Author Description

This book deals with the interaction of government policy and public opinion in the Habsburg Dominions in the period of the French Revolution. It describes the impact of Joseph II's enlightened despotism on the life and political consciousness of his subjects, especially the non-privileged orders. It traces the influence of the political hopes and discontents aroused by the reforms from above on the policy of Joseph himself and of his successors. The substitution of repression for concessions by Francis II provoked an active opposition in the ranks of the non-privileged orders presaging the 19th century liberal and democratic movements. The opposition was silenced by the Jacobin Trials, for many aspects of which this is the first documented account.