Maria Theresa - Archduchess of Austria: biography, children

Maria Theresa was born 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 received education, if I may say so, of a masculine character. She has participated in meetings of the State Council since 14 years. In addition, she was taught various languages: French, Italian, Latin. However, for the rest of her life, apparently, she retained the Vienna accent.

Applicants to the hand of Mary

After the girl was 18 years old, she was married, naturally, taking into account the interests of the state. Of course, there were many contenders for the hand of Mary, the future Empress of Austria. Prussian crown prince, one of the suitors, was supported by Eugene of Savoy, the Austrian marshal, who had quite a great influence. This rumor was considered by the rumor to be 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 was in Austria and subsequently brought to this country brilliant military victories.

However, Austria's political preferences were completely different. Thinking about hindering the retreat to France of Lorraine, the family concluded an alliance with Prussian Crown Prince Franz Stefan of Lorraine. He was a distant relative of the Bourbons and Habsburgs.

Happy marriage

Maria's husband, in the framework of the pursued policy of European equilibrium, was to replace his duchy with Tuscany. As a result of the alliance with Theresa, the House of Habsburg-Lorraine was founded. However, at times, politics does not interfere with feelings. They say that Maria was still a girl, she fell in love with Franz and carried her love through life, although at times she was very jealous of her husband.

The marriage was concluded in 1736, on 12 February. The honeymoon, which stretched for three, the young spent in Tuscany. Then they returned to the palace (Vienna). Maria Theresa actually took over all political affairs. Her spouse in them, as well as in the military, was not very strong. For example, in 1738, after an Austrian campaign ended in failure, he returned home with a nervous breakdown.

A large family

Maria Theresa had a large family with many children. Maria claimed that she was insatiable with respect to children, so she declared after each birth that they were not enough. The first-born Theresa was born in 1737. After that she had childbirth in 1738, 1740 ... and so almost every year until 1756. Rarely the interval between pregnancies was two or three years. Maria had only 16 children, 5 of them boys and 11 girls. In 1756 the youngest son Maximilian-Franz was born. As a child, only two died, which was an undeniable success in those days. The education and education of sons and daughters paid great attention to Maria Theresa.

Her children, unsurprisingly, loved her. By the way, not only her own - strangers also reached out to her. In 1762, a small Mozart, who was invited to play a concert in the palace, feeling the location of Mary, climbed to her knees. This was subsequently captured by the court painter.

The death of Charles VI and a new turn in the fate of Mary

However, the serene happiness of the couple was appointed for a short time. The Emperor Charles VI died in 1740, and Maria, who was at that time 23 years old, had to ascend to the throne of Austria. She was already the mother of three children, was pregnant with the fourth. The task of administering the state facing Theresa turned out to be not easy. In addition, the then possessions of the Habsburgs included, besides Austria itself, the Czech Republic, the Southern Netherlands, Hungary, lands in Italy.

At first, because of the death of Karl, there were political losses. Karl Albrecht, the Bavarian elector, received the crown, and only five years later, in 1745, after his death and with the consent of his son, she returned to Austria. Strictly speaking, the emperor became Franz I's Franz Stefan, and therefore Maria Theresa became known as the empress. Officially, she herself was not crowned, but with all the determination, knowledge of people, she began with a clear head for the difficult matter of governing the state. At first Mary relied on her father's advisers. However, they rather exaggerated the colors that supported the courage in Theresa necessary for making responsible decisions.

Activities Franz Stefan

Franz Stefan, who ceded his wife to politics, took up the financial affairs of the Habsburgs, which, by the way, did not stop him from becoming a millionaire to him personally. In addition to money, he was also interested in science. Franz collected the minerals. He had a solid collection of coins. In the summer residence of the Schönbrunn Palace, thanks to his efforts, the zoo was created. It exists today and is considered to be the oldest in Europe. The emperor also was fond of agriculture. He created exemplary farms in his estates.

The marriage of children and its role in foreign policy

It must be acknowledged that Maria Theresa at first was not very well versed in foreign policy. She was guided in international affairs by the experience of a mother with many children and a woman. In turn, playing the children's weddings, Theresia became related with representatives of the most important ruling houses in Europe. Maria Theresa, the wife of sons and marrying her daughters, strengthened relations with Spain, France, Sicily, Naples, Parma. Thus, she created allies for herself in unceasing friction with the Prussian king. Evil tongues began to call her "mother-in-law" and "mother-in-law" throughout Europe.

However, if there were no special problems with the marriage of the sons, then with the marriage of the daughters, everything was not all right. Archduchess Maria Anna, her eldest daughter, remained due to poor health unmarried. The wedding of Maria Elizabeth and Louis XV, the French king, hardly took place. However, the bride suddenly fell ill with smallpox, so I had to terminate the engagement. Maria Theresa's daughters were not married for love, except for Maria Cristina. Her chosen one was Duke Albert Casimir.

Maria Antoinette is the youngest daughter of Maria Theresa. Fate prepared for her the most sad fate. Her marriage with Louis XVI, the French king, ended tragically: with her husband she was under the knife of a guillotine. It was Marie Antoinette who taught the French to eat croissants for breakfast. She brought their prescription to France. Croissants are symbols of the Muslim crescent. Their Austrians baked and ate as a token of their victory over the Turks.

Clashes with applicants for inheritance

The rule 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, Prussian king (years of life - 1712-1786), taking advantage of the difficult circumstances that had to be faced in the matter of succession to the Habsburgs, began to conduct military operations in Silesia in the year of the death of Charles VI. And after his death, the war for the inheritance began, which lasted from 1741 to 1748. In this war Prussia claimed Silesia. However, Bayern and France did not lag behind it. They pestered Mary in the west of the country.

War with Prussia

The most important enemy of all remained still Prussia. Mary had to double the strength of the army. This required additional taxes. Maria Theresa of Austria, in addition, united the rule of Bohemia and Austria. The Empress did not give rest to the loss of Silesia. In 1756, she began a war with Prussia. For a long 7 years this war stretched out. However, it was not possible to return Silesia. Everyone knew how much of this loss Maria suffered.

The activities of Mary in domestic politics

It was under Maria in Austria that torture and persecution of witches ended. This empress established the Supreme Court. Maria, caring about the literacy of her subjects, introduced a compulsory education for all. All children from 6 to 12 years old had to learn. In Vienna, until now operates Teresianum - an educational institution established by the empress. Today, future diplomats are preparing it. In 1751, Maria also opened the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt. She paid special attention to equipping the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Vienna. The new building of this university appeared with its assistance. Paying great attention to diplomacy, Theresia strengthened the alliance with France, Russia and Great Britain. All this had a positive effect on the economy of the state.

The death of Franz I

In 1765, August 18, Franz I. died unexpectedly. It was in Innsbruck, where, together with his wife, he came to the wedding of Archduke Leopold, his son. For Maria this loss was huge. For 15 years she did not take off her mourning.

The Board together with Josef II

After the death of her husband Maria ruled with Josef II, his son, born March 13, 1741, Josef at age 24 became emperor. With marriage, he was unlucky: the marriage was unsuccessful, and the children who were born soon died at a young age. His wife died early, and after his death he married again. However, there were no children from this marriage either. Maria Theresa of Austria did not fight her son for leadership. However, there was no unanimity between them. In particular, Josef stopped the colonial policy pursued by Mary. And on other issues they had opposite views.

The death of Maria Theresa and the memory of her

Maria Theresa died in Vienna on November 29, 1780. She was only 63 years old. Maria Theresa of Austria, whose biography, you will agree, is very interesting, has sunk with age and has struggled to move. In Schönbrunn, in the palace, even a special elevator was built for her, so that the empress did not have to climb stairs. True, today you will not see him, making 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 pictures and drawings of her daughters. In the heart of Vienna is a monument to Maria Theresa. Note that she lived at one time with the Russian Empress Catherine the Great.

Thaler Maria Theresa was minted with her portrait from 1753. After his death, his release was continued. On it was indicated the year of Maria's demise. In 1925, about 15 million thalers were released. Along with the piastre, this coin was common in Ethiopia and the Arab countries. It was also the main trading coin of the Levant, therefore it was called the Levantine thaler.