Maria Theresa was born on May 13, 1717 in Vienna. Maria grew up in a loving family. Naturally, she was prepared for the role she was to play in life. The young Archduchess of Austria was educated, so to speak, of a masculine nature. She has been participating in meetings of the State Council since the age of 14. In addition, she was taught various languages: French, Italian, Latin. However, she apparently retained a Viennese accent for the rest of her life.
Applicants for the hand of Mary
After the girl turned 18, she was given in marriage, of course, taking into account the interests of the state. Of course, there were many contenders 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 quite a lot of influence. Rumor considered this applicant 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 to this countryglorious military victories.
However, Austria's political preferences were very different. Thinking about how to prevent 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 Habsburgs.
Happy marriage
Mary's husband, as part of the ongoing policy of European balance, was to change his duchy to Tuscany. As a result of the alliance with Theresa, the House of Habsburg-Lorraine was founded. However, sometimes politics does not interfere with feelings. They say that Maria fell in love with Franz when she was still a girl and carried her love through her whole life, although sometimes she was very jealous of her husband.
The marriage was concluded in 1736, February 12th. The honeymoon, which lasted for three, the young 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 a failed Austrian campaign, he returned home with a nervous breakdown.
Large family
Maria Theresa had a large friendly family. Maria claimed that she was insatiable with regard to children, therefore, after each birth, she declared that there were not enough of them. Thearesia's firstborn was born in 1737. After that, she had births in 1738, 1740 … and so almost every year until 1756. Rarely, the interval between pregnancies was two or three years. Maria had 16 children in total, 5 of themboys and 11 girls. In 1756, the youngest son, Maximilian-Franz, was born. Only two died in childhood, which was an undoubted success in those distant times. Maria Theresa paid great attention to the education and upbringing of sons and daughters.
Children loved her, no wonder. By the way, not only her own - strangers were also drawn to her. In 1762, little Mozart, who was invited to play a concert in the palace, feeling the location of Mary, climbed into her lap. This 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. By this time she was already the mother of three children, was pregnant with the fourth. The task of governing the state that faced Thearesia was not an easy one. In addition, the then possessions of the Habsburgs included, in addition to Austria itself, the Czech Republic, the Southern Netherlands, Hungary, and lands in Italy.
At first, the death of Charles was not without political losses. Karl Albrecht, the 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 Empress. Officially, she herself was not crowned, but with all her determination, knowledge of people, with a clear head, she set about the difficult task of governing the state. At first, Mary relied on advisersfather. However, they exaggerated rather than bolstered Thearesia with the courage needed to make responsible decisions.
Franz Stefan activities
Franz Stefan, who yielded to his wife in politics, took over the financial affairs of the Habsburgs, which, by the way, did not prevent him from becoming a millionaire personally. In addition to money, he was also interested in science. Franz collected minerals. He had a solid collection of coins. Thanks to his efforts, a zoo was created in the summer residence of Schönbrunn Palace. It still exists today and is considered the oldest in Europe. The emperor was also fond of agriculture. He created exemplary farms on his estates.
Marriage of children and its role in foreign policy
It must be admitted that Maria Theresa was not very well versed in foreign policy at first. She was guided in international affairs rather by the experience of a mother of many children and a woman. Playing children's weddings in turn, Teresia intermarried with representatives of the most significant ruling houses in Europe. Maria Theresa, marrying her sons and giving her daughters in marriage, strengthened relations with Spain, France, Sicily, Naples, Parma. In this way, she created allies for herself in the ongoing friction with the Prussian king. Evil tongues began to call her the "mother-in-law" and "mother-in-law" of all Europe.
However, if there were no special problems with the marriage of sons, then with the marriage of daughters, not everything was safe. Archduchess Maria Anna, her eldest daughter, remained unmarried due to poor he alth. The wedding of Mary Elisabeth and Louis XV, the French king, almost took place. However, the bride suddenly fell ill with smallpox, so the engagement had to be cancelled. The daughters of Maria Theresa were not married for love, with the exception of Maria Christina. Duke Albert Casimir became her chosen one.
Marie Antoinette is the youngest daughter of Marie Teresa. Fate has prepared for her the saddest fate. Her marriage to Louis XVI, the French king, ended tragically: together with her husband, she was under the knife of the guillotine. It was Marie Antoinette who taught the French to eat croissants for breakfast. She brought their recipe to France. Croissants are symbols of the Muslim crescent. The Austrians baked and ate them as a sign of their victory over the Turks.
Clash with claimants
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 their share of the inheritance. Frederick the Great, King of Prussia (years of life - 1712-1786), taking advantage of the difficult circumstances that the Habsburgs had to face in the issue of succession to the throne, began to conduct military operations in Silesia in the year of the death of Charles VI. And after his death, a war of inheritance began, which lasted from 1741 to 1748. In this war, Prussia claimed Silesia. However, Bavaria and France did not lag behind her. They pestered Mary in the west of the country.
War with Prussia
Prussia remained the most important enemy of all. Mary had to double the size of the army. This required the imposition of additional taxes. Maria TheresaAustrian, 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. This war dragged on for a long 7 years. However, it was not possible to return Silesia. Everyone knew how much Maria suffered this loss.
Maria's activities in domestic politics
It was under Mary that torture and persecution of witches ended in Austria. This empress established the Supreme Court. Maria, taking care of the literacy of her subjects, introduced compulsory education for all. All children between the ages of 6 and 12 had to go to school. The Teresianum, an educational institution founded by the Empress, still operates in Vienna. Today it trains future diplomats. In 1751, Maria also opened the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt. She paid special attention to equipping the medical faculty at the University of Vienna. The new building of this university appeared with her assistance. Paying great attention to diplomacy, Theresa strengthened the alliance with France, Russia and Great Britain. All this had a positive impact on the economy of the state.
Death of Franz I
In 1765, on August 18, Franz I died suddenly. 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 remove the mourning.
Reign together with Joseph II
After the death of her husband, Maria ruled with Joseph II, her son, born March 13, 1741Mr. Josef became emperor at the age of 24. He was not lucky with his marriage: the marriage was unsuccessful, and the children who were born soon 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 ended the colonial policy pursued by Mary. 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. Maria Theresa of Austria, whose biography, you see, is very interesting, became heavier 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 the stairs. True, today you will not see him when taking a tour of the chambers. But you can walk through the rooms and halls of Schönbrunn, where the Empress rested in the summer, see the paintings and drawings of her daughters. In the very center of Vienna there is a monument to Maria Theresa. Note that she lived at the same time as the Russian Empress Catherine the Great.
The Maria Theresa Thaler has been minted with her portrait since 1753. After his death, his release was continued. The year of Mary's death was indicated on it. In 1925, about 15 million thalers were issued. Along with the piastres, this coin was common in Ethiopia and the Arab countries. It was also the main tradingcoin of the Levant, so it began to be called the Levantine thaler.
