HUNGARY (1655-1918)
For Hungary's earliest coins see - Hungary (997-1526)
For earlier Habsburg coins see - Hungary (1526-1655)
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Leopold I, H.R.E. (King of Hungary: 1655-1687)

In 1655, Leopold I was chosen king of Hungary and in 1656 king of Bohemia,1657 king of Croatia and in July 1658, more than a year after his father's death, he was elected emperor at Frankfurt in spite of the intrigues of Jules Cardinal Mazarin, who wished to place on the imperial throne Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria or some other prince whose elevation would break the Habsburg succession. In governing his own lands Leopold found his chief difficulties in Hungary, where unrest was caused partly by his desire to crush Protestantism. A rising was suppressed in 1671 and for some years Hungary was treated with great severity. In 1681, after another rising, some grievances were removed and a less repressive policy was adopted, but this did not deter the Hungarians from revolting again. Espousing the cause of the rebels the sultan sent an enormous army into Austria early in 1683; this advanced almost unchecked to Vienna, which was besieged from July to September, while Leopold took refuge at Passau. Realizing the gravity of the situation somewhat tardily, some of the German princes, among them the electors of Saxony and Bavaria, led their contingents to the imperial army which was commanded by the emperor's brother-in-law, Charles, duke of Lorraine, but the most redoubtable of Leopold's allies was the king of Poland, John Sobieski, who was already dreaded by the Turks.

On September 12, 1683 the allied army fell upon the enemy, who was completely routed, and Vienna was saved. The imperial forces, among whom Prince Eugene of Savoy was rapidly becoming prominent, followed up the victory with others, notably one near Mohács in 1687 and another at Zenta in 1697, and in January 1699 the sultan signed the treaty of Karlowitz by which he admitted the sovereign rights of the house of Habsburg over nearly the whole of Hungary. Before the conclusion of the war, however, Leopold had taken measures to strengthen his hold upon this country. In 1687, the Hungarian diet in Pozsony (called Pressburg at that time) changed the constitution, the right of the Habsburgs to succeed to the throne without election was admitted and the emperor's elder son Joseph I was crowned hereditary king of Hungary.

Even though Leopold's son was crowned King of Hungary in 1687, as Holy Roman Emperor Leopold's portrait and titles were maintained on the coinage of Hungary until his death.

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Half Thaler

Quarter Thalers

15 Kreuzers (Krajczars)

6 Kreuzers (Krajczars)

3 Kreuzers (Krajczars)

Poltura (1½ Kreuzer)

Half Kreuzer (Duarius)

Coinage of the Rakoczi Uprising

A meeting of the Hungarian Diet (consisting of 6 bishops, 36 aristocrats and about 1000 representatives of the lower nobility of 25 counties), held near Szécsény (Nógrád county) in September 1705, elected Ferenc (Francis) II Rákóczi, the leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburgs in 1703-11, to be the "fejedelem"- (ruling) prince - of the Confederated Estates of the Kingdom of Hungary, to be assisted by a 24-member Senate. Rákóczi and the Senate were assigned joint responsibility for the conduct of foreign affairs, including peace talks. Encouraged by England and the Netherlands, peace talks started again on October 27, 1705 between the Hungarians and the Emperor. Both sides varied their strategy according to the military situation. One stumbling block was the sovereignty over Transylvania – neither side was prepared to give it up. Rákóczi’s proposed treaty with the French was stalled, so he became convinced that only a declaration of independence would make it acceptable for various powers to negotiate with him. In 1706, his wife (whom he had not seen in 5 years, along with their sons József and György) and his sister were both sent as peace ambassadors, but Rákóczi rejected their efforts on behalf of the Emperor.

On Rákóczi’s recommendation, and with Bercsényi’s support, another meeting of the Diet held at Ónod (Borsod county) declared the deposition of the House of Habsburg from the Hungarian throne on June 13, 1707. But neither this act, nor the copper currency issued to avoid monetary inflation, were successful. Louis XIV refused to enter into treaties with Prince Rákóczi, leaving the Hungarians without allies. There remained the possibility of an alliance with Imperial Russia, but this did not materialize either. At the Battle of Trencín (Hungarian Trencsén, German Trentschin, Latin Trentsinium, Comitatus Trentsiniensis, today in Slovakia), on August 3, 1708 Rákóczi’s horse stumbled, and he fell to the ground, which knocked him unconscious. The Kuruc forces thought him dead and fled. This defeat was fatal for the uprising. Numerous Kuruc leaders transferred their allegiance to the Emperor, hoping for clemency. Rákóczi’s forces became restricted to the area around Munkács and Szabolcs county. Not trusting the word of János Pálffy, who was the Emperor’s envoy charged with negotiations with the rebels, the Prince left the Kingdom of Hungary for Poland on February 21, 1711.

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Poltura

Joseph I, H.R.E. (King of Hungary: 1687-1711)

Joseph I (July 26, 1678 – April 17, 1711), Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, was the elder son of the emperor Leopold I and his third wife, Eleanora, Countess Palatine, daughter of Philip William of Neuburg, Elector Palatine. Born in Vienna, he was educated strictly by Prince Dietrich Otto von Salm and became a good linguist. In 1687 he received the crown of Hungary and became King of the Romans on January 6, 1690. In 1702, on the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, he saw his only military service. He joined the imperial general Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden in the siege of Landau. It is said that when he was advised not to go into a place of danger, he replied that those who were afraid might retire.

He succeeded his father as emperor in 1705, and it was his good fortune to govern the Austrian dominions and to be head of the Empire during the years in which his trusted general Prince Eugene of Savoy, either acting alone in Italy or with the Duke of Marlborough in Germany and Flanders, was beating the armies of Louis XIV. During the whole of his reign, Hungary was disturbed by the conflict with Francis Rákóczi II, who eventually took refuge in the Ottoman Empire. The emperor did not himself take the field against the rebels, but he is entitled to a large share of the credit for the restoration of his authority. He reversed many of the pedantically authoritative measures of his father, thus placating all opponents who could be pacified, and he fought stoutly for what he believed to be his rights. Joseph showed himself very independent towards the pope and hostile to the Jesuits, by whom his father had been much influenced. He had a taste for art and music, which was almost hereditary in his family, and was an active hunter. He began the attempts to settle the question of the Austrian inheritance by a pragmatic sanction, which was continued by his brother Charles VI. Joseph died in Vienna of smallpox.

Even though Leopold's son was crowned King of Hungary in 1687, as Holy Roman Emperor Leopold's portrait and titles were maintained on the coinage of Hungary until his death.

Poltura

Maria Theresia, H.R.E. (Queen of Hungary: 1741-1780)

Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was born in Vienna as the eldest daughter of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor and Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, whose sole male heir - his son Leopold Johann - died as an infant in 1716. In 1713 Charles issued the Pragmatic Sanction which guaranteed his daughter the right to succeed to the Austrian throne and inherit his united lands on his death. Initially, many Northern European monarchs agreed to the Pragmatic Sanction when it was issued. One of the few not to sign was Frederick the Great of Prussia who, soon after Maria Theresa assumed the throne upon Charles' death on October 20, 1740, began the War of Austrian Succession.

Maria Theresa was married to Francis I, Duke of Lorraine. She had 16 children by him, with 11 daughters (all of whom had the first name "Maria") and five sons. Her youngest daughter was Maria Antonia, better known under her French name Marie Antoinette, who would be promised in marriage to the later King Louis XVI of France. After her husband's death, Maria Theresa made her son Joseph II co-regent of her Austrian dominions, but she actually kept most of the power to herself, which led to tension between her and her son. It was not until her death that Joseph could fully exercise his powers. In the 1760s, smallpox claimed several victims in the royal family. Maria Theresa was infected and received last rites in 1767, although she recovered. Afterward, Maria Theresa became a strong supporter of inoculation (a predecessor immunisation method to smallpox vaccination), setting a strong example by requiring all of her children to be inoculated.

Maria Theresa's father had not given her any information on the workings of the government, leaving her to learn the job on her own. Additionally, the army was weak and the treasury depleted due to two wars near the end of her father's reign. The War of the Austrian Succession began when Frederick II of Prussia invaded and occupied Silesia. While Bavaria and France also invaded Austrian western territories, it was "Frederick the Great" who became Maria Theresa's primary foe during her reign. Therefore, she focused her internal and external policies towards the defeat of Prussia, which would help her regain the lands which had been taken from Austria. In the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), France gave the Austrian Netherlands that it conquered back to Maria Theresa. In exchange, Maria Theresa ceded Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla to the Infante Philip of Spain. By giving up these lands, Maria Theresa signaled to those beneficiaries that she was in a weaker position and was slightly vulnerable.[citation needed] After having been defeated in the First and Second Silesian Wars, Maria Theresa began to modernize her realms with the assistance of Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Haugwitz. Defeat, however, reduced her morale and effectiveness as a ruler. Her lack of organization and optimism began to affect her realm.[citation needed] She increased the size of the army by 200% and increased taxes in order to guarantee a steady income for the government, and in particular for the military. She centralized the government by combining the Austrian and Bohemian chancellaries, formerly separate, into one administrative office. Before these changes, justice and administration had been overseen by the same officials- afterwards, she created a supreme court with the sole responsibility of upholding justice in her lands. These reforms strengthened the economy and the state in general. Maria Theresa, along with the other Habsburgs, was a devout Roman Catholic. She was educated by Jesuits at Mariazell, and in later life lacked the religious cynicism of royal contemporaries such as Frederick II of Prussia. Her conservative outlook involved an intolerant view of other faiths. In 1741, she expelled the Jews from Prague. Her political distrust of Great Britain rested in part on her view of the established Church of England, whom she regarded as Protestant heretics.

Maria Theresa dropped Great Britain as an ally on the advice of her state chancellor, Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz, and allied with Russia and France. She established the Theresian Military Academy (the first worldwide) in 1752 and an academy of engineering science in 1754. She also demanded that the University of Vienna be given money to make the medical faculty more efficient. When she felt her army was strong enough, she prepared an attack on Prussia in 1756. However, it was Frederick II who attacked first, invading Saxony, another ally of Austria, thus initiating the Seven Years' War. The war ended in 1763 when Maria Theresa signed the Treaty of Hubertusburg, recognizing Prussian ownership of most of Silesia.

Her husband Francis died two years later. Maria Theresa's devotion to him was so great that she dressed in mourning clothes until her own death 15 years later. During this time, she became more closeted from her people. Her focus changed from attempting to regain Silesia to maintaining the peace. She also recognized Joseph II, her eldest son, as coregent and Emperor. However, she allowed him only limited powers because she felt that he was too rash and arrogant.

In the later years of her reign, Maria Theresa focused on reforming laws as an enlightened monarch. Many historians agree that she did not solely act out of care for her population, but rather to strengthen the economy of the Habsburg territories, especially after the loss of Silesia. In 1771, she and Joseph II issued the Robot Patent, a reform that regulated a serf's labor payments in her lands, which provided some relief. Other important reforms included outlawing witch-burning and torture, and, for the first time in Austrian history, taking capital punishment off the penal code, as it was replaced with forced labor. It was later reintroduced, but the progressive nature of these reforms remains noted. Mandatory education was introduced in 1774; the goal was to form an educated class from which civil servants could be recruited. Another installation of Maria Theresa's was a decency police which was to patrol everywhere, especially Vienna, and apprehend anyone suspected of doing something that could be deemed indecent (possibly due to her husband's supposed infidelity). Arrested prostitutes, for example, would be sent into villages in the eastern parts of the realm, leading some contemporary writers to note that these villages had 'exceptionally beautiful women' living there.

Maria Theresa died in Vienna in 1780, the only female to rule during the 650-year-long Habsburg dynasty. She is buried in tomb number 56 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. Her son Joseph II succeeded her. She was a very strongwilled woman and was a very influential leader.

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Denars

Joseph II, H.R.E. (King of Hungary: 1780-1790)

Joseph II (full name: Joseph Benedikt August Johannes Anton Michel Adam; March 13, 1741 – February 20, 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I. Joseph was one of the so-called "enlightened monarchs" (also referred to as "enlightened despots"). Until the death of his mother in 1780, Joseph was never quite free to follow his own instincts. After the death of his father in 1765, he became emperor and was made co-regent by his mother in the Austrian dominions. As emperor, he had no real power, and his mother had resolved that neither her husband nor her son should ever deprive her of sovereign control in her hereditary dominions. Joseph, by threatening to resign his place as co-regent, could induce his mother to abate her dislike for religious toleration. He could and did place a great strain on her patience and temper, as in the case of the first partition of Poland and the Bavarian War of 1778–1779, but in the last resort, the empress spoke the final word.

The death of Maria Theresa on November 27, 1780, left Joseph free. He immediately directed his government on a new course, full speed ahead. He proceeded to attempt to realize his ideal of enlightened despotism acting on a definite system for the good of all. The measures of emancipation of the peasantry which his mother had begun were carried on by him with feverish activity. The spread of education, the secularization of church lands, the reduction of the religious orders and the clergy in general to complete submission to the lay state, the issue of the Patent of Tolerance (1781) providing limited guarantee of freedom of worship, the promotion of unity by the compulsory use of the German language—everything which from the point of view of 18th century philosophy, the so-called Age of Enlightenment, appeared "reasonable"—were undertaken at once. He strove for administrative unity with characteristic haste to reach results without preparation.

His anticlerical and liberal innovations induced Pope Pius VI to pay him a visit in July 1782. Joseph received the pope politely and showed himself a good Catholic, but refused to be influenced. On the other hand, Joseph was very friendly to Freemasonry, as he found it highly compatible with his own Enlightenment philosophy, although he apparently never joined the Lodge himself. Joseph's feelings towards religion are reflected in a witticism he once spoke in Paris. While being given a tour of the Sorbonne's library, the archivist took Joseph to a dark room containing religious documents, and lamented the lack of light which prevented Joseph from being able to read them. Joseph put the man at rest by saying "Ah, when it comes to religion, there is never much light."

Multiple interferences with old customs began to produce unrest in all parts of his dominions. Meanwhile, Joseph threw himself into a succession of foreign policies, all aimed at aggrandisement, and all equally calculated to offend his neighbours—all taken up with zeal, and dropped in discouragement. He endeavoured to get rid of the Barrier Treaty, which debarred his Flemish subjects from the navigation of the Scheldt. When he was opposed by France, he turned to other schemes of alliance with the Russian Empire for the partition of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice. These plans also had to be given up in the face of the opposition of neighbours, and in particular of France. Then Joseph resumed his attempts to obtain Bavaria—this time by exchanging it for Belgium—and only provoked the formation of the Fürstenbund, organized by Frederick II of Prussia. In addition, Joseph abolished serfdom in 1781. Later, in 1789, he decreed that peasants must be paid in cash payments rather than labor obligations. These policies were violently rejected by both the nobility and the peasants, since their barter economy lacked money. Also he abolished the death penalty in 1787 and its remained until 1795. Finally, Joseph joined Russia in an attempt to pillage the Ottoman Empire. It began on his part in an unsuccessful and discreditable attempt to surprise Belgrade in time of peace, and was followed by the ill-managed campaign of 1788. He accompanied his army, but showed no capacity for war; the low point of this campaign was the extraordinary incident known as the Battle of Karansebes, in which the Austrian army ran away from an imaginary Ottoman army.

In November 1788, he returned to Vienna with ruined health, and during 1789, was a dying man. The concentration of his troops in the east gave the malcontents of Belgium an opportunity to revolt. In Hungary, the nobles were in all but open rebellion, and in his other states, there were peasant risings and a revival of particularistic sentiments. Joseph was left entirely alone. His minister Kaunitz refused to visit his sick-room and did not see him for two years. His brother Leopold remained at Florence. At last, Joseph, worn out and broken-hearted, recognized that his servants could not, or would not, carry out his plans. On January 30, 1790, he formally withdrew all his reforms, and he died on February 20, 1790. He is buried in tomb number 42 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.

Thalers

Ferdinand I, H.R.E. (King of Hungary: 1830-1848)

Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia (April 19, 1793 – June 29, 1875) succeeded his father (Franz II Holy Roman Emperor/Franz I of Austria) as emperor and king (as Ferdinand V) in 1835. He chose to abdicate, after a series of revolts in 1848. He was also King of Lombardy-Venetia.

Born Ferdinand Karl Leopold Joseph Franz Marchlin, he was feeble-minded and epileptic, but was nevertheless placed on the throne by Metternich in order to preserve the throne's legitimacy against all challenges. Though he was not declared incapacitated, a regent's council, including other Habsburgs and Metternich, steered the government. His marriage to Princess Maria Anna of Sardinia (1803-1884) was probably never consummated, nor is he believed to have had any other liaisons. He is famous for his one coherent command: when his cook told him he could not have peach dumplings because they were out of season, he said “I'm the Emperor, and I want dumplings!” (German: Ich bin der Kaiser und will Knödel.)

With the breakout of revolution in Vienna in 1848, Metternich fled the country. As the revolutionaries were marching on the palace, he is supposed to have asked Metternich for an explanation. When Metternich answered that they were making a revolution, Ferdinand is supposed to have said “But are they allowed to do that?” (German: Ja, dürfen's denn des?) He was convinced by Felix zu Schwarzenberg to abdicate in favour of his nephew, Franz Joseph, who would occupy the Austrian throne for the next sixty-eight years.

Ferdinand was the last King of Bohemia to be crowned as such. Due to his sympathy with Bohemia (where he spent the rest of his life in Prague Castle) he was given the Czech nickname “Ferdinand V, the Good” (Ferdinand Dobrotivý). In Austria, Ferdinand was similarly nicknamed “Ferdinand der Gütige” (Ferdinand the Benign), but also ridiculed as "Gütinand der Fertige" (Goodinand the Finished). He is buried in tomb number 62 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna.

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Coinage of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and Civil War

Following the war of 1848-49, the whole country was in "passive resistance". Archduke Albrecht von Habsburg was appointed governor of the Kingdom of Hungary, and this time was remembered for Germanization pursued with the help of Czech officers.

Franz Joseph I, H.R.E. (King of Hungary: 1848-1916)

Franz Joseph I' (in Hungarian I. Ferenc József, in English Francis Joseph I) (August 18, 1830 – November 21, 1916) of the Habsburg Dynasty was Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Bohemia from 1848 until 1916 and a German prince (Deutscher Fürst). His 68-year reign is the third-longest in the recorded history of Europe.

Franz Joseph was born in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the oldest son of Archduke Franz Karl (the younger son of Emperor Franz), and his wife Princess Sophie of Bavaria. Because his uncle, from 1835 the Emperor Ferdinand, was weak-minded, and his father unambitious and retiring, the young Archduke "Franzl" was brought up by his mother as a future Emperor with emphasis on devoutness, responsibility and diligence. It was thought that a new ruler would not be bound by the oaths to respect constitutional government to which Ferdinand had been forced to agree, and that it was necessary to find a young, energetic emperor to replace the kindly, but mentally unfit Emperor. It was thus at Olmütz on 2 December that, by the abdication of his uncle Ferdinand and the renunciation of his father, the mild-mannered Franz Karl, Franz Joseph succeeded as Emperor of Austria. It was at this time that he first became known by his second as well as his first given name. The name "Franz Joseph" was chosen deliberately to bring back memories of the new Emperors great-grand-uncle, Emperor Joseph II, remembered as a modernizing reformer.

Under the guidance of the new prime minister Prince Schwarzenberg, the new emperor at first pursued a cautious course, granting a constitution in early 1849. At the same time, military campaigns were necessary against the Hungarians, who had rebelled against Habsburg central authority under the name of their ancient liberties. Franz Joseph was also almost immediately faced with a renewal of the fighting in Italy, with King Charles Albert of Sardinia taking advantage of setbacks in Hungary to resume the war in March 1849. Soon, though, the military tide began to turn in favor of Franz Joseph and the Austrian whitecoats. Almost immediately, Charles Albert was decisively beaten by Radetzky at Novara, and forced both to sue for peace and to abdicate his throne. In Hungary, the situation was more grave and Austrian defeat was quite possible. Franz Joseph, sensing a need to secure his right to rule sought help from a reactionary Russia. With this Russian aid the Hungarian revolution was crushed by late summer of 1849. With order now restored throughout the Empire, Franz Joseph felt free to go back on the constitutional concessions he had made, especially as the Austrian parliament, meeting at Kremsier, had behaved, in the young Emperor's view, abominably. The 1849 constitution was suspended, and a policy of absolutist centralism was established, guided by the formerly liberal Minister of the Interior, Alexander Bach.

The next few years saw the seeming recovery of Austria's position on the international scene following the near disasters of 1848–1849. Under Schwarzenberg's guidance, Austria was able to stymie Prussian scheming to create a new German Federation under Prussian leadership, excluding Austria. After Schwarzenberg's premature death in 1852, he could not be replaced by statesmen of equal stature, and the Emperor effectively took over himself as prime minister.

Although in public life the Emperor was the unquestioned director of affairs, in his private life his formidable mother still had a crucial influence. Believing it necessary that the Emperor should soon marry and produce heirs, she hoped to match Franz Joseph with her sister Ludovika's eldest daughter, Helene ("Nené"), four years the Emperor's junior. However, instead, the Emperor became besotted with Nené's younger sister, Elisabeth ("Sisi"), a girl of sixteen, and insisted on marrying her instead. Sophie, despite some misgivings about her niece's appropriateness as an imperial consort, acquiesced, and in 1854 the young couple were married. Their married life was not happy: not only could Sisi never really adapt herself to the court and always had disagreements with the Royal Family, but their first daughter Sophie died as an infant, while the only son, Crown Prince Rudolf died, allegedly by suicide, in 1889 in the infamous Mayerling episode with his young mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera. The Empress herself was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist in 1898; Franz Joseph never fully recovered from the loss. According to the future Empress-Consort Zita of Bourbon-Parma, he usually told his relatives "You'll never know how important she was for me."

The 1850s witnessed several failures of Austrian external policy - the Crimean War and break-up with Russia, Austro-Sardinian War of 1859 against armies of the House of Savoy, and Napoleon III. The setbacks continued in the 1860s with Austro-Prussian War of 1866. It resulted in Austrian-Hungarian Dualism in 1867. Franz Joseph built a villa named Villa Schratt in Bad Ischl for his mistress, Katharina Schratt, an actress with whom he had a long-standing relationship which was, to a certain degree, tolerated by Sissi. In 1914 the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo, leading to World War I.

Emperor Franz Joseph died in 1916, aged 86, in the middle of the war. After the defeat in World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy dissolved into national states.

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Forints

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