Joseph II. Joseph II of Habsburg: a great love story

about the great reformer Having predetermined this profession for me, Providence gave me the corresponding qualities

Joseph II, emperor

Any student from blessed Bohemia will tell you that Maria Theresa introduced compulsory primary education in his country in 1774. In addition, the empress introduced the cultivation of potatoes, limited the corvee, created a single land registry, unified the Austrian and Bohemian administration, established a military academy in Vienna and performed many other deeds that in another era would have brought her fame as a great reformer. However, by the standards of the era of enlightened absolutism, this was not so much, and the reforms of Maria Theresa were completely overshadowed by the reforms of her son.

Three months after his mother's death, Joseph formulated the goals of his reign: “From the empire in which I reign, in accordance with my principles, all prejudice, fanaticism and slavery must disappear, so that every subject can enjoy his inalienable rights and freedoms."A few days later, the emperor began to implement legal, social and religious reforms, surpassing in their radicalism everything that until then the enlightened monarchs of Europe had revealed to the world.

Joseph II, a reformer who was for his country someone like Peter the Great and Alexander the Liberator at the same time.

On March 28, 1781, Joseph's decree was promulgated, according to which papal bulls and epistles could be published in Austrian possessions only after prior approval by the secular authorities. De facto, church life was subordinated to the interests of the state. In Rome, the emperor's decision caused a commotion. But it soon became clear that this was not yet a church reform, but only a prelude to it.

On June 11, 1781, Joseph issued a censorship law. The control of the church over the press was abolished, the only competent censorship body was the Main Commission for the Censorship of Books, headed by the well-known supporter of the Enlightenment, Count Jan Chotek. The list of prohibited literature has been drastically reduced. Under the ban remained exclusively " obscenities that explain and teach nothing"and works that" offend the Christian faith or make it look ridiculous", and by exposing in a ridiculous form was meant the spread of superstitions and other manifestations of obscurantism, including the sale of indulgences.

Removed all restrictions on political criticism of the authorities at any level, up to the emperor. Scientific publications were exempted from censorship, book publishing and the book trade were proclaimed subjects of free enterprise, and the ban on non-Catholic religious literature was lifted. Books from private collections could no longer be confiscated, searches of citizens' homes and searches of travelers' luggage in search of prohibited books were stopped. Historians note that today's Austrian press legislation almost completely corresponds to the norms introduced by Josephus.

On October 13, 1781, a document was issued, which in Russian is usually called, if I'm not mistaken, the "Edict of Tolerance" (although I'm more used to the Czech version - "Tolerant Patent"). In fact, he established freedom of religion in Austria. Catholicism remained the state religion, but retained its advantages exclusively in the sphere of public worship. The only restriction for other Christian denominations now was that their temples were not supposed to stand on the main streets and central squares. In all other respects, Protestants and Orthodox were equal in rights with Catholics - they could hold any position, receive academic titles, marry Catholics, etc. An exception was made only for a few small sects, but their persecution was not as severe as before.

On October 30, 1781, Joseph announced that the monasteries whose activities not visible at all, will be closed. In the second half of the 18th century, the total number of monasteries in the Danubian monarchy reached two thousand, and many of them were engaged in anything but spreading the word of the Gospel. For example, the Prague monastery of the Irish Franciscans (the so-called Hibernes) lived on usury. In other divine abodes, young nobles were trained in swordsmanship and horseback riding. Some monasteries bathed in luxury, and this was by no means the luxury of church decoration - they were crowded with servants in livery and almost daily arranged balls with dancing until the morning.

The emperor decided to keep only those monasteries that were engaged in activities useful to society - they contained schools, hospitals, nursing homes or orphanages. All the rest were abolished, their inhabitants were expelled, their property was sold, the buildings were either put up for auction or used for the needs of the state. Closing the monasteries allowed Joseph to complete the military reform. Previously, Austrian soldiers and officers were determined to stay in the houses of civilians. Now the army has switched to the barracks system. Sometimes former monasteries were converted into military hospitals, but more often - into barracks.

During the first two years of the reform, about seven hundred monasteries were closed, which brought the state a fantastic amount of 15 million gold pieces (according to rough estimates, the same amount disappeared without a trace during the sale of church property). Church schools maintained by Catholic orders were banned, henceforth priests were to be educated in state-controlled seminaries. Seminary graduates who chose pastoral service as parish priests were paid twice the allowance than those who preferred life outside the walls of the monasteries.

As a result, instead of each closed monastery, four new parishes were opened. The state began to pay salaries to parish priests (and those of them who, due to their age, could no longer fulfill their duties, received a pension). At the same time, they were entrusted with the duty to keep metric records. According to Joseph's plan, the clergy, along with officers and bureaucrats, was to become one of the pillars of state power. He brought the clergy out of the monastery walls and sent them to the people.

On November 1, 1781, Joseph abolished serfdom in the Kingdom of Bohemia (later he freed the peasants in other provinces as well). Peasants received personal freedom, the right to choose professions at their discretion, to leave the lands of the feudal lord without his consent and move to cities, even to the lands of other owners. The feudal lords were deprived of judicial powers in their possessions and the right to interfere in the personal lives of subjects. If feudal hunting caused damage to the peasant economy, it had to be compensated.

At the same time, such feudal duty as corvee was preserved (it was canceled only in 1848). However, Joseph considered it fair to create equal conditions for the population of all provinces. More precisely, to bring them in accordance with the standards of the Austrian archduchy (in Austria, 1-2 days of corvée per month were considered the norm; in Bohemia - 3 days a week; in Transylvania, complete arbitrariness reigned, and the Hungarian magnates ripped off three skins from Romanian peasants). Finally, a norm was established according to which the peasant should have 70% of the fruits of his labor, 17.5% went to the feudal lord, and 12.5% ​​to the state.

One of the points of the edict on the liberation of the peasants forbade them to bow at the waist and kiss the hands of the masters. Subsequently, this order was issued by a separate decree. Six months later, again. Joseph repeatedly issued a decree banning kissing hands and deep bows every six months for six years, until he made sure that the villagers were used to behaving like free people who have honor and dignity.

On January 2, 1782, Joseph issued an edict concerning the condition of the Jews. Most of the discriminatory measures and restrictions accumulated over the centuries have been lifted. Special taxes and the ban on leaving the house on Sunday were canceled, as well as special clothing and yellow decals introduced under Maria Theresa. Jews were allowed to live among Christians, serve in the army, wear swords, hold public office, own land, open manufactories, and so on.

At the same time, Jews were ordered to change their Semitic names to German ones, and send their children to general education schools (in which Catholic theology was studied twice a week). The rabbinate was deprived of judicial powers, the Jews now had to resolve their disputes in ordinary courts. It was specifically stipulated that Jews should be treated like all other people. For example, in Bohemia - "pane" (before that, the address "žide" was accepted).

Meanwhile, Pius VI, who had worn the papal tiara since 1775, decided to change Joseph's ecclesiastical policy with the help of his diplomatic skills. He retired for a day to pray, after which he appeared before the cardinals with an enlightened smile and declared that, at the behest of God, he would go to Vienna, so that the emperor would bow before the power of his words. The departure of the holy father from Rome was no less a sensation than the appearance of the Habsburg brothers at the conclave in 1769. Everyone tried to remember the last time the pontiff of Rome left Italy... and they couldn't do it.

Pius VI, who believed that Joseph's opinion could be influenced

Kaunitz advised Joseph not to let the pope into the country, fearing that he would incite the masses to resist church reform. However, the emperor, who had never been afraid of any opponent, was not afraid of this either. Pius came to Vienna as a triumphant. He was accompanied by a magnificent procession, and a crowd of thousands lined up along the road. People held festivities with fireworks, and bells rang in all the churches. This did not make any impression on Joseph, he only ironically remarked that the bells are the artillery of the church.

The meeting of the emperor and the pope took place on March 22, 1782. They embraced in front of all the people. The people rejoiced. The Easter service soon followed, during which Joseph received the sacrament from the hands of Pius, and fifty thousand people filled the square in front of the temple and the surrounding streets. Then balls and receptions began, at which the pope shone with wit and charmed the Viennese society. Finally, it came to official negotiations.

They met four of them - Joseph, Pius, Kaunitz and the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Migazzi (Maria Theresa's man and Joseph's political opponent). The pope hoped to influence the opinion of the emperor during the debate. But the debate did not take place. Joseph declared that he could not discuss theological issues, since he did not have a theological education. But if his policy towards the monasteries raises any questions of a theological nature to the pope, the pope may submit them in writing, and the emperor's theologians will give him a written answer. However, everything that the emperor does is aimed at the benefit of his subjects and the church itself. If the holy father wants to know the official position of the emperor, the office of the emperor will provide it to the holy father in writing.

Pius stayed in Vienna for a month and returned to Rome, deeply impressed by the personality and ideas of Joseph. The imperial concept of a church cleansed of idle luxury and returned to pastoral ministry was impeccable. The Pope did not find in it any traces of heresy or atheism. He began to call on the Hungarian bishops, who were on the verge of rebellion, to reconcile with the sovereign.

However, in Rome, Pius again came under pressure from Joseph's opponents and once again changed his position. He even sent a letter to the emperor threatening him with excommunication, to which Joseph replied in his usual manner: "A letter written on behalf of Your Holiness came from the pen of a man who is trying to split our relationship. Your Holiness should find the author of this insulting text."

On July 16, 1782, the premiere of Mozart's opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio" took place in Vienna. Her success was resounding. The phrase of Joseph, who visited the premiere, sounded all the more contrasting: "It's too beautiful for our ears, and most importantly - too many notes, dear Mozart!" These words reflected both fatigue, and nervous tension, and the beginning of the illness of the emperor.

Joseph was not inferior to anyone either as a commander, or as an administrator, or as a diplomat. His problem was that he did not trust anyone and did not want to delegate his authority to anyone. This sovereign did everything himself, trying to manually control eighteen million people, to whom he himself gave all rights and freedoms. He lived to the bone, working twelve to eighteen hours a day, and reformed every area of ​​his subjects' lives, leaving no single detail unattended.

A year after the accession of Joseph in Austria there was no serfdom, but there was freedom of speech and religion. And the Lord allowed him nine such years. This time was enough for the emperor to implement the program, the implementation of which took the life of other European peoples for two or three generations (in many other parts of the planet it remains unfeasible even today).

V.A. Mozart, "Turkish Rondo" (usually not exactly called "Turkish March") and stills from the film "Amadeus" by Milos Forman. This is one of the rarest cases of Joseph II appearing on the movie screen. Forman's Joseph is completely different from the real Joseph, neither externally nor internally. Nevertheless, "Amadeus", this sparkling hymn to freedom, perfectly conveys the atmosphere of his reign. If justice existed on Earth, someone would certainly make a similar film about Joseph himself.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Joseph II
Born: March 13, 1738.
Died: February 20, 1790 (aged 51).

Biography

Joseph II (German Joseph II .; March 13, 1738, Vienna - February 20, 1790, Vienna) - King of Germany from March 27, 1764, elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on August 18, 1765, eldest son of Maria Theresa, until the end of November 1780 was her co-ruler; after the death of his mother on November 29, 1780, he inherited from her the possessions of the Habsburgs - the Archduchy of Austria, the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary. An outstanding statesman, reformer, a prominent representative of the era of enlightened absolutism.

Mother co-ruler

After the death of his father, Franz I of Lorraine, who was elected emperor, he was introduced by his mother to the management of the Austrian possessions. The era of their joint administration was marked by extensive transformative activity, since the need for reform was clearly revealed during the Seven Years' War, which put Austria on the brink of death, and the enlightening ideas of French philosophy of the 18th century penetrated from abroad.

The “enlightenment” party (Aufklärungspartei) increasingly gained the upper hand in literature and even in government circles in Austria, despite the conservative inclinations of the empress, and finally, at the head of the supporters of novelty, Joseph, with the participation of which the government of Maria Theresa eased the situation of the peasants, strengthened state power, to the detriment of clerical and feudal elements, abolished the Jesuit order and abolished torture. However, the policy of Maria Theresa, full of compromises, could not satisfy her son. Despite his ardent love for his mother, Joseph spent the best years of his life in a dull struggle with her, sometimes much aggravated (for example, on the issue of religious tolerance).

Independent government. The enlightened absolutism of Joseph

Only after the death of his mother, in 1780, did Joseph have his hands completely untied to carry out broad reformative plans. The program of Joseph II was a consistent expression of the system of enlightened absolutism. A contemporary of the crowned philosophers, Frederick II of Prussia and Catherine II, Joseph was one of the most active people of his time, who, sparing neither himself nor others, completely exhausted himself with work. His countless journeys were not triumphant walks, but the hard work of a conscientious auditor. Going into everything personally, he sincerely believed in his calling to bring Austria out of its backward state through reforms coming from above. For this, it was necessary, as he believed, first of all, the strengthening of state power, and Joseph followed the old Austrian tradition of strengthening the external and internal power of the state, bureaucratic centralization, uniting the diverse composition of the monarchy, trampling on the ancient liberties of feudal origin and subordinating the church to the state. In the form of a corrective to arbitrariness, however, he allowed a public discussion of current issues in the press and open criticism of the actions of the monarch (law on the press of June 11, 1781).

His philanthropic activity extended to all the disadvantaged, from the oppressed peasantry to the orphans, the sick, the deaf and dumb, and the illegitimate. Nevertheless, Joseph was completely alien to the sentimental and somewhat abstract complacency of the sensitive 18th century. At the slightest resistance, he showed great cruelty; in foreign policy, he was guided only by the interests of his state. In this sense, he influenced the diplomacy of Maria Theresa and is responsible for the role of Austria in the first partition of Poland. He did not seek praise from fashionable writers; during a trip to France (1777), which made a lot of noise, his meeting with Voltaire did not take place of his own free will.

Religious policy

In 1781, he issued the famous decree on October 13 on religious tolerance and abolished those monasteries and religious orders that do not contribute to the cause of public education or charity of the sick (December 20). On the territory of Bohemia and Moravia alone, as a result of the religious reform of Joseph II in 1782-1785, more than 100 monasteries were closed.

The church was placed in close dependence on the state and its connection with the Roman curia was significantly limited. Public education was placed under the supervision of the state, and primary education became the subject of special care. The Catholic Church remained dominant, but the Orthodox, Lutherans and Calvinists were granted civil rights, and the Jews received various reliefs. Since 1782, deviation from the dominant faith was no longer considered a crime, but the government did not dare to introduce freedom of conscience in a fanatical country: the right to choose a religion was limited by deadlines and other obstacles, and Joseph was sometimes even cruel to sectarians.

As an example of the emperor's attitude towards religious movements that were outside the bosom of the Catholic Church, one can cite the story of the Abramites.

Peasant reform

With another legacy of the Middle Ages - feudalism - an equally stubborn struggle flared up. Destroying the privileges of the magnates and establishing the equality of all citizens before the law, Joseph recognized the nobility only as a service class and allowed the influx of raznochintsy into the ranks of the bureaucracy. Joseph abolished serfdom in Bohemia (November 1, 1781), and then in other provinces, and encouraged the redemption of peasant allotments. Concerned about raising the welfare of the rural population, he was going to establish a uniform land taxation, announced by a patent on April 20, 1786, but he was not destined to realize this intention.

His policy aroused general discontent and was shattered by the resistance he met. The feudal lords and clerics hindered the reforms in every possible way, and although Pope Pius VI made a trip to Vienna in vain, hoping to cool the emperor's innovative ardor, the daily opposition of the clerics did not remain without results. All sectors of society were burdened by persistent, harsh and sometimes tactless regulation, a mania for bureaucratic interference in all manifestations of life, from worship and funerals to wearing corsets. Joseph's position was especially difficult when the impatience of precisely those social elements in favor of which he fought the reaction was revealed, for example, when the Wallachian peasants rebelled (1784). The reasons for Joseph's failure should be sought in an attempt to abruptly and irrevocably complete the traditional policy of the Habsburgs, which consisted in centralization, the introduction of the German language, the destruction of provincial liberties, and the replacement of the ruins of the estate-representative system by the Viennese bureaucracy.

Foreign policy

Joseph could not, moreover, concentrate all his attention on domestic affairs, as he was constantly entangled in international complications. Busy with plans for land acquisitions, he haunted his neighbors, mainly - the old rival of Austria, the Prussian king. The accession of Bavaria, which would have ensured its predominance in the German Empire, was of particular benefit to Austria. After an unsuccessful attempt in this sense under Maria Theresa (see: War of the Bavarian Succession), Joseph, in the 2nd half of the 1780s, hoped to achieve his goal by ceding the Austrian Netherlands; but his seizures and unceremonious treatment of petty proprietors rallied against him an alliance of German princes (Fürstenbund), with Frederick II at the head, so that the planned enterprise had to be abandoned. Equally unfortunate was the collision of Joseph with Holland, because of navigation on the river Scheldt.

Most of all, Joseph expected from an alliance with Russia, counting on the division of Turkey. A personal friend and zealous ally of Catherine II, during his second trip to Russia under the name of Count Falkenstein, Joseph II was taken by surprise by the news of the uprising of Belgium. The Dutch revolution was caused by the abolition of historical liberties and the complete destruction of institutions in the region, which until recently was supposed to be exchanged, like a thing, for another country; the feudal lords and clerics found support in the democratic elements, and neither military force, nor the preaching of obedience on the part of the pope, nor the solemn concessions of the government, prevented the complete deposition of Belgium. For the same reasons and at the same time, things were taking an ominous turn in Hungary, where the unification policy trampled on historical liberties, abruptly and forcibly introduced the German language, and the magnates were frightened by hasty preparations for the introduction of a land tax on the basis of physiocracy.

Unsuccessful war and death

The Russian-Turkish war (1787-1792) began. Hoping to restore his shattered authority with the glory of victories, Joseph did not limit himself to the auxiliary role of an ally of Russia, but moved all his forces against the Turks and himself became the head of the army. This fatal decision for him was the fruit of a love for military affairs, which, together with a passion for foreign policy, was the main contradiction in the personality of a tireless reformer. Soon, military failures and a deadly fever, which aggravated tuberculosis, caught on a campaign, forced him to return to Vienna, where the emperor, seeing the hopelessness of his situation, with dangerous internal ferment, canceled all the orders he had made, except for the peasant reform and the law on religious tolerance. On his deathbed, despite severe suffering, he continued to engage in state affairs until the last day and died on February 20, 1790 with great dignity and firmness.

Joseph II died childless, and was succeeded by his younger brother Leopold II, and after the latter's short reign, by his nephew, Franz II.

Awards

Order of the Golden Fleece (Grandmaster since 1780)
Military Order of Maria Theresa (Grand Master from 1780)
Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen (Knight Grand Cross from 1764, Grand Master from 1780).

Joseph II, the son of Maria Theresa, had already been the co-ruler of the Empress since 1765, who constantly restrained his desire for reforms. In 1780, Joseph became emperor, and his ten-year reign was an entire era in the history of the Austrian monarchy, including, of course, the Czech Republic.

Brought up in the spirit of the Enlightenment, Joseph II learned the relevant theories about the structure of the state. It was about the establishment of a reasonable government, the elimination of vestiges, the implementation of rational measures. It was in this spirit that the reforms were carried out.

Economic development, the progress of agriculture, the correct distribution of taxes, the elimination of exclusive feudal rights, the elimination of religious intolerance, and the establishment of equality of citizens before the law were taken as the basis for the life of society. It was necessary, while preserving the gentry, to include it in the new model of the state. The Catholic Church was given the role of an assistant in solving ideological problems. The people were declared only the object of reforms.

The thorough preparation of Joseph II for reforms is evidenced by his correspondence before his accession to the throne. He carried out the reorganization, ignoring the murmur of the gentry, guided only by the principle of expediency.

Church reform

The decisive breaking of the old order began tolerant patent dated October 13, 1781. The Catholic Church continued to be state, but the transition to the Evangelical faith and Orthodoxy was allowed; Judaism was also recognized. But all kinds of sects were forbidden. The patent provided access to schools to non-Catholics, who could receive academic titles, take part in the management of cities, and move freely around the territory of the monarchy. In 1781, Joseph II closed the monasteries that were not engaged in useful activities, turning their buildings into barracks or hospitals, allowing their sale to entrepreneurs. Church censorship was abolished. The training of priests began to be carried out in state seminaries, priests received state salaries. A significant part of the property of the church and the Jesuit order, closed in 1773, was confiscated. The number of religious holidays was reduced, religious processions were forbidden, and “brotherhoods” were liquidated. All this caused a rebuff from the clergy, but enlightened representatives of the church supported the reforms.

Cancellation of the personal dependence of the peasants. agrarian reform.

A real revolution in the life of society was the reform of Joseph II, which abolished the personal dependence of the peasants. It was a “revolution from above”, as the rural population made up the vast majority of all inhabitants of the monarchy. First, a patent was issued on the prohibition of corporal punishment and the collection of fines from peasants (September 1, 1781), then a patent on the submission of complaints by peasants against feudal lords to state institutions. The main patent - on the abolition of personal dependence - was promulgated on November 1, 1781. Now the peasant could freely marry, leave the estate, send his children to learn a craft. But in the final part of the patent it was said that peasant duties and the duty of obedience to the pan remained in force. According to the wording of the patent itself, its purpose was to improve agriculture and develop industry. Indeed, in the Czech Republic, the publication of a patent accelerated the influx of labor into the non-agricultural sectors of the economy, and the royal cities began to revive in connection with this. Further orders of the emperor helped the growth of the economic activity of the village.

The second stage of the agrarian reform was the development of the cadastre, i.e. census of peasant and landlord lands. In 1785-1789, all the land was measured and taxation was carried out on this basis. In 1789, according to the then issued Burnim and Urban Patent, corvée and dues were converted into money, and peasant duties were determined by the income of the household. Taxes and duties were not to exceed half of the tax income from a piece of land. First of all, the peasant was obliged to pay state taxes, and only the rest of this half of the gross income went to the feudal lords. The new tax system reduced the burden of the peasants in relation to the feudal lords, but only to a small extent in relation to the state. The gentry put up fierce resistance to the reforms. But Joseph II proceeded from the thesis of the complete independence of the absolute monarch, and in 1790 the Bernium and Urbarial patent was put into effect. However, in the same year, Joseph died, and his heir Leopold II on February 20, 1790 canceled the tax reform.

Administrative, judicial and military reforms

Of great importance were the administrative reforms of enlightened absolutism. The rulers sought to create a system of government that would eliminate the influence of the estates not only in the highest, but also in the lower instances of power, which could be achieved by replacing the estate administration with a qualified bureaucracy. Joseph II deepened the administrative reform, the first steps towards which were taken by Maria Theresa. In 1782, he unified the central financial and political administration, creating the "United Palace Chamber". In 1784, he also reformed the city government, creating magistrates, which included lawyers and financiers. The four cities of Prague united under a single administration. Special commissars were appointed to the regional institutions, who delivered information directly to the court. In the 1980s, a central police agency was established in Vienna, and police departments were established in the main cities of the states. So Joseph II became the founder of the state police. Military affairs were directed in Vienna by the Military Palace Council; the functions of the later Ministry of Foreign Affairs were performed by the Palace State Chancellery. Since 1760, the Council of State helped them in important matters.

The social composition of the bureaucracy has changed. Instead of representatives of the gentry, who were by no means always able to correct certain functions, now public positions were occupied by qualified people, regardless of origin. Officials received salaries from the state and were under its supervision. But nevertheless, for special merits, representatives of various classes received the nobility as the highest award. A rationally created state apparatus was a progressive phenomenon, but after the French Revolution of the late 18th century. and especially during the period of Prince Metternich's chancellorship, he became more and more an instrument of reaction.

Further reform of the court and law was carried out. In 1784 the feudal courts were subordinated to the authority of the state. Privileges in the field of judicial decisions were abolished, uniform legislation was introduced for all residents of the state and all parts of the monarchy. Management was carried out by the central administration. However, some vestiges of feudalism were preserved if the state needed them.

An important role in the entire system of restructuring the state was played by the army, which Joseph II first of all cleared of incapable commanders, then introduced a unified and purposeful military training. In 1786, the medical-surgical academy was founded. Joseph II violated the aristocratic exclusivity of the officer corps. Then a number of strategically important fortresses were built on the borders, especially in the Czech Republic, on the border with Prussia. The army moved from settlements to barracks and began to concentrate in strategically important points. A technical improvement of the artillery was undertaken. In April 1781, military service was introduced, from which, however, the gentry, clergy and officials were exempted. Men were called up between the ages of 17 and 40. Exemption from duty for ransom was allowed. Those exempted from military service could serve voluntarily. In general, the reform contributed to the growth of the armed forces.

school reform

The most important reform of Joseph II was the transformation of schooling. Back in 1775, a school charter was created that prescribed compulsory education for all children from 6 to 12 years old. Before that, there were 1,500 schools in the Czech Republic, but now not only quantitative, but also their qualitative growth has come. Until 1787, the number of schools increased by a quarter, in the next decade by another 500, by the end of the 90s there were 2601 of them. In the "main schools" teaching was conducted in German, in the "normal" Latin was taught. There were also gymnasiums of the Jesuit, Piarist and other church orders. After the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773, the gymnasiums were reformed, during the years 1772 - 1778 34 gymnasiums in the Czech lands were closed. Only 20 remained. The condition for entering the gymnasium was knowledge of the German language, which was taught in the first two classes (out of 6). In the four senior classes, instruction was held in Latin. At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, two thirds of all Czech high school students studied in three Prague gymnasiums. Most of the teachers were imbued with Josephine ideas. In general, the period of development of the Czech school after 1775 should be assessed as progressive.

The development of lower and secondary school education at the end of the 18th - the first half of the 19th centuries. is an integral part of the entire process of formation of the Czech people of modern times. The developing capitalist relations of production required a large army of young, relatively educated people capable of performing functions in production, in the state apparatus, and in public institutions. In addition, Czech schools have become an important factor in the national revival. Enlightening a very significant part of the youth, they created the prerequisites for the general growth of the culture of the people.

A reorganization was also carried out in higher education. In the Habsburg monarchy there was the oldest university in Central Europe - Prague (there were others, for example, Vienna). The University of Prague traditionally had faculties of philosophy, law, medicine and theology. The Faculty of Philosophy was considered a link between the gymnasiums and the higher faculties, the other three. It was he who underwent a significant reorganization. The main attention was paid to the development of natural history disciplines and history. The new departments provided the study of philosophical, mathematical, astronomical and historical sciences, as well as philology and aesthetics. The faculty changed from two years to three years, and in the compulsory part of the course, the main attention began to be paid to practical disciplines. In 1784, the remnants of scholasticism in secular faculties were abolished, church censorship was abolished, and German became the language of instruction instead of Latin. Compulsory attendance of the main cycle of lectures and passing exams on time was introduced. New departments of the Faculty of Philosophy were created: practical mathematics, agronomy, engineering disciplines. Even in the social sciences, seemingly far from practice, the preconditions for adaptation to the needs of the time were created. Thus, the lectures of F.M. appointment.

Changes in teaching at the Faculty of Philosophy were designed to improve the training of students, primarily in the faculties of law and medicine, hence the attention to the natural sciences and history. As a result of the reforms begun in 1774, the university got rid of church control and became part of the institutions of the absolutist state.

Healthcare. Social Security

Carrying out decisive changes in all the mentioned areas of life, the governments of Maria Theresa and Joseph II also understood the need for measures to improve the health and social welfare of the general population. The general state of health of the Czech population was unsatisfactory. In 1776, the imperial charter of health care was promulgated: all health authorities were subordinate to the central imperial commission, which had broad powers. By the end of the XVIII century. in the Czech Republic there were already up to 300 private and public hospitals. In 1781, Joseph II issued the main directive rules, establishing the most important principles for the creation of new medical institutions. Previously, hospitals were institutions of mercy for the poor, without specially trained personnel and without medical care, now specialized clinics, maternity hospitals, orphanages, etc. were established. Medical science also developed. Reforms at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Prague improved the qualifications of doctors. Although far from all problems were solved, the period of the Teresian-Josephin reforms became an important era in the history of medicine in the monarchy, including the Czech Republic.

Assessing the reforms of the time under consideration as a whole, it should be stated that they meant a turning point in the course of the decomposition of feudal foundations and objectively led to an acceleration of the onset of capitalism. However, they did not achieve their goals. Joseph II did not take into account many of the complexities of reality. Thus, his most radical reform - the bernium and the urbarial patent - did not overcome the resistance of the opposition of the feudal lords and was canceled immediately after the death of Joseph II. Other progressive reforms were also weakened. But the return of the peasants to personal dependence was no longer possible.

Likewise, after 1790, the church strengthened its autonomy, but did not get rid of its subordinate position in relation to the state. Many of the decrees of Joseph II were valid until 1848, and some even until 1918. The significance of the reforms for the formation of the Czech nation of modern times is so serious that the social atmosphere they created was called “Josefinism”.

Science in the Czech Republic during the Enlightenment

In the 60s of the XVIII century. in the Habsburg Monarchy and in the Czech Republic there was also an intensive process of creating a science of the new time, expanding its cognitive possibilities and sometimes acquiring a new ideological function. Individual scientists, previously isolated in their activities, began to unite in scientific societies. Thus, in 1746, the “Society of Unknown Scientists” was founded in Olomouc. From 1753 to 1761 it met in Prague under the chairmanship of I. Shtepling, discussing various scientific problems. In 1771-1772, the weekly Prague Scientific News was published in Prague in German, published by Ignacy Antonin Born (1742-1791). Science entered the struggle in an obsolete feudal society.

After the prohibition of the Jesuit order, several directions were formed in the intellectual development of the Czech lands. On the initiative of I.A. Born, a “Private Society in the Czech Republic for the Development of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and National History” arose. In 1775 it began to publish “Reasonings” in German. sciences”, which since 1790 was called the “Royal Czech Society of Sciences” and existed until 1952, when it merged with the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts, founded in 1890. The learned societies were created in the Czech Republic in a difficult struggle with the defenders of feudal ideology , which contributed to the emergence of an alliance between representatives of the natural and social sciences, who understood that the forces that hinder the development of one group of scientific disciplines are harmful to another group.

The Czech Society of Sciences is a progressive element in the social structure of the Czech Republic at the end of the 18th century. Persons were accepted into it only on scientific merit, there was equality between them, regardless of class origin. Society adhered to the principle of free knowledge and use of the objective laws of nature and social development in the interests of progress.

With a new approach to the national past, which was presented as a counter-reformation in a distorted form, the desire to create the foundations of the Czech literary language, science raised the national and political consciousness of the Czechs, including the people in the struggle for a new social order.

The main task in the field of social sciences was to achieve the level that was observed in Western European countries. In the humanities, interest in the secular history of Czech statehood developed into an interest in education, the development of the Czech language and the study of the past of Czech writing.

Gelaziy Dobner

Several outstanding personalities stood out in the humanities of the Czech Republic. One of the earliest scientists of this kind was Gelasius Dobner (1719-1790), a German, a member of the Piarist Order, and a self-taught historian. The son of a craftsman, Dobner graduated from a Latin Jesuit school and joined the Catholic monastic order of Piarists, founded in 1607. Among the vows taken by members of the order was the gratuitous education of youth. From 1752, Dobner worked at the Prague Piarist Gymnasium and studied history. He drew attention to the discrepancies in the presentation of the facts of Czech history in the writings of Catholic and non-Catholic authors. This suggested the need to study the sources in a comparative way. Dobner's first work on history was the analysis of the “St. Wenceslas legend of the so-called. Christian”, but the main one was the six-volume translation of the Czech Chronicle by Vaclav Hayk from Libochan from Czech into Latin. On the basis of many researches, Dobner supplied Haik's chronicle with critical comments. Haik's work, published in 1541, influenced Czech historiography for two centuries, and criticism of the chronicle could help to refute the counter-reformation concept of Czech history. The first volume of Dobner's translation was published in 1761. Dobner proved the historical inconsistency of information on the ancient history of the Czechs, to which this volume was devoted, and essentially deleted Haik's work from reliable sources. Dobner became the initiator of a new approach to historical research in the Czech Republic, a representative of a new methodology that originated in the Enlightenment. From Dobner originates the concept of Czech ancient history as a democratic society, without lords and subjects. In the development of Czech historiography, Dobner's work marked a decisive turn from the counter-reformation concept to a new stage in the study of Czech history.

Frantisek Martin Pelcl during the Enlightenment

A significant contribution to the development of a critical attitude towards feudal ideology was made by František Martin Pelcl (1734-1801). The son of a craftsman, he graduated from the PR gymnasium in Rychnov and became a student of the higher philosophical class of the PR gymnasium in Prague. Pelcl entered the scientific life on his own in 1774 with the essay A Brief History of the Czechs. In the 80s, his biographies appeared: “Emperor Charles IV, King of the Czechs” and “The Life Story of the Roman and Bohemian King Wenceslas”. These writings put forward a new concept of Czech history, in particular the Hussite movement. At the same time, the assessment of gusism gradually developed. If in 1774 Pelcl mentions Hus only as one of the Czech “learned men”, then in 1779 Hus is already characterized as a reformer and a fearless hero who does not deviate from his convictions even under pain of death. Pelzl also criticizes the positions of the Hussite-era church. However, the Hussite revolution is strongly condemned by him as a manifestation of fanaticism and rebellion, which led to the decline of the country's welfare and public order.

A similar point of view was shared by other historians of the Enlightenment, who had a negative attitude towards the French Revolution, the peasant uprising of 1775 and other extraordinary events of this kind.

Joseph Dobrovsky (1753-1829)

The most significant person in Czech science during the reign of Joseph II was, no doubt, the then young Josef Dobrovsky. It operated during two most important periods in the history of Czech culture and ideology - the Enlightenment and Romanticism.

Dobrovsky was born in Hungary, but in infancy he was taken to the Czech Republic. His father is Czech, his mother is probably German. The native language of the future scientist was German, and he learned Czech at the gymnasium in the city of Nemecký Brod, where he entered in 1762. home teacher in the house of Count F. Nostitz. In 1786 Dobrovsky took the priesthood and became vice-rector and later rector of the General Seminary in Olomouc. In 1790, after the death of Joseph II and the abolition of general seminaries, Dobrovsky moved to Prague to Nostice, where he was engaged in scientific work, was an active member of the Royal Czech Society of Sciences, its secretary and later chairman. In 1778 he published in Latin the work “Prague fragment of the Holy Gospel of Mark - a false autograph”, thus embarking on the path of critical study of biblical texts. He soon moved on to studying the history of ancient Czech national culture. Numerous small works of Dobrovsky of these years are distinguished by scrupulous philological criticism of the text of sources and thoroughness of historiographical microanalysis. Dobrovsky studied those periods of development of Czech culture, when literature in the Czech language manifested itself most clearly. He proved that Czech culture reached its highest development during the period of the Hussite movement. This indicated a departure from counter-reformation assessments and paved the way for a new concept of Czech history, formulated later in the work of Palacký. Dobrovsky questioned the usefulness and expediency of establishing the celibacy of the Catholic clergy, undermined the faith in the holiness of John of Nepomuk, which was one of the most important theses of Catholic historiography. Already in the period of Enlightenment, Dobrovsky's Czech national self-consciousness was noticeable. The pinnacle of his patriotic speeches was the speech at the solemn meeting of the Czech Society of Sciences “On the devotion of the Slavic peoples to the Austrian ruling house”, delivered on September 25, 1791, during a visit to the Society by Emperor Leopold II. Dobrovsky emphasized that out of the 21 million people of the population of the empire, 11 million are Slavs, and this should be taken into account in the entire policy of the state.

In 1792 Dobrovsky visited Russia. He arrived in St. Petersburg on August 17. While working at the Academy of Sciences, he paid much attention to handwritten vaults, then moved to Moscow, where he stayed until January 7, 1793, researching the monuments of ancient Slavic writing in libraries. The critical method of approach to historical sources developed by Dobrovsky allowed him to become the founder of the scientific study of Slavic languages ​​and literatures, i.e. Slavic philology as a science.

JOSEPH II(Joseph II) (1741–1790), Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Habsburg (Austrian) lands. Born March 13, 1741, the eldest son of Maria Theresa and the future Holy Roman Emperor Franz I (reigned 1745–1765). Joseph's youth fell on a critical period in the history of Austria, marked by the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. During these upheavals, the Habsburg monarchy was on the verge of death and was saved at the cost of losing the richest of its provinces - Silesia. This experience influenced all subsequent views of Joseph, instilling in him a passionate desire for reform as a means of strengthening his possessions, a love for the army and a desire to leave a mark on history with military victories.

In 1765, Franz I died, and Joseph's mother actively involved him in government affairs, granting him the status of co-ruler. As a reformer, Maria Theresa always acted with an eye to the conservatism of human nature and the power of prejudice. To the impulsive Joseph, her style of government seemed too cautious. After the death of Maria Theresa on November 29, 1780, the 39-year-old Joseph became the absolute ruler of the most extensive monarchy in Central Europe. An avalanche of decrees followed: during the 10 years of Joseph's reign, 6,000 decrees and 11,000 new laws were issued to regulate all aspects of society.

The emperor set about creating a rational, centralized and uniform system of government for his heterogeneous possessions - a hierarchy, at the head of which he himself stood as the supreme autocrat. It was assumed that the government apparatus should be imbued with the same spirit of devotion to the service of the state, which was inherent in the emperor himself. This apparatus was created regardless of the class and ethnic origin of its members, who were appointed solely on their merits. In order to unify the system of government throughout the empire, German was introduced as the official language.

The emperor conceived a reform of the entire system of legislation, abolished cruel punishments and the death penalty for most crimes, introduced the principle of complete equality of all before the law. He ended press censorship and instituted a policy of religious tolerance. In 1781 Joseph II began the emancipation of the serfs. (However, after his death, serfdom was actually restored.)

Joseph struggled with the influence of the papacy, severely limiting his power to the boundaries of papal possessions. In addition, he had no sympathy for the contemplative lifestyle of monasticism and closed over 700 monasteries, reduced the number of monks and nuns from 65,000 to 27,000, and partly secularized church estates.

In the field of economics, Joseph II was a supporter of mercantilism. Under him, instructions were issued on which goods were to be produced in the country and which were allowed to be imported. Fabrics imported into the empire were burned, goods that did not meet government standards were destroyed.

Joseph introduced compulsory primary education for all boys and girls, but the opportunity to receive higher education was provided only to a select few. Vienna developed medical education and the hospital system. In order to establish a single and equal land tax, Joseph assessed all the lands in the empire.

In foreign policy, Joseph's main aspiration was the acquisition of Bavaria, if only in exchange for Belgium (Austrian Netherlands); attempts to achieve this goal in 1778 and 1785 were, however, thwarted by Frederick II of Prussia. This failure pushed Joseph to territorial expansion in the Balkans, and he became involved in a costly and fruitless war with the Turks.

By 1790 rebellions broke out in Belgium and Hungary against the reforms; in other provinces, unrest was also brewing due to the hardships of the war with Turkey. Joseph's empire was on the verge of collapse. Joseph died on February 20, 1790.

The eldest son of the imp. Franz Stephen of Lorraine and the Archduchess of Austria, cor. Hungary and Bohemia Maria Theresa. The so-called policy course is connected with I. enlightened absolutism (reforms in the field of state. religious policy, state administration, justice, health care, etc.), called iozefinism.

Genus. during a difficult period for the Habsburg dynasty. After his death in 1740, imp. Charles VI, who left no male heirs, on the basis of the Pragmatic Sanction, power passed to his daughter Maria Theresa, in connection with which Prussia and its allies began the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748). The education received by I. was not systematic, the independent reading of the works of thinkers of the Enlightenment had a great influence on the formation of his views, which caused dissatisfaction with his mother, imp. Maria Theresa, who considered the ideas of the Enlightenment extremely dangerous. I. married twice: in 1760, in order to bring the Habsburg and Bourbon houses closer together, at the behest of Maria Theresa and Chancellor V. A. Kaunitz, he married the Duchess of Parma Isabella († 1763), and in 1765, the Duchess of Bavaria Maria Joseph (no heirs left). After the death of his father from 18 Aug. 1765 I., by the will of his mother, was her co-ruler, but almost all areas of the state. management remained under the control of Maria Theresa, which prevented I. from showing independence in government. The influence of I. on the state. things were minimal, most often he only carried out the will of his mother. Nevertheless, following the ideas of the Enlightenment, I. achieved in 1776 from Maria Theresa the abolition of torture in legal proceedings. The unwillingness of the mother to reckon with the opinion of I. in governing the state often led to tension in relations between them. In an effort to avoid confrontation with the Empress, I. incognito (under the name of Count Falkenstein) made long journeys: he was in Silesia (1769), in Italy (1769), in France (1777), in Russia (1780), and also in different parts empire, where he got acquainted with the state of affairs, problems and needs of society. In 1780 he met with the Russian imp. Catherine II Alekseevna in Mogilev to develop a common anti-Turkish policy. It is generally accepted that these trips, during which I. got acquainted with the experience of the state. management in other countries, influenced his future rule, determining the course of reform.

After the death of the imp. Maria Theresa (1780) I. began to rule independently, continuing the transformations begun by her, but his reforms were more radical and often contradictory. I. carried out reforms in the field of state. management, economics and social relations. In the field of state management I. faced problems associated with the structure of the empire, each part of which retained its own authorities in the absence of a centralized system of government, a single army, a taxation system, a monetary unit, etc. Attempts to centralize and unify the state, undertaken imp. Charles VI and Maria Theresa, were completed by I. reforms of the royal chancellery, court chamber and financial management (including through the merger of 13 different regional institutions). The most important of the reforms is the reorganization of the state. administration of Hungary (1785), Lombardy and the Austrian Netherlands (1787). In Hungary, I. sought to put the estates under his control, to put an end to the Hungarians. isolation and repeal the constitution. He liquidated the comitat system (regional autonomy) and divided the country into 10 adm. districts headed by commissioners. The emperor refused to be crowned Hungarian. the crown of St. Stefan (Istvan) and ordered her to be transported to Vienna, for which in Hungary he was called "the king in the hat."

In order to unify I. pursued a policy of Germanization of the multinational population of the empire, including made it German. the language is obligatory in office work (1784) on the territory of all lands subject to the Habsburgs, except for Lombardy and the Austrian Netherlands, where ital. and French languages ​​were recognized as "suitable" in the state. management. This reform aroused the discontent of the subjects and became one of the reasons for the uprisings at the end of the reign of Ivan. In the economy, the most important event was the abolition of serfdom, which made it possible for the peasants to choose their place of residence and make deals; landlords were forbidden to drive peasants off their allotments and obstruct their economic activities. However, the transfer of peasants to redemption payments depended on the desire of the landowner. As a result, corvee was abolished in Galicia only in 1786, and in Hungary in 1787. Like imp. Maria Theresa, in the economic sphere, I. followed the principles of mercantilism, restricting the import of foreign and encouraging the export of domestic goods, supporting the development of manufactories, including by providing benefits to Protestant entrepreneurs who moved to Austria from the Rhine region. and the Netherlands. Relig. the benefits also affected the Orthodox, who played an important role in Viennese trade, as well as the Jews, whose court needed financial capital. Realizing the ideas of the Enlightenment, the emperor opened charitable institutions, hospitals, shelters for the deaf and dumb. The economic and social reforms of India contributed to the modernization of the Habsburg empire.

The greatest resonance in the empire and abroad was caused by the course of religions conducted by I.. politics based on religious tolerance and affecting the Catholic. Church and other religions. communities in St. Roman Empire. Oct 13 In 1781, I. issued a “patent on religious tolerance” (Toleranzpatent), according to Krom, the privileged status of Catholics was preserved. Church, but Protestants (primarily Lutherans and Calvinists) and Orthodox were given the right to private religion. practice and free worship in prayer houses, as well as new norms for mixed marriages between Catholics and persons of other Christs. confessions. Jan 2 In 1782, I. issued a “patent on religious tolerance” in relation to Jews living in N. Austria (since 1789, the “patent” extended to other parts of the empire), giving Jews the opportunity to live in cities, acquire land, and create national schools ; the document abolished the wearing of special clothing by Jews, prescribed them to receive it. surnames. "Patents on religious tolerance" allowed non-Catholic. the population of the Habsburg monarchy to occupy the state. positions. Relig. I. policy, which had the main goal of subordinating the Catholic. Church needs of the state-va, complicated the relationship of the emperor with the Holy See. In 1782, the concerned religious. policy I. Pope Pius VI made a trip to Vienna, where he unsuccessfully tried to get the emperor to change the course against the Catholics. Churches. During the reign of I., the secularization of the property of some Catholics was carried out. monastic orders and mon-rays, the system of training and education of clerics was changed, orders were issued to hold services, the boundaries of bishoprics were streamlined, etc. (for more details, see the article Josephinism).

The emperor's foreign policy was not very successful. In alliance with Russia, I. conducted military operations against the Ottoman Empire. The first operations in the Belgrade region ended in the defeat of the imp. army and the invasion of the Ottoman troops in the south. committees of Hungary. To the military failures of the emperor, an epidemic of malaria was added, which I.

Initially, the policy of I. met with support among different sections of the population, but the policy of Germanization and unification contributed to the beginning of the struggle for the equality of nations in the Habsburg monarchy, and the emergence of anti-absolutist movements. The end of I.'s reign coincided with a deep political crisis. Largely due to the discontent of religions. the policy of I. in 1789 in the Austrian Netherlands began the so-called. The Brabant Revolution resulted in the creation of an independent United States of Belgium. Hungary was on the verge of an uprising, the representatives of the Hungarians. The political elite and the ruling houses of Bavaria and Prussia were actively negotiating the overthrow of the Habsburgs. The French Revolution, which began in 1789, contributed to the intensification of anti-absolutist actions in various areas of the Habsburg empire. In an effort to save the situation and prevent a revolution in his possessions, I. annulled almost all of his decrees (except for the abolition of serfdom and "patents on religious tolerance"), promising to resume the work of the Hungarians. the National Assembly and return the crown of St. Stephen (Istvan) to Hungary. However, neither the preparation for the work of the National Assembly nor the return of the crown to Buda could restore order in Hungary. Throughout the country, the formation of armed detachments continued, Hung. regiments located in other parts of the empire returned to their homeland to protect it, negotiations continued on inviting a new dynasty to the throne. After the death of I. imp. Leopold II was able to restore the power of the Habsburgs in Belgium and put an end to the unrest in Hungary, preserving in the empire most of the reforms and transformations carried out by I..

Lit.: Mitrofanov P., von. Joseph II: Seine politische u. kulturelle Tatigkeit. W., 1910. 2 Bde; Kann R. A. Werden und Zerfall des Habsburgerreiches. Graz, 1962; Winter E. Der Josefinismus: Geschichte des österreichischen Reformkatholizismus. B., 1962; Hajdu L. II. József igazgatási reformjai Magyarországon. Bdpst, 1982; Haselsteiner H. Joseph II. und die Komitate Ungarns: Herrscherrecht u. standischer Constitutionalism. W.; Koln; Graz, 1983; Gutkas K. Kaiser Josef II.: Eine Biographie. W., 1989; Beals D. Joseph II. Camb., 2009. 2 vol.

K. T. Medvedeva