Austria
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| Capital | Wien (Vienna) |
| Language(s) | German, Hungarian, Croatian, Czech, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Italian |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Population | approximately 14,000,000
The population of the Habsburg Empire increased throughout the XVIIIth century from 9,000,000 to 17,000. Hungary saw the largest demographic growth, quadrupling its population during this century. However, a large part of the growth in Hungary is attributable to internal colonization. |
| Government | Archduchy |
| Principal provinces/cities | to do enumerate the main provinces and cities of the Habsburg Empire |
| Dependencies | At the time of the Seven years' War, the Queen of Austria was also the Empress of the Holy Roman Empire and the German Nation while her husband, Francis I, was co-regent of Maria Theresa Hereditary Dominion and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. As such, they ruled a loose confederacy of German States. Maria Theresa was also Queen of Hungary and Queen of Bohemia. |
| Rulers | 1740-1780: Maria Theresa and her husband Francis I |
| Army | see the article Austrian Army
N.B.: by 1754, the total military contributions of the various territories of the Austrian Empire had reached about 40 millions Gulden. The cost of maintaining the army in time of war was estimated between 6 and 12 millions Gulden per year. |
| Navy | none |
| International relations |
For most of the XVIIIth century, Austria had been allied with Great Britain.
Since the War of the Austrian Succession, when Prussia had conquered the Province of Silesia, Austria wanted to reconquer this province and to reduce Prussia to the territory of the Electorate of Brandenburg as it was before the Thrirty Years' War. In 1755, the Austrian Court initiated negotiations with France. In 1756, when the Austrian Court heard of the defensive alliance concluded between Great Britain and Prussia, it decided to abandon its British alliance. On May 1, it signed the First Treaty of Versailles with France, thus creating a major reversal of alliances in Europe. |
| Trade | In the Mediterranean an Austrian Levant Company was trading with 14 cities from the port of Trieste. Austrians were also trading with Constantinople by the Danube and with Thessaloniki by land routes. In 1754, an Oriental Academy was created in Vienna to train personnel for the Austrian consulates in the Mediterranean. |
References
Devèze, M.: L'Europe et le monde à la fin du XVIIIe siècle, Albin Michel, 1970, pp. 41, 66-67
Grosser Generalstab Kriegsgeschichtliche Abteilung II, Die Kriege Friedrichs des Grossen, Part 3 Der siebenjährige Krieg 1756-1763, Vol. 1 Pirna und Lobositz, Berlin, 1901, pp. 25, 149
