Maria Theresa Timeline

Frederick the Great of Prussia seized the opportunity presented by Maria Theresa's accession to invade the rich province of Silesia, violating international agreements. The invasion began the War of Austrian Succession and initiated the long Austro-Prussian rivalry.

Image source: First Silesian War

France, Spain, Bavaria, and Saxony formed an alliance against Maria Theresa, contesting her inheritance. French forces supported the claim of Charles Albert of Bavaria to the Habsburg lands, plunging Europe into a broad war fought across Italy, Germany, and the Low Countries.

Image source: War of the Austrian Succession

The Prussian army under Frederick II defeated the Austrians at Mollwitz in Silesia, cementing Prussian control over much of the province. The defeat exposed weaknesses in the Habsburg military and emboldened other powers to challenge Maria Theresa's succession.

Image source: Battle of Mollwitz

With French support, Elector Charles Albert of Bavaria was elected Holy Roman Emperor, breaking the three-centuries-long Habsburg hold on the imperial title. He was crowned in Frankfurt while Austrian troops were already occupying his own Bavarian homeland.

Image source: Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor

Austrian forces under Field Marshal Khevenhüller retook Prague from the Franco-Bavarian occupiers, reversing fortunes in Bohemia. The victory undermined Charles VII's position and demonstrated the resilience of Maria Theresa's war effort despite early setbacks.

Image source: Siege of Prague (1742)

Emperor Charles VII died, ending the Wittelsbach interlude on the imperial throne. His son Maximilian III Joseph abandoned the war against Austria, allowing Austrian troops to consolidate control of Bavaria and clearing the way for Francis Stephen's election.

The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the war, but forced Maria Theresa to cede Silesia to Prussia and parts of Italy to Spain and Savoy. The humiliating loss of Silesia drove her subsequent military, administrative, and diplomatic reforms.

Image source: Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)

Guided by Chancellor Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, Austria reversed centuries of rivalry by allying with Bourbon France through the Treaty of Versailles. This 'Diplomatic Revolution' reshaped European alliances and set the stage for the Seven Years' War against Prussia and Britain.

Image source: Franco-Austrian alliance

Frederick II preemptively invaded Saxony, igniting the Seven Years' War. Maria Theresa sought to recover Silesia with French and Russian support, but although Austrian armies achieved notable victories, the province remained in Prussian hands when peace came.

Image source: Seven Years' War

Frederick II's smaller Prussian army decisively defeated Prince Charles of Lorraine's Austrian forces at Leuthen in Silesia using masterful oblique tactics. The devastating loss dashed Austrian hopes of retaking Silesia that year, though the broader war continued for five more years.

Image source: Battle of Leuthen

The Treaty of Hubertusburg confirmed Prussia's permanent possession of Silesia, forcing Maria Theresa to abandon her goal of recovering the province. Despite losing the war's principal objective, Austria emerged with its great-power status intact.

Image source: Treaty of Hubertusburg

Maria Theresa reluctantly participated with Frederick II and Catherine the Great in the First Partition of Poland, acquiring Galicia. She expressed moral qualms about the dismemberment, famously lamenting taking from a neighbor what was hers, yet accepted the territorial gain for dynastic reasons.

Image source: First Partition of Poland

Inspired by Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz, Maria Theresa created a central administrative body to unify government across her diverse lands. The reform strengthened central authority, rationalized taxation, and laid the groundwork for the modern bureaucratic state.

Determined to rebuild the army after its poor performance, Maria Theresa founded the Theresian Military Academy at Wiener Neustadt in 1751. She also standardized officer training, improved pay and conditions, and increased the peacetime army to over 100,000 men.

Image source: Theresian Military Academy

After Francis's death, Maria Theresa elevated her eldest son Joseph II to co-regent of the Habsburg dominions while he separately held the imperial crown. The mother-and-son partnership was often tense, as the more radical Joseph chafed against his conservative mother's caution.

Image source: Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

After the smallpox death of her daughter-in-law Maria Josepha in 1767 deeply affected her, Maria Theresa had her surviving children inoculated against smallpox. She championed variolation publicly, helping popularize the practice in Central Europe and reducing mortality from the disease.

Image source: Inoculation

Maria Theresa issued a series of Robot Patents regulating and limiting the corvée labor obligations of serfs in Bohemia, Moravia, and Hungary. These reforms eased peasant burdens, curbed noble excesses, and anticipated the more radical emancipation policies of her son Joseph II.

Following Pope Clement XIV's dissolution of the Society of Jesus, Maria Theresa absorbed Jesuit schools and property into state control. Under the influence of reformers and her son Joseph, she reduced clerical privileges, limited papal interference, and advanced a moderate form of enlightened Catholic reform.

Image source: Suppression of the Society of Jesus

The General School Regulations (Allgemeine Schulordnung) established compulsory elementary education for all children aged six to twelve throughout the Habsburg lands. Drafted largely by Johann Ignaz von Felbiger, the reform expanded schooling and promoted literacy across the monarchy.

Image source: Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions