatische Sanktion), her position was immediately contested by the young Friedrich II of Prussia, who promised to support her imperial election, but only on the condition that she ceded Lower Silesia. She promptly refused, and he invaded Silesia (see Schlesische Kriege). In 1741, when a rival claimant, the Elector Karl of Bavaria (see Karl VII, Kaiser), invaded Austria, she became involved in a general war known as the War of the Austrian Succession (see Österreichischer Erbfolgekrieg). After Karl was elected emperor in January 1742, to the great satisfaction of France, George II of England, as Elector of Hanover, went to her aid with the Pragmatic army (see Pragmatische Armee). Maria Theresia's own loyal Hungarians repulsed the Bavarians and occupied Bavaria. On the death of Karl VII in 1745, Maria Theresia's husband was elected emperor, but the Peace of Aachen between France, Austria, and England was not concluded until 1748.

This turbulent opening of her reign injured Maria Theresia's sense of justice and strengthened her patriotism. In the following years she strongly supported the policy of Kaunitz, which was to seek the recovery of Silesia (see Diplomatische Revolution). But seven years of war (1756-63, see Siebenjähriger Krieg) ended, in spite of many Austrian successes, in the status quo ante bellum. After the sudden death of Franz I in 1765, her eldest son acceded as the Emperor Joseph II, and he and his mother ruled in uneasy partnership until her death in 1780.

Maria Theresia's greatest achievements lay in the field of home policy. She reformed and centralized the Austrian administration, and laid the foundation for a system of elementary schools. This she accomplished partly by reducing the independence of the Roman Catholic Church in order to make it more amenable to state interests. At the same time she took heed of the susceptibilities of nationalities, and of attachment to tradition. She combined tenacity and strength of purpose with an unmistakably feminine temperament. Her contented family life and the rectitude of her conduct won for her respect and affection at all levels of the population. The 6-year-old Mozart enchanted her with his playing in Schönbrunn in 1762, and was rewarded with the court dress which he wears in a well-known portrait. He played to her again in 1768.