!!!Großmacht der Barockzeit
Great Power of the Baroque Age: The period after the Thirty Years'
War was characterised by a decline of the power of the Emperor and the
ascendancy of the local rulers in the Holy Roman Empire. Even the
Habsburg emperors themselves focused on the external security and
internal consolidation of their own hereditary lands rather than on
safeguarding the interests of the Empire.
\\
The Ottoman Empire continued to be the most powerful neighbour. It was
probably on account of manifold internal problems that it had not
interfered in the Thirty Years' War. The threat to Austria came to a
head again when the Ottoman Empire sought to subdue Transylvania
around 1660. In 1664 a Christian army led by Count Raimund
Montecuccoli for the first time succeeded in vanquishing the enemy at
Mogersdorf-Sankt Gotthard, prompting Emperor Leopold I to carry
the Counter-Reformation to Hungary. This resulted in conspiracies on
the part of Hungarian noblemen ( Magnates' Conspiracy), which were
suppressed by the Imperial Court when the leading conspirators were
executed in 1671. Unrest in Hungary persisted up to the great Turkish
War 1683-1699 ( Turkish Wars).
\\
The second half of the 17th century was marked by the end of the
Counter-Reformation. All noticeable remnants of Protestantism were
eliminated and many people forced to emigrate, and a large number of
pilgrimage centres were founded to promote and strengthen the Catholic
faith. Mariazell in Styria was turned into the foremost destination
for pilgrimages, and new centres were created at Maria Taferl, on
Sonntagberg hill, near Gutenstein and at Maria Dreieichen near Horn
(all in Lower Austria), on Poestlingberg hill near Linz in Upper
Austria and at Poellau in Styria.
\\
Political power was concentrated in the hands of a few families with
considerable incomes that permitted them to finance splendid Baroque
buildings. The aristocracy also stimulated economic activity such as
the foundation of factories and the transformation of landed property
into manufacturing domains. While many of these enterprises were
successful, such as that undertaken by Ferdinand Sigmund Count Kurz at
Horn, others failed or were involved in cases of corruption, such as
Georg Ludwig Count Sinzendorf at Walpersdorf. In line with
mercantilist doctrine ( mercantilism), economic activity became the
main focus of interest. Scholars like Johann Joachim Becher or
Wilhelm von Schroeder developed complex theories on how to further
develop business, but the practical implementation of these theories
initially met with difficulties. Yet another leading personality in
this context was Philipp Wilhelm von Hoernigk, who gave expression to
the prevailing optimistic belief in the success of economic policy
with the slogan "Austria above all - if she only wants"
("Oesterreich ueber alles, wann es nur will"). Major
setbacks were suffered on account of the expulsion of the Jews from
Vienna under Emperor Leopold I in 1669-1670 (when the ghetto was
converted into a settlement thenceforth called Leopoldstadt) and the
severe plague epidemic of 1679.
\\
The military situation in Hungary escalated in due course. The Ottoman
rulers lent their support to the Kuruc king Imre Toekoeli (known in
Austria as Emmerich Thoekoely von Kesmark and, in 1683, organised the
last major advance of an Ottoman army towards the west. Under the
command of Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa the second Turkish Siege of
Vienna, began on July 14, 1683 and the area around Vienna was
laid waste by the Tartars. While the defenders of the beleaguered city
held out against the enemy, an army under the supreme command of the
Polish King Jan III Sobieski on September 12 descended from
Kahlenberg hill and vanquished the Ottoman troops, thus initiating the
reconquest of Hungary from the Turks.
\\
In the same year, 1683, the Imperial troops began their Hungarian
campaign, which was highly successful in subsequent years. Buda was
conquered on September 9, 1686, Transylvania was occupied and
claimed for the Habsburgs, the Imperial army advanced to southern
Serbia, where Belgrade was conquered in 1689 and the Ottomans
vanquished at Niš. After some temporary setbacks the new
commander of the Imperial army, Prince Eugène of Savoy won the
decisive victory in the battle of Zenta on September 11, 1697.
By the peace of Carlowitz all of Hungary except for the Banat and
Transylvania was acquired by the Habsburgs. Now the Austrian Habsburgs
felt strong enough to fight France over succession to the possessions
of their Spanish relations ( War of the Spanish Succession).
\\
After 1648 the Austrians, as supporters of the Habsburg Emperors, had
waged several wars against France in defence of the Empire, but had
rarely been able to achieve political success. Alsace including
Strasbourg fell to France, which also succeeded in gaining advantages
in the Spanish Netherlands. When the Spanish line of the Habsburgs
died out in 1700, the Austrians claimed their estate even though the
last Spanish king, Carlos II, had devised his realm to his closer
relatives, the Bourbons. With the support of England and the
Netherlands, Karl, Emperor Leopold I's younger son, tried to
establish himself in Spain while his elder brother, Joseph I
fought in Italy, Germany and the Low Countries. Though the allies
gained several victories, none of them was decisive. When
Joseph I died in 1711 and Karl VI was to inherit the
emperorship and the Austrian lands, he lost the support of the Western
Powers and had to resign himself to making peace, which was concluded
at Rastatt and (for the Empire) at Baden. The Austrians were
recognised as rulers of the former Spanish possessions of the Southern
Netherlands (Belgium), Naples and Sardinia (later Sicily), Milan and
Mantua. When Prince Eugène conquered Belgrade in a new Turkish
War in 1717 the Habsburg possessions reached their largest extension
in 1718 after the Peace of Passarowitz.
\\
Karl VI wanted to pass on all of his Habsburg kingdoms and lands
to his family, even though he did not have a male heir. By means of
the Pragmatic Sanction promulgated in 1714, which had been recognised
by all of the Estates by 1722, he was able to ensure that all these
possessions descended without partition even to female heirs. In
external affairs, however, this success could not be attained without
compromises which further impaired the power of the Emperor. This was
clearly demonstrated in the course of the war of the Polish
Succession in 1733-1735, when Naples and Sicily were lost, and in a
further Turkish War in 1737-1739, which resulted in the loss of
Belgrade and Northern Serbia.
\\
The period after the successful defence against the Turkish threat was
characterised by a spate of building ( Baroque), which was only partly
due to the need to repair the damage done by the Ottoman invaders.
Much more importantly, it was the desire of the upper classes, and
also the Church, to display their wealth and influence that caused
them to commission buildings of unprecedented splendour. The leading
architects of the era included Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and
his son Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach and Johann Lukas von
Hildebrandtin Vienna and Salzburg, Jakob Prandtauerin western Lower
Austria and in Upper Austria and Johann Michael Prunner in Upper
Austria. Frescoes were painted by such artists as Troger, D. Gran,
M. Altomonte and B. Altomonte and F. A. Maulbertsch.
\\
Economic growth was supported by the construction of a network of
roads, which also served the postal system, and the establishment of
factories and Manufakturen such as a chinaware workshop that was
later to become the Viennese Porzellanmanufaktur Augarten. In the
Waldviertel region Johann Christoph Ferdinand Count Mallenthein tried
to establish a textile industry, which was, however, bound to fail
when the Emperor was forced, out of consideration for England, to
abolish the Ostend Company ( Trading Companies, Privileged).
\\
Major destinations for the immigration of skilled workers, mostly from
southwestern Germany and Italy, were, at that time, in particular the
Hungarian Banat as well as other parts of the hereditary lands. The
influx from these countries and from Spain was particularly massive in
the age of Emperor Karl VI. When he died on October 20,
1740, this period came to a sudden end and the rule of Maria
Theresia, which lasted for four decades, marked a new phase in
Austrian history ( Maria Theresia, Age of).
!Literature
O. Redlich, Oesterreichs Aufstieg zur Grossmacht,
%%sup 4/%1962; idem, Weltmacht des Barock, %%sup 4/%1961 (Geschichte
Oesterreichs by A. Huber 1921-1939, vols. 6 and 7); K. Gutkas (ed.),
Prinz Eugen und das barocke Oesterreich, 1985.
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