The War of Spanish Succession (Der Krieg von spanischer Reihenfolge)

He is a rat, a scoundrel, a spawn that sickens this world with his poison. That foul snake of a king who sits on a throne rightfully belonging to me. That man should never again see the light of day. King Philip V of Spain, wretched, vile, fraud, and Louis XIV, the villain who brought his wretch parents into this world. You see my father, Leopold I Holy Roman Emperor, ensured my succession to the throne of Spain many years before my reign in the partition treaty in 1699. This ensured the Habsburg line, me, to take the throne after the current king at the time Charles II of Spain died. However, contradicting this obviously lawful treaty, Charles II, on his death bed, claims to relinquish the throne to Philip V, the grandson of Louis. Several months later Charles II dies and Louis is bold enough to go against the treaty formally made by my father by recognizing Philip V as the true king to the Spanish throne.  The Habsburgs will not stand for this and Austria quickly prepares for war on my behalf. We were not alone however, the Prussians to the north vowed to side with us as did the German Sates. England and later Portugal would also align themselves with the Habsburg army. With such a formidable force it would not be long before Louis IV of France, who was fighting to defend his grandson’s regime in Spain, felt a shiver of uncertainty run down his spine. Our armies slowly chipped away at the French empire, winning victories in the Spanish Netherlands, more in French occupied Italy, and even on the sea as the English navy battered French ships. Realizing imminent defeat, Louis IV cut off his Bourbon line from the French throne with the Treaty of Utrecht. The treaty gave us Spanish lands in Italy yet only a portion of the land in Spain as Philip V still held the throne. Our allies were weary however, and the tired of war. I was made to settle for the meager benefits of Italy.

The Age I Grew, and the Age that Followed (Das Alter das ich Bin Gewachsen und das Alter, das Gefolgt Ist)

I grew up in an outstanding age in Europe, yet little did I know that my life span would only see a fraction of what the period was to become in perspective to the history of man. I grew up in an age known as the Enlightenment. It was an age full of intellectuals and philosophers, scientists who were hungry for the pursuit of knowledge. Mathematics and science became the talk to the towns and their revolutionary findings would influence arts, economies, and entire governments. However, my personal interests were very much in the arts. From my childhood I took on a liking to music, particularly the legends of the Baroque era. In my infancy in Austria, Bach was quickly gaining fame and his music considered the crème of the crop. I took up harpsichord and would eventually compose several songs of my own. My father and I were always surrounded by new thinkers who often brought along ideas with them from different reaches of Europe. We learned of famous philosophers such as Rousseau and Voltaire. They had made great theories of government about incorporating the principles of the Enlightenment which were knowledge, reason, equality, and justice. I would have never even considered that my daughter, Maria Theresa, would become an advocate of such principles. During her reign, she would become an enlightened monarch and even surpassed by her son and my grandson Joseph II. The enlightenment had changed the perspective of how we ruled over our people, and its principles would forever influence governments and monarchies around the world.

Maria Theresa and the War of Austrian Succession (Maria Theresa und der Krieg von österreichischer Reihenfolge)

My daughter Maria Theresa was a strong woman, a fit woman, and a capable woman. There was no doubt in my mind that she would successfully inherit the throne and be an effective leader. This is why, during the later stages of my reign, I issued the Pragmatic Sanction to ensure her succession to the throne of Austria and The Holy Roman Empire. I assumed prior to my death that she would relinquish much of her power to her husband, Francis Stephen of France a very respectable man who I saw very fit controlling power in Austria and the Holy Roman Empire. It was from this alliance I felt comfortable issuing the sanction, little did I know that my former allies from Prussia would cause such a problem. Several years after my passing it turns out that multiple European powers who had previously recognized my sanction and accepted Maria Theresa the Holy Roman Empress, had decided to take advantage of her reign, especially Fredrick II of Prussia. Within years Prussia had conquered Silesia from Austrian rule. It was not long before the French and the English were to join the fight. The French siding with the Prussians in a hope to win a victory over the great Habsburgs family. England, on the other hand, joined my daughter’s alliance in order to ensure French strength stays at a minimal in Europe and in the colonies. The English were very successful in hindering French advancement, but Fredrick’s armies turned to be too much for my daughter Maria to handle and we had to settle with giving Silesia to our Prussian enemies.

The Pragmatic Sanction (Pragmatische Strafmaßnahme)

This is outrageous! Unheard of! I have heard rumors from beyond the grave of disregard to my pragmatic sanction I created several years prior to my death! You see my brother, Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, failed to produce a male heir to the throne before his death, which is the reason for my ascension to power. However, it appears to be a trait which runs deep within Habsburg blood as I too failed to produce and male heir. This lead to a serious problem as I grew older and weaker and yet not a step closer to a male heir, I knew that there was a great uncertainty and threat that the line of succession would not only leave my family line, but the Habsburg family line as well. This was my reasoning for the creation of the pragmatic sanction. The sanction stated that I recognized my daughter, Maria Theresa of Austria, as the true and rightful daughter to the throne of Austria and gave her full control of state affairs and any territory which fell under her jurisdiction. I spend many years negotiating with the great powers of Europe to accept this sanction an eventually all of them did, assuring the throne be kept in my family. This is why it is so ridiculous that someone may be so bold as this Fredrick II of Prussia to simply ignore this sanction and take advantage of Austria and her queen Maria. In the name of God if my body still walked the earth I would hunt down this man so far and so long to the very tips of the globe that he would wish he killed himself before his succession to the throne.

The Great Me (Das Große Mich)

Hallo und heißt willkommen to my “in-ter-net” page. I am the great Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI. In addition to this already distinguished title, I am also King of Austria, King of Holland, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, King of the German States, and temporary King of Spain and territories in Italy until that wretched rat of a King, Philip V whom I will elaborate on later, stole what was rightfully mine. I come from the long a noble family of the Habsburgs which has long been deeply rooted in Austria, my birthplace. I grew up in Austria and was well educated by my parents, Leopold I, former Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleanore-Magdalena Of Neuburg. I was raised in an age in Europe known as the Enlightenment. This was an age of intellectuals and artists, of philosophers and economy.  It was only natural that my education was filled with the arts and, being prince to an Emperor, the study of government systems. As a child, I easily took a liking to much of the arts particularly music. My instructor in music Johann Joseph Fux introduced me to the harpsichord which I continued to excel in during much of my life, even composing a number of my own songs along the way. Art was not nearly my only concern however, my teacher in government, Prince Anton Florian of Liechtenstein, emphasized the importance of my comprehension of contemporary monarchies and their systems. It was from him that I learned much of my principles that I would later use in my reign as Emperor. When I was 25, by an act of faith, King Charles II of Spain and of the Habsburgs died, making me the next in line to the throne in Spain. However, in a completely blasphemous and profane act, Charles had appointed Philip V of France as the next successor to the throne. This was an outrage, and I was not going to stand by and accept it, therefore I declared war with France. I received aid from the royal troops from England who hoped to weaken the Spanish monarchy, and together we marched into Spain overthrow Charles and declare myself King Charles III of Spain. Not more than 11 years later, my brother Joseph I who at the time was the current Holy Roman Emperor past away, making me successor not only to the throne in Spain, but to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire and all territories which it contained. From a number of wars fought early on in my reign, I managed to obtain territories in Italy and western borders of the Turkish Empire. During the later years of my reign, I began to worry about the succession of my family to the throne of the Empire for I possessed only one heir, a female named Maria Theresa. In a fear that I would produce no male heir, I issued the pragmatic sanction which declared Maria my official heir and to be recognize by the rest of Europe. It is maddening to know that several years after my death this sanction would be ignored. I died several years later at the age of 55, though I am still writing this blog. This is my life in a nutshell.

                                                                                                                                                                Vielen Dank

                                                                                                                                                                Charles VI