Alpha Book

(2) He wished to get rid of all provincial assemblies and
other vestiges of local independence, and to have all his territories
governed uniformly by officials subject to himself. (3) He aimed to
uplift the lower classes of his people, and to put down the proud
nobles, so that all should be equal and all alike should look up to
their benevolent, but all-powerful, ruler.
The first of these policies brought him only disastrous wars. His
designs on Bavaria were frustrated by Frederick the Great, who posed as
the protector of the smaller German states. In the Balkan peninsula his
armies fought much and gained little.
His administrative policy was as unfortunate as his territorial
ambition. Maria Theresa had taken some steps to simplify the
administration of her heterogeneous dominions, but she had wisely
allowed Hungary, Lombardy, and the Netherlands to preserve certain of
the traditions and formulas of self-government, and she did everything
to win the loyalty and confidence of her Hungarian subjects.


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