Maria Theresia

Today we got the opportunity to go to the Schönbrunn and learn about everyone that comes with that, including Maria Theresia! From what Maryann was teaching us before we went in, I learned a ton. Maria Theresia never officially had the title of Empress, but she had and completed all of the duties that an Empress would. She had a large impact on education. She reformed education and made it compulsory for everyone. She became queen at age 25, and the empire was very unstable. She had no money and was starting from nothing. She spent the first seven years of her reign having babies and fighting wars, and she pretty much won all of them. She proved herself, and was later credited with rebuilding the Austrian-Hungarian empire. 


Maria Theresia’s contributions were important for many reasons. First, her reforms in education, administration, and military organization. She took the empire from nothing and rebuilt the entire thing. She established compulsory education, which improved literacy and promoted social mobility. She impacted the military by restricting and strengthening it, which secured the empire's stability. All of these contributions she made had laid the groundwork for modernizing the empire, and influencing the future development. As we learned in the tour, her support for the arts and sciences created a cultural renaissance, which enriched European life.  


In my opinion, Maria Theresia has been commemorated well. She has many things in honor of her and what she did for the empire. She has a statue and a high school named after her, as Maryann told us. In addition, the Schönbrunn honors her and her efforts very well. I think these commemorations are fitting for her contributions, because they highlight her efforts to education, military reforms, and changing the empire for the better. I think these diverse commemorations honor her as a pivotal figure in history, and keep her legacy alive.


Yay!

Sophie 







Comments

  1. Lilly PetersonMay 30, 2024 at 6:46 AM

    Maria Theresia kicks butt! All of the reforms and change that she was able to achieve are only made more impressive by the obstacles that she had to face throughout her reign. It wasn't easy for her to be a woman in power, and many of the people and leaders around her only made it harder. It sucks that she was hampered by her gender when her contributions were so important to Austria! I think that unfortunately we still see some of this push back against women in power today, all over the world.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anna's Study Abroad 2024June 1, 2024 at 12:59 PM

    Fantastic! Maria was pretty awesome with what she did like you said! She does complicate history a bit in the sense that she was such a figure of power but was never given the title of empress. She also used her children as political pawns but this also helped Austria! So yes she complicates history but no one can disagree that she was so important in bringing Vienna into a powerful position.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1 - Palais Garnier - Opera House

Image
Day 1: Opera house -  Hi! Day 1. Today we did a handful of things. As a group this morning, we went to the Arc de Triomphe, then the Palais Garnier; the Opera House, and then the Musée Carnivalet! After that a group of us went to this cafe for a snack, then we went to this garden and sat down for a little, then walked around in the district we were in, and then came home for a sec, got dinner, and now I’m writing this! Slay. Now I’m going to talk about the Palais Garnier.  When I looked at this from the outside, I thought it was kind of weird. Besides the front, the rest of the building didn’t look super enticing or interesting. To be honest from our point of view in the beginning I didn’t even realize it was the Opera House. As we went around to the front, it was more impressive. There was great architecture and statues in front, which were super cool. Walking inside, the first thing I noticed was all of the architecture. All of the engravings in the walls were so intriguing. I also
Read more

Day 2 - Agnes Varda

Hello! This morning we learned more about woman who made a difference in Paris! I learned a ton about Agnes Varda! It was super interesting to go see her grave, as well as her home she lived in and the mural where they remember her in the town! I learned more about her film Cleo from 5-7, which goes through different ages and talks about how it’s different treatment depending on the age you’re at. My reaction was that she truly did pave a new path. She believed what she did, owned those beliefs and created a very successful career!  Agnes contributed so much not only to France, but the film industry in general. I think her contribution is important for a few reasons. She was a part of the French new wave, and created a whole new track for those to come. She was considered one of them(the filmmakers) right from the beginning, and was one of the makers of modern cinema. I think it’s changed society, her country, and field just by creating this new path. If it weren’t for her, the acc
Read more

Cities free day - Zaanse Schans

Image
For my cities free day blog post, I decided to write about my free day in Amsterdam, when we went to Zaanse Schans! This was one of my favorite days, so I was really excited to get the chance to write about it! Zaanse Schans is a neighborhood in the Netherlands, known for its historic windmills and houses. It serves as an open air museum showcasing Dutch heritage from the 18th and 19th centuries (Wikipedia). There was a lot to do there! We explored the windmills and walking paths, there were different crafts and snacks, and even a few museums. The neighborhood gives visitors a glimpse into the past of the Zaan region, which was a large hub for wind-powered industries (De Zaanse Schans).   I believe Zaanse Schans is important both historically and culturally for a few reasons. First, it preserves and showcases traditional Dutch heritage. It highlights the Netherlands’ rich industrial past, specifically focusing on wind-powered production. This site educates its visitors about traditio
Read more