The Austrian empire, as it is known by historians today, was, in reality, not a true empire at all. It did not even have a real name. Known simply as the Hapsburg lands, after the ruling house, the empire came to prominence during the late middle ages. Multi national in nature, the empire stretched from today's Austria to southern Poland to the edge of Eurasia. The only ties bonding the empire together were the sovereign and the fact that Hapsburg lands remained staunchly Catholic, even after the Reformation. By the time Maria Theresa came to the throne in 1740, her realm had withstood attacks from all sides and remained at the forefront of European politics.

The ruler of the Hapsburg empire also ruled the "Holy Roman Empire", a loose confederation of mainly German speaking peoples in Central Europe. Domestically, the lands were marked by serfdom, a powerful Church structure, and absolute authority to the monarch. Maria proved to be reformist at heart, but extremely cautious in nature. Although a few reforms came to Austria, in reality she did little to rock the boat. Other problems simply took precedence. Prussia had seized lands which belonged to the crown, and Maria spent the first twenty - five years of her reign locked in a battle against her Prussian neighbor, including allying her empire with Britain during the Seven Years War.

In 1765, when Maria's husband, Francis Stephen, died, she brought Joseph to the throne as a co-ruler. Joseph was everything his mother was not. Rash, bold, and a child of the enlightenment, Joseph studied under the tutelage of some of the boldest thinkers in Central Europe, and was heavily influenced by the writings of Goethe and Montesquieu. As co - regent, Joseph's authority was severely curtailed. He and his mother often quarreled over the inner workings of the administration. Maria always held the final say in any matter of importance. The emperor was successful in getting his mother to reorganize the army, abolish legal torture, and participate in the partition of Poland. Ultimately, however, many of Joseph's ideas on reform would have to wait until Maria died. She did on November 28, 1780.

After Maria's death, Joseph assumed the role of sole ruler of the Hapsburg dominions. No longer bound by his mother's conservative stance, the emperor set about bringing sweeping changes to his empire. His first attack centered on the issue of serfdom and the nobility.

On 1 September 1781, less than a year into his reign, Joseph issued an edict which abolished serfdom in Austrian lands. The new law guaranteed the right of his subjects to marry, migrate, own property, and work. It also put criminal jurisdiction of peasants under the direct control of the state, taking it out of the hands of the nobility. In order to insure success, Joseph decreed that schools of instruction for peasants should be set up, teaching everything from how to treat sick cattle to which crops to plant. Many across Europe rejoiced at what looked like a real change in Austria.

It must be remembered, however, that many of the agricultural changes that Joseph ordered were due, in large part, to his belief that increased productivity would bring increased money to the crown. Joseph believed in an economic system known as cameralism. A hybrid of mercantilism, cameralism advocated complete state control over the economy, but only to increase the wealth of the ruler. The emperor even went so far as to abolish the law stating that only the nobility could acquire estates. In doing so, Joseph helped foster the growing bourgeoisie and brought new life to a stale upper class. Social status was to be based on merit and wealth, not family background. The policy seemed very revolutionary. Joseph next went after the Church.

Joseph was a devout Catholic, but his enlightened upbringing included ideas about secularism and the right of a ruler to expect allegiance from his subjects. While he believed wholeheartedly in the social contract, he also believed that in return for his actions, subjects from across the realm should pay absolute loyalty to him. The problem rested with the Church. Since the pope ruled from Rome, Joseph could never be quite sure just where the loyalty of the clergy stood.

In October of 1781, the monarch issued the "Edict of Toleration". This proclamation granted freedom of worship for all in the realm, regardless of religion. Early the next year, just before a visit by Pope Pius VI, he instituted a policy of seizing some of the Church's holdings. Anything deemed not useful to the state became property of the state. Using the money coming in from the sale of Church lands, Joseph then went on to take over the salaries of the Catholic clergy. Bishops were required to take an oath of allegiance to the state. Even the pope himself was restricted from issuing bulls, unless he cleared them through Joseph first.

The emperor even went so far as to take over the educational system, which had been administered by the Church since the Counter - Reformation. It appeared as though the Hapsburg empire was well on its way to an abandonment of Catholicism. Things never got quite that bad, but Joseph had made a bold statement about exactly who ran his empire. It was not Pius. With the peasants and the Church in tow, Joseph set his sights on the second estate: the nobles. He would go after them with the concept of equitable justice.

The idea of equality before the law was a relatively new concept by the 1700s. The "natural order" of society for centuries had held fast to the principle that nobility and status carried with it certain privileges, and one of them was a higher standing before the law. When Joseph came to the throne, one of his top priorities was to change the system. In his quest for absolute power and authority for the state, it was necessary that all privilege which could hinder its action had to disappear. Abolishing serfdom had been a good first step. In September 1781, Joseph set up a system of appeals for judicial cases. In order to help peasants, the appeals were to be free of charge. Another service for the lower classes was instituted in the form of a new city official, trained in the law, whose special duty was to advocate the cause of the peasants.

By the mid 1780s, Joseph was well on his way to consolidating his power in the Hapsburg dominions. Struggles lay ahead, but with his insight and newly found power, Joseph would head them off at every turn. Unfortunately for the emperor, the last years of his reign would be marked by internal strife and external wars and revolution. The internal problems were probably inevitable. One must constantly be reminded about the enormous diversity in the lands ruled by Joseph. In Hungarian dominions, the system was such that it was difficult for Joseph to battle the powerful lords. In Italy, he had to deal with a growing separatist movement. The Balkans remained a trouble spot which flared up from time to time. Czech and Polish lands clamored for autonomy within the empire as well.

The Hapsburgs also governed Belgium and a portion of the Netherlands. They had since 1715. The problem was that in Belgium, the emperor was little more than a constitutional monarch. A charter of liberties, known as the Joyeuse Entree, dating from the thirteenth century, was still in effect in Belgium and the Netherlands when they were taken under Austria's wing after the war of Spanish succession. Austria's treaty with the region stipulated that the Catholic religion was to be preserved and the decisions of the Church were to be respected. In Brussels, a council sat that had the right to confirm or deny the edicts as they came from Vienna. Obviously, this stood in contrast to anywhere else in the empire.

Joseph's edicts regarding religious toleration and clerical matters did little to endear him to the citizens of the region. A small murmur of revolution broke out, causing Joseph to crack the whip even harder. He possessed no tolerance for a revolt against his authority. After all, was not he simply doing what had to be done? What made his northwestern subjects any different from those in other parts of his empire? To the Belgians, however, the matter rested on rights which had come down through the centuries. They resented not only the reforms, but also the fact that those reforms had been forced upon them. The problem flared into the beginnings of a revolution. By the end of Joseph's reign, the Austrian Netherlands would be watching closely the events in neighboring France with interest and fascination.

In 1789, international events would take center stage to Joseph's reforms. In France, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's regime was crumbling under its own weight. Joseph had more than a passing interest in the events. Not only was he the supreme ruler of an empire in Europe, but Marie was his sister. That year, Belgium erupted in violence and revolution, fermented by Prussia and the events in France. By December, all Austrian forces from the western half of the region were expelled and Belgium was declared independent. It was to be a tell - tale sign. Hungary once again started to grumble against the emperor's wishes. In the middle of all this, Joseph's health began to fail as well. By the end of the year, he began to deteriorate rapidly, and passed away quietly in late February.

Joseph's reign in the Hapsburg lands brought about sweeping changes. As a child of the enlightenment, he believed in secularism, equal justice and the idea of responsibility for the monarch. He also felt that his subjects owed allegiance to him. His death signaled the end of an era in European history, one in which monarchs ruled over their subjects with unquestioned power. France's revolution would spread in the next few years. Armies led by Napoleon would march across Europe, bringing radical ideas with them. In response, a coalition would be set up. Austria, Russia and Prussia would finally force the French back to Paris. Led by Metternich, the Congress of Vienna would stand for order, stability and legitimacy. Many of Joseph's reforms would be undone by future sovereigns in Austria. Today, it is easy for those of us who study history to regard Joseph II and his mother, Maria Theresa with curiosity, and to simply dismiss them as a passing phase. This attitude does not do them justice. In reality, the two regents stood as a crowning example of the enlightenment at work. While Catherine of Russia and Fredrick and William of Prussia are often seen as supreme examples of "enlightened despotism", in truth, one has to look deep into the mountains of Austria for the eighteenth century's best example.

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