Abstract
[Autom. eng. transl.] With the reign of Maria Teresa (1740-80, from 1765 in co-regency with his son Giuseppe II), the Habsburg Empire profoundly redefines its international position, emphasizing the characteristics of 'central power' with respect to European political space. The causes of this realignment are different and are linked in particular to the parallel expansion of neighboring powers (Prussia and Russia), which leads on the one hand to the removal of lands already belonging to the Empire (Duchy of Silesia), on the other to a growing competition along its eastern and north-eastern borders. The war of Austrian succession (1740-48) and the war of the seven years (1756-63) play a central role in this process, becoming part of the wider context of the conflicts which, with the first campaigns of Louis XIV contribute to redesigning the map of the Post-Westphalian Europe. The Teresian reforms in the political and military field and its alliance policy, based on the unfortunate rapprochement with France (culminating in the 1770 marriage of her daughter, Maria Antonia, with the future Louis XVI), also contribute to this process, from a partly by reorganizing the obsolete military instrument of the Empire, on the other by laying the foundations for a strengthening of the position of the Habsburgs in the Italian peninsula whose outcomes, however, would have emerged in full clarity only many years after the death of the sovereign.
Translated title of the contribution | [Autom. eng. transl.] Maria Teresa, the Habsburgs, Europe: the roots of a new balance |
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Original language | Italian |
Title of host publication | Maria Teresa d’Austria Trieste e l’Europa |
Pages | 21-38 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Publication status | Published - 2018 |
Keywords
- Impero asburgico