Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz
Encyclopedia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
) was Supreme Chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
of the United Court Chancery and the head of Directorium in publicis et cameralibus under Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
. He also served as one of the key advisors in instituting Maria Theresa's reforms. Haugwitz attempted to bring both centralization and economic reform to the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
lands.
Biography
In this position, Haugwitz presided over the hereditary lands of the Habsburg MonarchyHabsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
. After 1760, the chancery also dealt in the affairs of Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
. The Directorium in publicis et cameralibus became a centralized agency established with the advisement of Haugwitz to deal with matters such as “international administration and taxation, public safety, social welfare, education, church matters, mining and commerce”. It is clear from Maria Theresa’s testament that Haugwitz was one of her most valued advisors.
“He was truly sent to me by Providence, for to break the deadlock I needed such a man, honorable, disinterested, without predispositions, and with neither ambition nor hangers-on, who supported what was good because he saw it to be good…”
Haugwitz, as a student of the Austrian cameralist, Wilhelm von Schröder, learned hostility towards the wealthy estates. Haugwitz was also an admirer of the reforms and new administration in the Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
province of Silesia
Province of Silesia
The Province of Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919.-Geography:The territory comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Silesia and the County of Kladsko, which King Frederick the Great had conquered from the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th...
. He intended to change economic and administrative institutions through compartmentalization of government functions, education, centralization of the economy and provision of economic information to the monarchy.
In terms of compartmentalization, Haugwitz instituted a separation of judicial matters from political and fiscal matters by instituting a new High Court (Oberste Justizstelle). Regional courts functioned directly beneath the Empress with each departmental chief supervising his own affairs.
Haugwitz also focused on another important initiative to bring modern economic thought to students. Maria Theresa had established the Theresianum to train noble children for civil service. Through this institution, Haugwitz planned to bring about economic modernization. To catalyze this modernization and establish Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
as a place of economic discourse, Haugwitz brought Johann Heinrich Gottlob Justi
Johann Heinrich Gottlob Justi
Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi was one of the leading German political economists in the 18th century.- Life :Justi was born in Brücken...
to Vienna, first to teach German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
as the language of administration and later to train students according to both German Kameralism
Kameralism
Cameralism was a German science of administration. According to Lindenfeld, it was divided into three: public finance, Oeconomie and Polizei. Here Oeconomie did not mean exactly 'economics', nor Polizei 'public policy' in the modern senses...
and modern economic theories and practices. As both a former soldier in Prussia and a Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, Justi was not well liked in Vienna. Because of this mistrust, Justi lacked the access to pertinent economic data required to execute his theories. Society was also not prepared for modern economic thought because of the traditionally Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
nature of scholarship and the division of the Habsburg economy into various regional and local economies.
In 1746, under the direction of Haugwitz, in an attempt to bring about economic centralization, the Directorium was established as a central agency to supervise the lands in the monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
and make recommendations about economic improvements. In 1749, the government established Representationen und Cammern as local offices of the Directorium chiefly as mechanisms for supervising tax policy.
Because of this economic centralization, Haugwitz provided Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
with an unprecedented amount of information about the economies of the states over which he would reign. As part of Joseph II’s education, he received an extensive overview of the economic makeup of each state. Such a report was unprecedented because it would traditionally have been viewed as an intrusion in the affairs normally reserved to the estates. All of these reforms helped to bring about the eventual peak of mercantilism
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
in the 1760s.
Military reforms complimented Haugwitz’s economic initiatives. Due to his belief in the need for “immediate supremacy of the sovereign over the army, and the maintenance of an adequate body of troops even in time of peace,” Haugwitz contributed to military reform in both funding and the development of a standing army
Standing army
A standing army is a professional permanent army. It is composed of full-time career soldiers and is not disbanded during times of peace. It differs from army reserves, who are activated only during wars or natural disasters...
.
To protect the monarchy, Haugwitz recommended a standing army of 108,000 supported by contributions by the estates of 14 million gulden. To avoid the previous issues in estates' withholding of contributions, or the tedious process of frequent appeals to the estates, Haugwitz instituted the Ten Years’ Recess. Under this program, despite the resistance of the estates, the estates would guarantee payment for ten years. This period abolished the previous fluctuations in finances. Previously, when taxes were levied from the estates, the estates disagreed amongst themselves over the amount levied, divided the sum among the various estates, collected taxes from the peasantry, deducted from these taxes and then distributed the remainder to the monarchy. In this reform, Representationen und Cammern collected the taxes in order that the greatest portion of the levy would be distributed to the monarchy.
In addition to these military finance reforms, Haugwitz instituted reforms within the military. A policy quite close to conscription was established. Uniform dress was required of soldiers in order to foster national spirit. Haugwitz advocated the usage of Prussian fighting tactics. A training school was founded to train officers in these tactics.
Despite the large-scale nature and depth of Haugwitz’s reforms, their efficacy was not as great as he had intended. Haugwitz’s attempt to transform the monarchy from a “feudal aristocracy” to a “well-organised-despotism” was incomplete. (Franck p. 190) The superior court system that established local judges, while initially an attempt at both centralization and organization brought about the opposite due to the tremendous autonomy of each departmental chief. Furthermore, the reforms had limited scope, because they were not aimed at nor did they have any effect on Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, or Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
.
The beginning of the Seven Years’ War in 1757 thwarted the development of many of the reforms. In false defense of his failing policies, Haugwitz argued that the reforms “were only for peacetime”. Eventually, Haugwitz’s Directorium was stripped of its military and financial functions and renamed the Bohemian and Austrian Court Chancellery. Most power now became centered in the Council of State headed by Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz. Kaunitz, a historic foe of Haugwitz, replaced him in instituting policies. However, Haugwitz’s policies would have an effect throughout the reign of Maria Theresa and later in the reign of Joseph II.
Early in his career the composer Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
was briefly in Count Haugwitz's employ, playing the organ in the Bohemian Chancellery chapel at the Judenplatz.