The Accomplishments Of Maria Theresa And How She Changed The World

When and Where
Maria Theresa’s 40 year reign began on October 20, 1740, right after her father passed away and gave the throne to her. She ruled over Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Glacia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma. Maria Theresa was the last of the House of Habsburg and the only ever female ruler of the Habsburg dominions.
Her Accomplishments
Maria Theresa was the Archduchess of Austria, the Queen of Bohemia, and the Queen of Hungary. She wanted to make life throughout her kingdom better. She provided education to male serfs, created a new school system based on the Prussian one, where all children of both genders from the ages of six to twelve had to attend school, free-tenant status of peasants,

founded schools for military training, improved transportation, and limited the power of labour that the nobles would force peasants to do. The Archduchess created standardized landlord fees and encouraged immigration.
The Queen changed the government of these countries for the better and unified the countries.

She unified the currency, measures, weights, customs, and taxes of the Habsburg, and created a unified judicial code that we call the Theresian. It was the foundation for many of today’s Central European laws. The Archduchess created a professional army by maintaining a seven year service for every male serf in her kingdom. She proclaimed that German was the only acceptable language to communicate in and forced her kingdom to speak German. The Empress also decreased the power of the nobility. Maria Theresa led a very successful Reformation that was well structured and changed the way the government ran in the Habsburg dominions. She created a system of appellate courts and abolished the use of torture to get a confession. Maria Theresa created a tax on the Catholic Church, taxes on the nobility, and required all elected officials to have their qualification checked before receiving

power.
The Archduchess revamped the medical field of Austria and pushed for better hygiene. She was also worried about infant mortality in Austria. The Empress made a decree that autopsies would be mandatory for every hospital death in Graz and banned the creation of new burial grounds without government permission, trying to put a stop to unsanitary burial customs. She also had all of the children vaccinated for smallpox in 1767 and changed the negative view of inoculation.
Qualities of the Queen
Maria Theresa was kind-hearted, courageous and generous.

She respected the rights of her people and expected them to respect hers. The Archduchess was pretty much the first person to live by the Golden Rule, “One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.” The reason that so many people liked her was because she felt like her cause should be her people’s cause and that helped her get ‘fans’. She also understood the importance of her public image and was able to simultaneously evoke both esteem and affection from her subjects. One thing that helped her along the way was her great ability to select good mentors to be her advisors by being able to see their true character easily. This helped her in the long run by making a very trustworthy

court.
Beliefs
Maria never allowed the Church to interfere with what she considered to be the advantages of a monarch and kept Rome at arm’s length. She was a devout Roman Catholic and explicitly rejected the idea of religious toleration. She thought religious unity was necessary for a peaceful public life. Members of the Jesuits educated her, served as her confessors, and supervised the religious education of her eldest son. Later in her life, though, she was advised that they posed a danger to her monarchical authority because they were powerful and influential. She issued a decree which removed them from all institutions of the monarchy and went to great lengths to keep them out of her government. She actively tried to suppress both the Jews and the Protestants. Maria wrote about the Jews, saying “I know no greater plague than this race, which on account of its deceit, usury and avarice, is driving my subjects into beggary. Therefore, as far as possible, the Jews are to be kept away and avoided.” She imposed extremely harsh taxes on them and expelled them from her hereditary dominions. The Queen also transferred the Protestants from Austria to Transylvania. The Empress cut down the number of religious holidays and monastic orders also.
Absolute Ruler Or Not
I feel that Maria Theresa was an absolute ruler because she didn’t let anything get in the way of what she wanted. If she wanted something done, she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She had advisors that helped her rule, but they couldn’t change her mind on something she really wanted. They could only delay. I feel like she actually tried to help her people and better their lives, even if sometimes her methods were questionable.