fact checked by real enlightened despots

If you ever wondered, EU4 gave him a stat of 5/6/4, high than his mother's 5/5/4

I really believe Emperor Joseph was an incredible man and had he been more tactful than an ox in a chinashop and respected his subjects culture and traditions he could've gotten away with a lot of his reforms. Hearing about his wife and only daughter dying and he just threw himself into the work of the state to essentially deal with the grief makes him more human to me than most monarchs. Enlightened absolutists are a dime a dozen but when they make their mark in history you definitely don't forget them.

the fact that he has the making of a great king is always the most tragic thing for me, dilligent, intelligent, rational, very egalitarian for the person of his stature in his age, but lacking grasp in the reality of his age, arrogant and lacking understanding in the social dynamics of his subjects, thinking he knows better.

No hesitation to click your vids every time

If Louis XVI had 1% of Joseph's energetic personality the French revolution might not have happened. Great video I'm looking forward to see what's next.

Emperor Josef's reign is like in vicky 3 when you cant be botherd to slowly reform, so you fight the civil war instead.

Jospeh instructed that his epitaph should read: "Here lies a ruler who, despite his best intentions, was unsuccessful in all of his endeavors."

More Austrian History? You spoil me sir! Keep up the great work! Im sure I'll watch this video Again amd Again

Adding more Germans to the Empire would have also strengthened Austria in Germany against the Prussian challenge. It is a fascinating and little-known period of history but it had great consequences, as an Independent Bavaria would prove a thorn in the Habsburg side, and their inability to consolidate in Germany would have major consequences for the future.

Dash my wig! For there has been a new upload!

If I remember correctly Marie Christine was also Maria Theresa's favorite, which was one of the reasons she was allowed to wed the Duke of Tsechen for love. Prince Albert may have had it bad with Victoria favoring her namesake but at least the favorite child did not also steal the affections of his wife.

Have you ever thought of covering the Russian empire in the same period, it would make a good counter point. Love your content, your understanding and sympathetic narrative really helps to understand the motivations of the states and personalities, thank you for this great service to understanding.

Hapsburg Austria was so weird. If the doom that ultimately came to The Ottoman Empire in the 19th/20th century was a historical inevitability, the doom that came to Austria seems like a failure to just get with the program in spite of constant opportunities to do so.

This is the first time I watched an extensive video about Joseph 2 and I am glad it was yours

As an austrian, I did not expect you to make this interesting. I thought the video was gonna be boring but it turned out that I'm pretty invested.

Wow, I quite felt sorry for Joseph, losing a wife and a child you loved would leave deep scars.

Every day I see a new Old Britannia video my day gets better

I'm not usually that interested in Austrian history, but I watched a few minutes and before I knew it the whole video was over. Great vid

That was entertaining and informative. I like the ending telling us to stay tuned. The actor playing the emperor in the movie Amadeus did resemble the actual person.

A masterfully crafted video, from the narration to the visuals, minimalist yet beautiful 👌

Splendid! And, as ever, wonderfully written. Thank you.

Just found your channel and insta subscribed. Wish id found you sooner! Such a refreshing well researched new history channel. Im shocked by the quality of even your first video and am eager to see you continue to grow. Thanks for all the great content, keep up the great work!

Best take on Joseph ii I have ever seen this channel is gold

Yet another fantastic video. An excellent series you are creating.

Great video and topic!

Another documentry, incredible as alwasy! Keep it up!

Thank you so much. I am infatuated with the Hapsburgs. I love this series. Please continue

A double entry accounting and Deloitte reference! Amazing

Fantastic video as always.

Some truly fine work, my dear sir, a piece that doesn't fail in my estimations of your channel. Marvelous day, whenever you publish such a piece!

Been looking forward to the next video

Another great video sir!

As usual, a very high quality, informative and entertaining video. This era of history is one of my absolute favourites and your sympathetic and balanced perspective of the topics is very refreshing, as well as your thorough research. Keep up the great work. After concluding the series on Austria, you should consider making a similar one on Russia, which is, as one expects with Russia, has more extreme, dysfunctional and unpredictable happenings.

Super interesting, I have never seen Joseph II's life covered in this much detail. Thanks Old Britannia

Always quality

Excellent video. I recently bought The Habsburg Empire: A New History a couple days ago can't wait to read it. I find the Habsburgs fascinating. Can't wait for the next part.

Spectacular content!

Amazing video

Great video

Always amazing

Bravo good sir You have done it again

I am so sad that you did not mention the battle of Karensebes in the video. Even though it is overstated and filled with inaccuracies, a mention of the notirious and funny battle would have been nice.

Loving this series on Austria!

“His reforms…sprang from self-love tempered by abstract ideals of justice and from disdain of all who differed from him… as a human being he seems to have hardly existed” - Edward Crankshaw in his book, “Maria Theresa” I’m a bit more sympathetic to the reign of Joseph II, but how could I NOT include such a cutting eulogy about the maligned “tied despot” lmao.

Simply Amazing! Only Apostolic Majesty can surpass your utterly amazing content! Keep doing deep dives.

Joseph II is remembered negatively in Belgium to this day.

Great Content! Love it. Greetings from "the Lands of the Bohemian Crown (Czechia)"

Your videos when Britain are not involved are genuinely so so good.

I love this man and his videos

Love the content! Are you planning on covering the opium wars?

Another good video to watch over dinner. Out of curiosity would you ever do the Spanish Empire at its height? After reading some of Kamen’s work on it it’s quite the success story

Had to rewind when I heard the Deloitte reference to make sure I heard it right. On point lol

Excellent, as anticipated. One thing. @6:41 "A widow at 22, he..." => _widower._

Any chance we will get a video on Catherine the Great's Greek plan? Joseph was somewhat involved in that and it was a fascinating what if.

I really lover your hard work please countuine

This channel in style reminds me somethimes of Historia Civilis, although vastly different in topic. Nevertheless this channel has nothing to envy from anyone, a video release is like a movie premiere

The world needs more in depth Austrian history videos

Only one thing I'd add: by Joseph II's reign the title King of the Romans was usually referred to as "King in Germania" (Germaniae rex, König in Germanien), since at least the 16th century. Technically the King of the Romans did not have automatic right to be crowned Emperor - that title was in the gift of the Pope. However, by the 18th century the Habsburgs would crown themselves de facto Emperors without Papal approval and this was largely accepted although not by the Papal States, obviously. Obviously by this point the Protestant reformation had meant that much of former Imperial lands no longer cared about Papal imprimatur (a situation the devoutly Catholic Habsburgs quietly exploited) but there was still a sense that a Papal coronation had some special resonance even by this stage - it is why Napoleon kidnapped the Pope and forced him to participate in a coronation in an attempt to present himself as a latter day Charlemagne.

Hello mate. I just have to say I'm an absolute fan of your channel. Do you sharing what books you have on your wishlist or any book recommendations?

Small correction on the map in 18:04, Austria has only annexed Bukovina after the 1st partition of Poland, which back then was owned by the Ottoman vassal of Moldavia and not Poland itself

Another video ❤

I found him bears a resemblance of the Chinese Emperor Yang Guang of Sui. The later was also the son of a great person - the first Sui emperor that united China after almost three hundred years of chaotic Jin rules followed by North-South division. He was too ridiculously arrogant and had reforms that went too far too quickly, though in Chinese fashion it also included treating the peasants too harshly. Nevertheless he was eventually remembered as one of China's worst tyrants and a stepping stone for the better-praised era of Tang.

Definitely agree with your conclusion, he tried to move things along too quickly

Dear Mr. Old Britannia, would you mind doing a video about Austria in the war of the Spanish Succession? Especially focusing on Joseph I. (the seconds grand-oncle)?

I still hate that you got rid of the fall of Persia series

Wunderbar

His epithet in in Hungarian history is the 'king with a hat' (a kalapos király) - as he didn't let himself be crowned.

On a bit of a roll with the Austrian content atm aren't ya

cool vid, list of sources would be hella nice tho

..... Unfortunately, the one who was to Arrive in Vienna wouldn´t be there for too long (one of the more interesting and impactfull `what if´s ` of the 18th century imo). And yeah anyone who knows anything about the upcoming age named after a certain French individual will know that the next episode is not going to be the most..... pleasant for the Habsburg let´s just say. (least spoilery spoiler ever.....)

I wonder if the 1788 disaster at Karansebes had anything to do with his reforms. Those miscommunications between the diverse soldiery might very well be the result of him jamming these ethnically distinct forces together during his centralisation efforts.

25:56 Joseph II:Only 100 edicts a year? Huh those are rookie numbers, u gotta pump those numbers up

What literature did you use for research on this topic? Can you recommend renowned literature that covers Joseph II's rule? I would like to read established works about him, if there are any.

I absolutely adore your videos and even bought some source materials you cited, such as Britannia Overruled. Are you planning on doing a Patreon or some form of subscription to help you grow the channel? It would be nice to be able to pay you for your work somehow, maybe this would allow you hire people like video editors so you can focus on writing and research etc.

The slight to Deloitte was great 😂😂

Hello sir, can you share your soundtrack choices ?

Make a video about the Bishopric of Liege

Someone should make a movie about this man. Tragic life indeed.

A new Old Britannia video? Yes please.

Bit of a shame that Joseph lacked the social skills to pull through his reforms, he was a bit of a mercurial prodigy. I could say that in the popular memory of my country, his younger brother Leopold has a much better reputation, unfortunately he died early and was succeeded by his least talented son.

Yes

Yes...

I appreciate the jab at Deloitte

Make a video about the Bishopric of Munster

Make a video about the Bishopric of Salzburg

Great video but on the map it shows Prussia owning Hohenzollern, a land it didn’t inherit until 1848. During this time Hohenzollern was divided between the principalities of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen, which were ruled by the Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern.

For the Americans in the audience who's ears are too free to understand 13:54 Its Deloitte a british professional services company.

What music do you use in the video background?

Could you put in subtitles for your videos?

@ 22:01 The whole incident that follows is why Hitler was born an Austrian. It led to the annexation of Innviertel, where Hitler's family was from. Braunau--Hitler's hometown--would temporarily return to Bavaria during the Napoleonic wars, but Austria kept it for good starting in 1816. That's actually why I got interested in this relatively minor conflict: had it not been for Joseph, it's hard to say what would have happened. Would Hitler still be...Hitler? Or would he just be a nobody?

10:59 smallpox epidemic + Maria Theresa + 1767 same epidemic that killed Isabella of Parma?

Speaking of learning and training to be Emperor, Czar Nicky could have gotten the thrown at King Charles's age, and he STILL won't been ready

“…useless, lazy and obstructive.” is, in my opinion, a pretty fair assessment of the Austrian, or indeed, any aristocracy. (not to mention some of the current crops of politicians)

The history of the Habsburg domains will always be interesting because of its complexicity and diversity from its peoples to their way of life that contrasts one another. It's no wonder why they couldn't survive the wave of nationalism that could come along a century later.

It's so interesting how many times the Austrian Empire almost collapsed.

There is a known misconception of Russia's desire and leadership to partition Poland. Poland was already a puppet state of Russia in the early 18th century. It was an Eastern buffer between it and Prussia and Austria. Catherine II was not keen to participate but had few options. Prussians and Austrians were steamrolling onto the topic. Russia's patriots were also in favour because historical Russian lands were returned (during the first partition). What is definite - the partition created a foundation for future tension and postponed the Russo-Turkish struggle for some time.

Austria gained the Innviertel in the Bavarian succession war. Not much but not nothing.

👍

Another old britannia classic 🗣🔥