The Children of Adam and Eve

Maria Theresa (1717-80), archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary and
Bohemia (1740-80), who strengthened and unified the Austrian monarchy in
the 18th century. Born in Vienna on May 13, 1717, she was the daughter of
Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. In 1736 she married Francis Stephen of
Lorraine (later Holy Roman Emperor Francis I), and the couple eventually
had 16 Children, including two future emperors, Joseph II and Leopold II,
and Marie Antoinette, later queen of France.

Succession and Rule

Charles VI's efforts to guarantee Maria Theresa's succession as ruler of
the Habsburg dominions led to the War of the Austrian Succession (see
Austrian Succession, War of the). The war lost her Austrian Silesia, but
she was able to retain her other dominions, and in 1745 she acquired the
title of Holy Roman emperor for her husband. In the years after the war
Maria Theresa accomplished sweeping internal reforms that strengthened her
central administration and revitalized the army. With her state
chancellor, Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, she also drastically reordered
Austria's foreign policy, abandoning the traditional alignment with Great
Britain in favor of collaboration with France and Russia against Prussia.
After trying without success to reconquer Silesia in the Seven Years' War
(1756-63), she turned to a More pacific policy. On the advice of Kaunitz
and her son Joseph, However, she participated in the first partition of
Poland (1772), thereby acquiring Galicia.

After Francis's Death in 1765 Maria Theresa recognized Joseph as coregent
but retained ultimate authority for herself. She largely resisted her
son's desires for further internal reforms, although she did abolish
serfdom on crown lands. Often pondering abdication, she always demurred
because she considered Joseph too rash, particularly in his religious
policies. She died on November 29, 1780, in Vienna.

Evaluation

Pious and faithful but unfriendly toWard the Enlightenment, Maria Theresa
has often been dismissed as a traditional dynast. Her actions derived from
a conviction that she held a trust from God and from a maternalistic
conception of her responsibilities. She was, However, intensely pragmatic,
conscious of the obligations of power, and a shrewd judge of her
ministers.