First page - Vivat Maria Theresia
Second page - Archduchess Maria Theresia
Third page - The Austrian Succession War
Fourth page - The Seven Years' War
Fifth page - The Final Years
Sixth page - Topics
About Me
Previous page: The Seven Years' War
This page: The Final Years
Next page: Topics
The Final Years
Maria Theresia had fought two major wars with all her heart and had hoped to be able to regain the lost province of Silesia that Frederick of Prussia had taken in 1740 but although the war was not a defeat for Austria, it had not been possible to win the necessary battles to call it a victory.The Seven Year's War was to be the last major conflict.Maria Theresia's reforms were aimed to improve the welfare, health and well-being of her people and became her main concern.
Innsbruck 1765
On the 5th August 1765, Maria Theresia and her husbaeopold and his bride Maria Ludovica of Bourbon-Spain which took place in Innsbruck, Tyrol.
The Imperial family resided in the Imperial Palace (Hofburg) in Innsbruck during the celebrations for the wedding.
The opulent wedding celebrations continued for two weeks and the
entertainment consisted of Opera performances, hunting, and other amusements.
The Imperial family returned to Vienna and the Emperor was duly placed to rest in the Imperial Crypt.
Maria Theresia was deeply in love with her husband and dressed in mourning clothes for the rest of her life.
Throughout her widowhood, Maria Theresia often visited the Imperial Crypt.
She commemorated the eighteenth day of each month and observed the month of August as an anniversary of the death of her husband and withdrew herself to her rooms.
She completely withdrew from court life, public events, and the theatre.
Her eldest son, Joseph, became Holy Roman Emperor. Maria Theresia declared her son Joseph to be her new co-ruler but she and her son frequently differed in their opinions and she soon felt obliged to limit his authority to military matters and foreign policy. She had at one point even considered abdicating but eventually decided to carry on.Joseph was Holy Roman Emperor but as before his mother remained responsible for the affairs of state and procedures made in regard to the Habsburg Hereditary Lands and other important decisions.
She did not give up the reins, but it was difficult for her to make headway or entirely carry out her own views. The Theresian era slowly but surely came to an end and the 'Josephine' period began.Her ambitious son was full of ideas. The liberal-minded co-regent had good intentions but in many respects their views varied.She did not approve of the War of the Bavarian Succession and foresaw the fact that Prussia would get involved.
The last ten years of her life were dedicated to the improvement of the
education system and schools. She also tried to improve the life of the
peasantry, and to put an end to their oppression. Joseph hesitated in regard to
the abolishment of serfdom in Bohemia
due to the opposition made by the Bohemian gentry.
In 1767 smallpox
ravaged its way through the Empire. This very contagious disease was looked
upon with dread during the eighteenth century. Most of its victims either died
or were disfigured and many members of the Imperial family caught this dreadful
disease.
Maria Theresia became seriously ill with smallpox just after her
fiftieth birthday in May 1767, and it is thought she never fully recovered from
the disease which she had contracted from her daughter-in-law, Maria Josepha of
Bavaria who
died on the 28th May 1767.
In 1772, at fifty-five years of age, Maria Theresia became, despite her criticism, reluctantly involved in the first partition of the Poland.
The Austrian statesman Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz was proud of the Austrian gains. After the pre-arranged partition, Galicia became part of the Realm at the cost of the waning Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth which lost about a third of its territory and half of its population to Austria, Prussia and Russia.
"Placet, because so many great and learned men wish it; but when I have been long dead, people will see what must come from the violation of everything that until now has been deemed holy and right."
In 1778, the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778-1779) began.
Joseph wanted to expand his influence in Central Europe but this was a threat for Frederick II.
Maria Theresia and Frederick saw no point in pursuing hostilities but Joseph went on despite the opinion of his mother.
The conflict had been encouraged by her son and co-ruler, Joseph II and was about to become another major war against Prussia but Maria Theresia craved for peace and promoted a diplomatic solution and intervened and stopped the conflict gaining ground.
Maria Theresia's last day
She visited the Imperial Crypt for the last time on the 18th November 1780.
Towards the end of her life she became very stout and walked with difficulty and was in a bad state of health. She had great difficulty climbing or descending the stairs was very hard for her and therefore a seat had been constructed to enable her to be raised or lowered slowly into the vault.
During her last visit to the crypt an accident happened as she was being lowered into the vault.
She had almost reached the floor when the strong rope which held the construction suddenly broke. The chair fell but she was not hurt but was shocked because she regarded the incident as a bad omen and a sign that she was soon be consigned to join her beloved husband in this eternal place of rest.
She had most probably caught a cold whilst visiting the tomb and became very ill. The illness was at first regarded as being a cold but her coughing increased and she could barely breathe.
Her personal physician, Anton von Störck, who had treated Maria Theresia for smallpox in 1867, diagnosed her condition as very serious.
Within a few days her health deteriorated to such an extent and she developed pleurisy which made her sit upright in an armchair to ease her breathing.
She suffered bravely and did not complain but the difficulty to breathe finally made her to perceive her approaching death and called for the last sacrament. She then summoned all the members of the Imperial family who were in Vienna to be with her and after speaking to her children she bestowed a maternal blessing upon each of them and upon those of her children who were absent.
She then suddenly rose from her chair - her eldest son Joseph quickly supported her gently and asked her of her intentions.
Maria Theresia raised her eyes and cried, "Ich komme zu dir, mein Gott!" ("To thee! I come! O Lord") and sank back in the chair and died.
Maria Theresia passed away on the 29th November 1780 at about nine o'clock in the evening in the Hofburg in Vienna.