biography
pronunciation:
[johsef]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1741–90)
|
| biography:
| Holy Roman Emperor (1765–90), born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Francis I and Maria Theresa. Until his mother's death (1780) he was co-regent, and his power was limited to the command of the army and the direction of foreign affairs. A sincere enlightened despot, he was known as ‘the revolutionary emperor’ for his programme of modernization. He was determined to assert Habsburg leadership, but some of his ambitious plans were thwarted variously by the diplomatic obstruction of France, Prussia, the United Provinces, and Britain, by war (with Prussia in 1778–9 and Turkey in 1788), and by insurrection (in The Netherlands in 1787, Hungary in 1789, and the Tyrol in 1790). |
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