Maria Theresa was born on May 13, 1717 in Vienna. Maria grew up in a loving family. Naturally, she was being prepared for the role she was to play in life. The young Archduke of Austria was educated, so to speak, of a male character. She has participated in State Council meetings since she was 14 years old. In addition, she was taught various languages: French, Italian, Latin. However, until the end of her life, apparently, she retained a Viennese accent.
Challengers for Mary’s hand
After the girl turned 18 years old, she was married, naturally, taking into account the interests of the state. Of course, there were many applicants for the hand of Mary, the future Empress of Austria. The Prussian crown prince, one of the suitors, was supported by Eugene of Savoy, an Austrian marshal who had a rather big influence. This applicant rumor considered the illegitimate son of Louis XIV, the French king. The future song hero and marshal was not recognized in his youth in his homeland. Therefore, he ended up in Austria and subsequently brought brilliant military victories to this country.
However, Austria had very different political preferences . Thinking of obstructing the withdrawal of Lorraine to France, the family entered into an alliance with the Prussian Crown Prince Franz Stefan of Lorraine. It was a distant relative of the Bourbons and the Habsburgs.
Happy marriage
The spouse of Mary, in the framework of the policy of European equilibrium, was to replace her duchy for Tuscany. As a result of an alliance with Theresa, the Habsburg-Lorraine House was founded. However, sometimes politics does not interfere with feelings. They say that as a girl, Maria fell in love with Franz and carried her love through her life, although sometimes she was very jealous of her husband.
The marriage was concluded in 1736, February 12. The honeymoon, which lasted for three, the young people spent in Tuscany. Then they returned to the palace (Vienna). Maria Theresa actually took over all political affairs. Her husband in them, as in the military, was not very strong. For example, in 1738, after an Austrian campaign that ended in failure, he returned home with a nervous breakdown.
Large family
Maria Theresa had a large friendly family. Maria claimed that she was insatiable with respect to children, therefore, after each birth she stated that they were not enough. Theresia's firstborn was born in 1737. After that, she had birth in 1738, 1740 ... and so almost every year until 1756. Rarely, the interval between pregnancies was two or three years. Mary had a total of 16 children, of which 5 were boys and 11 were girls. In 1756, the youngest son, Maximilian-Franz, was born. Only two died in childhood, which in those days was undoubted luck. The education and upbringing of sons and daughters was given great attention by Maria Theresa.
Her children, which is not surprising, loved her. By the way, not only her own - aliens also reached out to her. In 1762, little Mozart, who was invited to play a concert in the palace, feeling the location of Mary, climbed to her knees. It was subsequently captured by a court painter.
The death of Charles VI and a new turn in the fate of Mary
However, the serene happiness of the spouses was assigned a short time. Emperor Charles VI died in 1740, and Mary, who was then 23 years old, had to ascend the throne of Austria. She was already the mother of three children by this time, she was pregnant with the fourth. The task of governing the state that confronted Theresa was not easy. In addition, the then Habsburg possessions included, in addition to Austria itself, the Czech Republic, the South Netherlands, Hungary, and lands in Italy.
At first, due to the death of Karl, there were political losses. Karl Albrecht, Bavarian elector, received the crown, and only 5 years later, in 1745, after his death and with the consent of his son, she returned to Austria. As a matter of fact, Franz Stefan became emperor under the name of Franz I, and therefore Maria Theresa became known as the Empress. Officially, she herself was not crowned, but with all determination, knowledge of people, her clear head took up the difficult task of running the state. At first, Mary relied on her father's advisers. However, they rather exaggerated than supported the Theresia courage necessary for making responsible decisions.
Activities of Franz Stefan
Franz Stefan, who lost his wife to politics, set to work on the financial affairs of the Habsburgs, which, incidentally, did not prevent him from becoming a millionaire. In addition to money, he was also interested in science. Franz was collecting minerals. He had a solid collection of coins. Thanks to his efforts, a zoo was created at the summer residence of Schönbrunn Palace. It exists today and is considered the oldest in Europe. The emperor was also fond of agriculture. He created exemplary households on his estates.
Marriage of children and her role in foreign policy
It must be admitted that at first Maria Theresa was not very well versed in foreign policy. She was guided in international affairs by the experience of a mother and woman with many children. Alternately playing weddings for children, Theresa became related with representatives of the most significant ruling houses in Europe. Maria Theresa, the wife of sons and marrying daughters, strengthened relations with Spain, France, Sicily, Naples, Parma. Thus she created allies for herself in incessant friction with the Prussian king. Evil tongues began to call her "mother-in-law" and "mother-in-law" of all Europe.
However, if there were no special problems with the marriage of sons, then not all was well with the marriage of daughters. Archduke Maria Anna, her eldest daughter, remained unmarried due to poor health. The wedding of Maria Elizabeth and Louis XV, the French king, had hardly taken place. However, the bride suddenly fell ill with smallpox, so I had to terminate the engagement. The daughters of Maria Theresa were married out of love, with the exception of Maria Christina. Her chosen one was the Duke Albert Casimir.
Marie Antoinette is the youngest daughter of Maria Theresa. Fate has prepared for her the most sad fate. Her marriage to Louis XVI, the French king, ended tragically: together with her husband, she was under a guillotine knife. It was Marie Antoinette who taught the French how to eat croissants for breakfast. She brought their recipe to France. Croissants are symbols of the Muslim crescent. Their Austrians baked and ate as a sign of their victory over the Turks.
Clashes with applicants for inheritance
The reign of the empress was complicated by the fact that Prussia and Bavaria, after the death of her father, did not want to recognize the Pragmatic sanction. They wanted to get their share of the inheritance. Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia (years of life - 1712-1786), taking advantage of the difficult circumstances that the Habsburgs had to face on the issue of succession to the throne, began to conduct military operations in Silesia as early as the year of the death of Charles VI. And after his death, the war for inheritance began, which lasted from 1741 to 1748. In this war, Prussia claimed Silesia. However, Bavaria and France did not lag behind it. They bothered Mary in the west of the country.
War with Prussia
Still, the most important enemy of all remained Prussia. Mary had to double the size of the army. This required the introduction of additional taxes. Maria Theresa of Austria, in addition, united the rule of Bohemia and Austria. The Empress was haunted by the loss of Silesia. In 1756, she started a war with Prussia. For a long 7 years this war was stretched. However, it was not possible to return Silesia. Everyone knew how much Mary lost this loss.
Mary's activities in domestic politics
It was under Mary in Austria that torture and persecution of witches ended. This empress established the Supreme Court. Maria, taking care of the literacy of subjects, introduced compulsory education for all. All children from 6 to 12 years old had to study. In Vienna, there is still the Theresianum, an educational institution established by the Empress. Today it prepares future diplomats. In 1751, Maria also opened the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt. She paid special attention to the equipment at the University of Vienna, Faculty of Medicine. A new corps of this university appeared with her assistance. Paying great attention to diplomacy, Theresa strengthened its alliance with France, Russia and the United Kingdom. All this positively affected the state economy.
The death of Franz I
In 1765, on August 18, Franz I suddenly died. This happened in Innsbruck, where he and his wife arrived at the wedding of Archduke Leopold, his son. For Mary, this loss was huge. For 15 years she did not take off mourning.
Board with Joseph II
After the death of her husband, Maria ruled along with Joseph II, his son, born March 13, 1741. Joseph became an emperor at 24. He was not lucky with marriage: the marriage was unsuccessful, and the children who soon came into the world died at a young age. His wife died early, and after her death, he remarried. However, there were no children from this marriage. Maria Theresa of Austria did not fight with her son for leadership. However, there was no unanimity between them. In particular, Joseph stopped Maria’s colonial policy. And on other issues, they had opposite views.
The death of Maria Theresa and her memory
Maria Theresa died in Vienna on November 29, 1780. She was only 63 years old. You see, Maria Theresa of Austria, whose biography is very interesting, plunged with age and moved with difficulty. In Schönbrunn, in the palace, they even built a special elevator for her so that the empress did not have to climb stairs. True, today you will not see him on a tour of the chambers. But you can walk through the rooms and halls of Schönbrunn, in which the Empress rested in the summer, see the paintings and drawings of her daughters. In the center of Vienna is a monument to Maria Theresa. Note that she lived at the same time as the Russian Empress Catherine the Great.
Thaler Maria Theresa has been minted with her portrait since 1753. After death, his release was continued. It indicated the year of the death of Mary. In 1925, about 15 million thalers were issued. Along with piastre, this coin was distributed in Ethiopia and the Arab countries. It was also the main trading coin of the Levant, so it began to be called the Levantine thaler.