page_title: History of Austria
section_title: Charles III: Succession and the Pragmatic Sanction (1713–1740)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Austria / Establishing the monarchy: Austria's rise to power (1648–1740) / Charles III: Succession and the Pragmatic Sanction (1713–1740)
caption_attribution_description: Kaiser Karl VI. (1685-1740) im Vliesornat. Wien
context_page_description: The history of Austria covers the history of Austria and its predecessor states, from the early Stone Age to the present state. The name Ostarrîchi has been in use since 996 AD when it was a margravate of the Duchy of Bavaria and from 1156 an independent duchy of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
  Austria was dominated by the House of Habsburg and House of Habsburg-Lorraine from 1273 to 1918. In 1808, when Emperor Francis II of Austria dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, Austria became the Austrian Empire, and was also part of the German Confederation until the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. In 1867, Austria formed a dual monarchy with Hungary: the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When this empire collapsed after the end of World War I in 1918, Austria was reduced to the main, mostly German-speaking areas of the empire, and adopted the name The Republic of German-Austria. However, union with Germany and the chosen country name were forbidden by the Allies at the Treaty of Versailles. This led to the creation of the First Austrian Republic.
  Following the First Republic, Austrofascism tried to keep Austria independent from the German Reich.
context_section_description: For Charles now had succession problems of his own, having only two surviving daughters. His solution was to abolish sole male inheritance by means of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. In 1703 his father Leopold VI had made a pact with his sons that allowed for female inheritance but was vague on details, and left room for uncertainty. The Pragmatic Sanction strengthened this and in addition made provision for the inseparability (indivisibiliter ac inseparabiliter) of the Habsburg lands.
  This was to form the legal basis for the union with Hungary and to legitimise the Habsburg monarchy. It would be confirmed by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and would last to 1918. He then needed to strengthen the arrangement by negotiating with surrounding states. Internal negotiation proved to be relatively simple and it became law by 1723.
  Charles was now willing to offer concrete advantages in territory and authority in exchange for other powers' worthless recognitions of the Pragmatic Sanction that made his daughter Maria Theresa his heir. Equally challenging was the question of the heir apparent's marital prospects and how they might influence the European balance of power. The eventual choice of Francis Stephen of Lorraine in 1736 proved unpopular with the other powers, particularly France.
  War continued to be part of European life in the early 18th century. Austria was involved in the war of War of the Quadruple Alliance and the resulting 1720 Treaty of The Hague was to see the Habsburg lands reach their greatest territorial expansion. War with France had broken out again in 1733 with the War of the Polish Succession whose settlement at the Treaty of Vienna in 1738 saw Austria cede Naples and Sicily to the Spanish Infante Don Carlos in exchange for the tiny Duchy of Parma and Spain and France's adherence to the Pragmatic Sanction.  The later years of Charles's reign also saw further wars against the Turks, beginning with a successful skirmish in 1716–1718, culminating in the Treaty of Passarowitz. Less successful was the war of 1737–1739 which resulted in the Austrian loss of Belgrade and other border territories at the Treaty of Belgrade.
  On the domestic front military and political gains were accompanied by economic expansion and repopulation (Schwabenzug), as Austria entered the period of High Baroque with a profusion of new buildings, including the Belvedere (1712–1783) and Karlskirche (1716–1737), exemplified by the great architects of the period, such as Fischer, Hildebrandt and Prandtauer. However the Habsburgs' finances were fragile. They had relied on Jewish bankers such as Samuel Oppenheimer to finance their wars, and subsequently bankrupted him. However the financial system in Austria remained antiquated and inadequate. By the time of Charles' death in 1740 the treasury was almost depleted.
  Habsburg religious intolerance, once unquestioned in the core lands became the subject of more intense scrutiny by 1731 when 22,000 suspected crypto-Protestants were expelled from Salzburg and the Salzkammergut. Similar intolerance was displayed to the Jewish population in Bohemia and surrounding areas under the Familianten (Familiantengesetze) in 1726 and 1727. Worse would have followed had there not also been a realisation that there were economic consequences and that some accommodation was required to the more rationalist ideas of western Europe. Among these was cameralism which encouraged economic self-sufficiency in the nation state. Thus domestic industries such as the Linzer Wollzeugfabrik were founded and encouraged, but often such ideas were subjugated by vested interests such as aristocracy and church. Rationalist emphasis on the natural and popular were the antithesis of Habsburg elitism and divine authority. Eventually external powers forced rationalism on Austria.
  By the time of his death in 1740, Charles III had secured the acceptance of the Pragmatic Sanction by most of the European powers. The remaining question was whether it was realistic in the complicated power games of European dynasties.
caption: Charles III, 1713–1740
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