Maria Theresa was born on May 13, 1717, at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, the eldest surviving child of Emperor Charles VI and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. The Habsburg dynasty lacked a surviving male heir, and Charles devoted much of his reign to securing international recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction, which allowed his daughter to inherit the family lands. Maria Theresa therefore grew up as the prospective sovereign of a vast but politically fragmented monarchy.

Her education emphasized religion, languages, court ceremony, music, and dynastic responsibility. She was not given the systematic preparation in finance, military affairs, and state administration that a male heir might have received, a deficiency she later worked strenuously to overcome. In 1736 she married Francis Stephen of Lorraine, a match based on genuine affection as well as political calculation. Their marriage produced sixteen children and became central to the continuation of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty.

When Charles VI died in 1740, Maria Theresa inherited Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, and other territories at age twenty-three. Rival rulers challenged her succession, beginning the War of the Austrian Succession. Frederick II of Prussia invaded and seized most of Silesia. Maria Theresa rallied support in Hungary, reorganized armies, negotiated alliances, and defended the core of her inheritance, but the peace settlements confirmed Prussian control of Silesia.

The experience transformed her from an underprepared young ruler into a determined reformer. She strengthened taxation, military recruitment, education, and central administration while relying on ministers such as Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz. Recovering Silesia became a central objective. By the 1750s Maria Theresa was prepared to overturn traditional diplomacy and ally with France and Russia against Prussia, setting the stage for the European conflict that accompanied the global Seven Years’ War.