JOSEPH II PROFILES IN POWER General Editor: Keith RDbbins ELIZABETH I FRANCIS JOSEPH Christopher Haigh Steven Beller RICHELIEU ATA T URK R.J. Knecht A L. Macfie GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS (2nd Edn) LLOYD GEORGE Michael Roberts Martin Pugh OLIVER CROMWELL Barry Coward HITLER Ian Kershaw PETER THE GREAT (2nd Edn) M. S. Anderson CHURCHILL Keith Robbins JOSEPH II T. C. W. Blanning NASSER Peter Woodward ALEXANDER I Janet M. Hartley DE GAULLE DISRAELI Andrew Shennan Ian Machin FRANCO JUAREZ Sheelagh Ellwood Brian Hamnett MACMILLAN CAVOUR H<>rrv Hearder John Turner JOSEPH II T.C.W. BLANNING ~l Routledge ~ ~ Taylor & Francis Group NEW YORK AND LONDON First published 1994 by Pearson Education Limited Published 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright© 1994, Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved. 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Series: Profiles in power (London, England) DB74.3.B58 I994 943.6'03-dc20 93-295I6 CIP Set by I3 in I 1/12 pt Bookman CONTENTS Preface Vll Abbreviations lX CHAPTER 1 Joseph II and the Habsburg Inheritance Assets Problems 10 CHAPTER2 Joseph II, Maria Theresa and J osephism 27 From empire to state 27 The diplomatic revolution 30 The end of the baroque 32 Haugwitz and domestic reform 34 Kaunitz and domestic reform 36 Education 39 Jansenism 40 Church and state 44 Maria Theresa 47 The co-regency 49 CHAPTER3 Joseph II and the Enlightened State 56 The first servant of the state 56 Autocracy and bureaucracy 60 Education 67 Germanisation 70 Toleration 72 The economy 76 Social reform 79 Crime and punishment 81 Enlightened absolutism 82 v JOSEPH II CHAPTER4 Joseph II and the Privileged Orders 92 The church 92 The nobility 101 The peasantry 103 Hungary and Belgium 112 CHAPTERS Joseph II and the Great Powers 125 The army and militarism 125 The co-regency 129 Joseph II and the Russian alliance 134 Joseph II and the Dutch 138 Bavaria again 143 The Holy Roman Empire 147 Joseph II and the Great Powers 151 CHAPTER6 Joseph II and the Crisis of the Habsburg Monarchy 161 Censorship 161 The public sphere 163 Absolutism and enlightenment 166 Belgium 171 The war against the Turks 176 Back from the brink 183 Celebration and death 186 Conclusion 198 Further Reading 209 Chronology 216 Map 220 Index 222 VI PREFACE In 1970 I published a short book on Joseph II entitledjoseph II and enlightened despotism in the 'Seminar Studies in History' edited by the late and much lamented Patrick Richardson. It was my first publication and was based on lectures I had given in Cambridge when a research fellow. It concentrated on the relationship between Joseph's reform programme and the Enlightenment. Since its publication a great deal of distinction has been published on the Habsburg Monarchy in general and Joseph in particular. Although I myself worked mainly on German, French and British history during the 1970s and 1980s, I maintained my interest in the Monarchy and contin ued to work occasionally in the Viennese archives. So when I discovered that my first-born had been allowed to go out of print, it seemed appropriate to replace it. This new book is not intended to be an 'up-date'. It is an entirely new creature, written without reference to its prede cessor and with a different object in mind. Nor is it in any sense a biography- it would be both foolhardy and unnecessary to attempt such a thing, given the existence of the first volume of Derek Beales' magnificent and definitive work and the likeli hood that it will be completed by a second in the near future. Taking the title of this present series 'Profiles in Power' as its conceptual focus, this book seeks to analyse the constraints under which Joseph operated, his attempts to overcome them and the reasons for his failure. A constant theme is his ill-fated attempt to construct a modern state and the baleful effects this misguided exercise had on the Habsburg Monarchy, the Holy Roman Empire and Europe in general. Vll JOSEPH II The debts I have incurred in writing this book are many .. It will be readily apparent how much I rely on those historians who have produced so much of distinction during the past twenty years or so, especially Robert Evans, Peter Dickson, Grete Klingenstein, Peter Hersche and Derek Beales. I have tried the patience of archivists and librarians in many institu tions, notably the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, the Nation albibliothek and the Stadtbibliothek in Vienna, the Staatsbibliothek in Munich, the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, the British Library in London and, above all, the University Library in Cambridge, which manages to combine wealth of resources and ease of use to a degree which is quite unique in my experience. The research for this book has been financed by the Master and Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, the Uni versity of Cambridge, the British Academy and the Lever hulme Foundation; I am deeply grateful to all of them and welcome the opportunity to say so. The ideas I advance in this book have been hammered out in discussion-or more usually in argument-with several generations of undergraduates tak ing the course on German history I run with my colleague Jonathan Steinberg, who has always been a constant source of encouragement, assistance and constructive criticism. The same can be said of Derek Beales and Hamish Scott, who gallantly read a first draft and have saved me from many errors, distortions and over-statements. But they could not save me entirely from myself and are in no way responsible for those which remain. This is the first occasion on which I have had the opportunity to thank my wife Nicky in print for her loving support, sound advice and occasional reprimand. I look for ward to an early opportunity to repeat the tribute. Tim Blanning Cambridge May 1993 Vlll ABBREVIATIONS Arneth and Flammermont Alfred Ritter von Arneth and Jules Flammermont (eds), Correspondance secrete du comte de Mercy-Argenteau avec l'empereur Joseph II et le prince de Kaunit;::, 2 vols (Paris, 1889-91) Arneth, Joseph II. und Alfred Ritter von Arneth (ed.), Katharina Joseph II und Katharina von Russland. Ihr Briefwechsel (Vienna, 1869) Arneth, Joseph II. und Leopold Alfred Ritter von Arneth (e d.), Joseph II und Leopold von Toscana. Ihr Briefwechsel von 1781 his 1790, 2 vols (Vienna, 1872} Arneth, Marie Antoinette, Alfred Ritter von Arneth Joseph II. und Leopold II. (ed.), Marie Antoinette, joseph II. und Leopold II. lhr Briefwechsel (Vienna, 1866} Arneth, Maria Theresia und Alfred Ritter von Arneth (ed.), Joseph II. Maria Theresia und joseph II. lhre Correspondenz sammt Briefen Joseph's an seinen Bruder Leopold, 3 vols (Vienna, 1867-8) Beer Adolf Beer, joseph II., Leopold II. und Kaunit;::,. Ihr Briefwechsel (Vienna, 1873) IX