How Did Maria Theresa Change The World

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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 to peasants,…show more content…
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. She 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. She 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 appeal courts and abolished the use of torture to get a confession. Maria Theresa created a tax on the Catholic Church, taxes on nobility, and required all elected officials to have their qualification checked before receiving…show more content…
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 monarchial 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. She wrote about 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. She also transferred the Protestants from Austria to Transylvania. She cut down the number of religious holidays and monastic orders
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