The era of enlightened absolutism in the Czech lands under Maria Theresa (1740–1780) and her son, Joseph II (1780–1790), brought significant changes influenced by Enlightenment ideals. Both rulers sought a more rational and efficient administration for Bohemia, moving to centralize control and reduce the power of regional estates. This centralized governance aimed to unify the Habsburg territories but gradually dismantled the traditional autonomy of the Bohemian Kingdom.
Maria Theresa’s rule was initially challenged when Frederick II of Prussia, allied with Bavaria and Saxony, invaded Bohemia in 1740. Despite reclaiming most of Bohemia, Maria Theresa was forced to cede almost all of Silesia to Prussia in the Treaty of Breslau (1742), depriving Bohemia of its most industrialized region. She subsequently merged Bohemian administration with Austria, stripping the Czech estates of political authority and establishing German as the official language of governance. Her reforms extended to the church and education, nationalizing schools, eliminating Jesuit influence, and promoting the sciences over theology. Although German became more prominent, these changes also broadened educational access, providing opportunities for the Czech populace to advance.
The reforms continued under Joseph II, who expanded religious tolerance with the Patent of Toleration in 1781, permitting Protestant worship. He abolished feudal obligations such as forced labor, granting peasants freedom to move and marry. This increase in social mobility led many Czech peasants to migrate to cities, accelerating urban growth, industrialization, and the emergence of a Czech middle class in cities that had previously been largely German-speaking.
The social and economic progress fueled by these reforms ultimately aided the Czech population. Industrialization spread, with investments in textiles, coal, and glass manufacturing, and urban areas grew as Czechs moved into the workforce and educational institutions. However, the Germanization of the administration and nobility threatened Czech cultural identity, leading to a gradual erosion of the Bohemian Kingdom’s autonomy.
Under later rulers, particularly Francis II, many of Joseph’s reforms were rolled back under pressure from the aristocracy, and the Austrian Empire emerged after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Although the reforms of Maria Theresa and Joseph II weakened Czech political autonomy, they indirectly laid the groundwork for the Czech National Revival by fostering a literate and engaged Czech middle class, who would later advocate for national identity and autonomy.
In 1805, Napoleon’s army invaded Austrian territory, culminating in the decisive Battle of Austerlitz, or the Battle of the Three Emperors, fought in South Moravia near Brno. Napoleon’s victory over the combined Austrian and Russian forces forced the Habsburg Emperor Francis I to sign the Treaty of Pressburg, which ceded substantial Habsburg territories to Napoleon’s allies. Shortly afterward, the Holy Roman Empire was formally dissolved, and in its place, Napoleon established the Confederation of the Rhine, a collection of German states under French influence.
For the Czech lands, the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire marked the end of an era, as the Austrian Empire emerged as a new entity within Central Europe. This restructuring further centralized Habsburg control, including over the Bohemian Kingdom, and added to the strains on the Czech population due to conscription, taxation, and resource demands during the Napoleonic campaigns. These pressures fueled local discontent and indirectly influenced the growing awareness of Czech national identity, which would later propel the Czech National Revival.