Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II (March 13, 1741 – February 20, 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790. He was the eldest son of the empress Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I. Joseph was one of the so-called "enlightened monarchs".

Joseph as ruling emperor

The death of Maria Theresa on November 27, 1780, left Joseph free. He immediately directed his government on a new course, full speed ahead. He proceeded to attempt to realise his ideal of a wise despotism acting on a definite system for the good of all. The measures of emancipation of the peasantry which his mother had begun were carried on by him with feverish activity. The spread of education, the secularisation of church lands, the reduction of the religious orders and the clergy in general to complete submission to the lay state, the promotion of unity by the compulsory use of the German language—everything which from the point of view of 18th century philosophy appeared "reasonable"—were undertaken at once. He strove for administrative unity with characteristic haste to reach results without preparation.

Related Topics:
November 27 - 1780 - Despotism - Peasant - German language

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His anticlerical innovations induced Pope Pius VI to pay him a visit in July 1782. Joseph received the pope politely and showed himself a good Catholic, but refused to be influenced. On the other hand, Joseph was very friendly to Freemasonry, as he found it highly compatible with his own Enlightenment philosophy, although he apparently never joined the Lodge himself.

Related Topics:
Anticlerical - Pope Pius VI - 1782 - Catholic - Freemasonry - Enlightenment

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Multiple interferences with old customs began to produce unrest in all parts of his dominions. Meanwhile, Joseph threw himself into a succession of foreign policies, all aimed at aggrandisement, and all equally calculated to offend his neighbours—all taken up with zeal, and dropped in discouragement. He endeavoured to get rid of the Barrier Treaty, which debarred his Flemish subjects from the navigation of the Scheldt. When he was opposed by France, he turned to other schemes of alliance with Russia for the partition of Turkey and Venice. These plans also had to be given up in the face of the opposition of neighbours, and in particular of France. Then Joseph resumed his attempts to obtain Bavaria—this time by exchanging it for Belgium—and only provoked the formation of the Fürstenbund, organized by the king of Prussia.

Related Topics:
Barrier Treaty - Flemish - Scheldt - France - Russia - Turkey - Venice - Bavaria - Belgium - Fürstenbund - Prussia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Finally, Joseph joined Russia in an attempt to pillage Turkey. It began on his part in an unsuccessful and discreditable attempt to surprise Belgrade in time of peace, and was followed by the ill-managed campaign of 1788. He accompanied his army, but showed no capacity for war; the low point of this campaign was the extraordinary incident known as the Battle of Karansebes, in which the Austrian army ran away from an imaginary Turkish army. In November 1788, he returned to Vienna with ruined health, and during 1789, was a dying man. The concentration of his troops in the east gave the malcontents of Belgium an opportunity to revolt. In Hungary, the nobles were in all but open rebellion, and in his other states, there were peasant risings and a revival of particularist sentiments. Joseph was left entirely alone. His minister Kaunitz refused to visit his sick-room and did not see him for two years. His brother Leopold remained at Florence. At last, Joseph, worn out and broken-hearted, recognised that his servants could not, or would not, carry out his plans. On January 30, 1790, he formally withdrew all his reforms, and he died on February 20, 1790.

Related Topics:
Belgrade - 1788 - Battle of Karansebes - Vienna - 1789 - Hungary - Florence - January 30 - 1790 - February 20

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Joseph II married twice, first Isabella, daughter of Philip, duke of Parma, to whom he was attached. They had a daughter, named Maria Theresa after his mother, by his first wife but this child had died young. After her death on November 27 1763, a political marriage was arranged with Josepha (d. 1767), daughter of Charles Albert, elector of Bavaria (the emperor Charles VII). The second marriage proved extremely unhappy. Joseph was succeeded by his brother Leopold II because he had left no surviving children.

Related Topics:
Parma - November 27 - 1763 - 1767 - Charles VII - Leopold II

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Like many of the "enlightened monarchs" of his time, Joseph was a lover and patron of the arts. He was known as the "music king" and steered Austrian high culture towards a more Germanic orientation. He commissioned the German-language opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail from Mozart.

Related Topics:
Enlightened monarchs - Mozart

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many volumes of the emperor's correspondence have been published. Among them are:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• A Ritter von Arneth (editor): Maria Theresia und Joseph II: Ihre Korrespondenz—samt Briefen Josephs an seinen Bruder Leopold (1867 – 1868)
• A Ritter von Arneth (editor): Joseph II und Leopold von Toskana. Ihr Briefwechsel 1781 – 1790 (1872)
• A Ritter von Arneth (editor): Joseph II und Katharina von Russland. Ihr Briefwechsel (1869)
• A Ritter von Arneth (editor): Maria Antoinette, Joseph II und Leopold II. Ihr Briefwechsel (1866)
• Joseph II, Leopold II und Kaunitz. Ihr Briefwechsel, edited by A Beer (1873)
• Correspondences intimes de l?empereur Joseph II avec son ami, le comte de Cobenzl et son premier ministre, le prince de Kaunitz, edited by S Brunner (1871)
• Joseph II und Graf Ludwig Cobenzl. Ihr Briefwechsel, edited by A Beer and J von Fiedler (1901)
• Geheime Korrespondenz Josephs II mit seinem Minister in den Oesterreichischen Niederlanden, Ferdinand Graf Trauttmannsdorff 1787 – 1789, edited by H Schlitter (1902).