Queen Maria Theresa of Austria
Born: 1717
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Current Status:
Yes. It's true: we have an Absolute Empress! So, let's tell you the story of our Queen-Mother...
It's true...Maria Theresa would never had been empress had it not been for a lack of male heir by the early 1710s. Let's not assume that Austria is somehow hugely enlightenend, but! they do have a female in power, and that's a big deal! In 1713, a Parliamentary act known as the Pragmatic Sanction allowed for females in Austria to serve as rulers. Maria Theresa, daughter of nobility, wife to a Lorrainian duke, and mother to 16 children (ten of whom would live), would become empress in 1740.
Maria earned her striped immediately, clashing with Prussia and its new leader, Frederick the Great, over the territory known as Silesia. She didn't succeed, but it bodes well for her stock price that she even attempted it in the first place!
It's true...Maria Theresa would never had been empress had it not been for a lack of male heir by the early 1710s. Let's not assume that Austria is somehow hugely enlightenend, but! they do have a female in power, and that's a big deal! In 1713, a Parliamentary act known as the Pragmatic Sanction allowed for females in Austria to serve as rulers. Maria Theresa, daughter of nobility, wife to a Lorrainian duke, and mother to 16 children (ten of whom would live), would become empress in 1740.
Maria earned her striped immediately, clashing with Prussia and its new leader, Frederick the Great, over the territory known as Silesia. She didn't succeed, but it bodes well for her stock price that she even attempted it in the first place!
Projected Trajectory:
Our analysis of Maria points to domestic policies. She's realized that the power of the nobility had placed a stranglehold on the empire, and we've heard that she has aspirations to drastically reduce the power of the nobility through the nationalization of their private estates! Bold move, and may or may not be monarchical suicide... She has abolished the "tax exempt" status of the nobility, though, and one wonders what she'll do in the future.
Maria has been quoted as saying, "The peasantry must be able to sustain itself as well as pay taxes...", so we believe this will win over some of the peasant support. She's also hinted at eliminating unnecessary political offices and streamlining the legal process and has even toyed with outlawing witch burnings and most methods of torture. We're already starting to see her state-purchased textbooks into colleges and universities and she's making movements toward education being a right to all citizens.
All this sounds great...but who's going to pay for this? We fear that Maria will have "gut the military" to pay for her domestic policies...
Maria has been quoted as saying, "The peasantry must be able to sustain itself as well as pay taxes...", so we believe this will win over some of the peasant support. She's also hinted at eliminating unnecessary political offices and streamlining the legal process and has even toyed with outlawing witch burnings and most methods of torture. We're already starting to see her state-purchased textbooks into colleges and universities and she's making movements toward education being a right to all citizens.
All this sounds great...but who's going to pay for this? We fear that Maria will have "gut the military" to pay for her domestic policies...
Cost of Stock: $1
Stock Components:
- Territorial Acquisition: 2/10
- Economic Health: 8/10
- Domestic Social Harmony: 9/10
- Reputation of Monarchy: 9/10
- Armed Forces: 6/10
- "Divinely" Inspired? 2/10
