Hello everyone, I'm Captain Nemo, and welcome aboard the Nautilus, who takes you on a journey through the ocean of knowledge.
There is a European proverb: Let others go to war, happy Austria, get married! It is said that the Habsburgs became the most extensive dynasty in Europe through marriage, but the Lorraine dynasty inherited the Habsburgs through marriage. So how Franz, the cousin of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, inherited the vast legacy of the Habsburg dynasty, the captain will tell you in detail.
First, born into the nobility
Franz Stephen of Lorraine was born on December 8, 1708 in Nancy, the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine in the Holy Roman Empire, the son of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, and Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Lorraine, so he received a good aristocratic education from an early age, familiar with German and French, loved natural sciences and loved to collect animals, plants and minerals.
Fatz 's maternal grandfather , Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, was the younger brother of King Louis XIV of France, so he was the grandnephew of Louis XIV. Dellan 's grandmother, Princess Erenor of Austria of Austria, was the maternal aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I, so he was Joseph I's cousin. As a result, Franz was related to both the French Bourbons and the Austrian Habsburgs, laying the foundation for his later entry into Austria.
Second, the Duke of Lorraine
In 1723, due to Leopold's good relationship with his cousin Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, the 15-year-old Franz was sent by his father to Vienna for a court education. Charles VI was so fond of his cousin Franz that he treated him as a son and enrolled him with his daughter Maria Theresia.
Charles VI had no sons, so he pondered the choice of a son-in-law so that his daughter and son-in-law could inherit the Habsburg domain after his death. Because the Lorraine family was already related to the Habsburgs, and also served the emperor against France for many years, and the power was small, it would not cause opposition from the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic, so Charles VI decided to marry Maria Theresia to Franz as his wife, so that the two could contact from an early age to enhance their relationship.
Franz naturally knew that he would become the son-in-law of his cousin Charles VI in the future, so he got along with his cousin Maria Theresia, who was 8 and a half years younger than him, to improve the understanding of both parties, and soon the two had a deep relationship because of long-term contact, and they decided on each other for life.
Third, the marriage of the Habsburgs
When Leopold died in 1729, Franz left Vienna after 6 years of living and returned to his hometown as Duke of Lorraine. Franz then made his mother Elizabeth Charlotte regent of the Duchy of Lorraine, and visited England, Holland, Prussia and other places to increase understanding and strengthen friendly relations with various parts of Europe.
In 1733, King August II of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania died, and the War of Polish-Lithuanian Succession broke out among European countries for the Polish throne. Although Stanisław I, the father-in-law of King Louis XV of France, lost the Polish throne after losing the war, the French army succeeded in capturing the Duchy of Lorraine.
Franco-Austrian peace was then negotiated and the Peace of Vienna was signed. The treaty provided that Charles VI agreed to give the Duchy of Lorraine to Stanisław I as compensation, and also agreed to the annexation of the Duchy of Lorraine to France after his death; Franz received the Grand Duchy of Tuscany as compensation for the loss of the Duchy of Lorraine, and France recognized his marriage to Maria Theresia.
Franz's ancestors had ruled Lorraine for hundreds of years, so he was initially reluctant to give up his ancestral property. However, France, fearing that the union of Lorraine with Austria would unite Austria's western territory and seriously threaten the security of its eastern border, insisted on annexing Lorraine. Charles VI had no choice but to tell Franz that if he did not give up Lorraine, it would be impossible to marry his daughter and inherit the Habsburg domain. In the end, Franz weighed the pros and cons and had to give up on Lorraine.
In 1736 , Franz married Maria Theresa and became the heir to the Habsburg dynasty, which merged with the Habsburgs to form the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. In 1737, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Gian Gastone de' Medici, died, and Franz acquired the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
Fourth, elected emperor
When Charles VI died in 1740, Franz and Maria Theresa inherited a vast Habsburg estate. However, in order to expand his territory, King Frederick II of Prussia provoked the War of Austrian Succession on the grounds that women did not have the right to inherit family domains. France, Bavaria, Saxony and other countries also took advantage of the fire to seize Austrian territory.
In 1742 , most German princes elected Charles Albrecht, Elector of Bavaria, as Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII against the Habsburgs. The Franz and his wife then worked together to fight the invasion and retain most of the family domain. In 1745, Franz defeated Charles VII and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor Franz I.
In 1748, Franz I won the War of the Austrian Succession and secured the Holy Roman throne. Franz I then left the affairs of government to his wife Maria Theresia, who engaged in scientific research on the one hand and solved financial problems on the other hand to improve Austria's financial situation, until his death in 1765. Franz I's son, Joseph II, succeeded him as Holy Roman Emperor and became the first monarch of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty.