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Maria Theresa’s rule from 1740 to 1780 marked a transformative period for Austria, as she both consolidated Habsburg authority and introduced a wave of reforms that fundamentally reshaped her domains. Her reign began amidst crisis: when her father, Charles VI, died in 1740, the Pragmatic Sanction he had secured to ensure her succession as ruler of Austria and Hungary did not prevent other European powers from challenging her claim. This led to the War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748), during which Prussia, France, and other states contested Austria's power. Although Austria ultimately lost the prosperous region of Silesia to Prussia, Maria Theresa successfully defended most of her territories, securing the Habsburg Empire’s stability for the rest of her reign.
A significant diplomatic shift followed: Maria Theresa allied with France, Austria’s longtime rival, in the Reversal of Alliances, hoping to reclaim Silesia in a fresh conflict against Prussia. This led to the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), a costly and inconclusive struggle that further drained Austria’s finances and underscored the need for internal reform. Despite these wars, Maria Theresa’s reforms strengthened Austria’s administration, economy, and society. Her advisors, including the influential Count von Haugwitz and Gerard van Swieten, played a central role in reforming state structures. Haugwitz initiated efforts to centralize Austria’s administrative apparatus, introduced the first tax levied on the nobility, and began standardizing a civil service, aiming for more efficient governance across the Habsburg territories.
Maria Theresa also enacted sweeping changes in education, notably establishing the Theresianum and modernizing primary education in a Prussian-inspired system. By mandating schooling for both boys and girls and founding teacher-training institutions, she set the foundation for an educated populace—though resistance from traditional sectors, such as the rural nobility, slowed these efforts. Her focus on civil rights included abolishing torture and redefining peasant-lord relations, which limited noble privileges and aimed to protect peasants, aligning with her broader vision of a stable, centralized state.
Religious policy under Maria Theresa remained conservative despite some reforms. While she reined in the Jesuits, removing their control over education and censorship even before their dissolution by the Pope in 1773, she maintained policies hostile to Protestant and Jewish communities, mandating forced conversions or exile, though her stance softened in her later years.
Maria Theresa’s later years were marked by her co-rule with her son, Joseph II, who became emperor in 1765. Joseph, inspired by Enlightenment ideals, frequently clashed with his mother’s pragmatic conservatism, advocating for faster and more radical reforms. Despite their ideological disagreements, Maria Theresa’s reign prepared Austria for her son’s more aggressive reform agenda, which he would pursue after her death in 1780. Maria Theresa’s rule was pivotal in shaping Austria’s transition from a feudal state into a more centralized and modern entity, blending Baroque absolutism with early Enlightenment ideas.