Joseph II: Revolution from Above

When Joseph II became sole ruler of the Habsburg lands in 1780, he launched one of the most ambitious reform programs of the century. In 1781 alone he issued a Patent of Toleration for Protestants and Orthodox Christians, eased censorship and abolished personal serfdom in Bohemia (extending this to the Austrian lands in 1782), giving peasants the right to marry, move and learn trades without their lord's permission.

He dissolved roughly 700 monasteries he judged useless because they did not teach, nurse or serve parishes, using the proceeds for schools and parishes. He made German the language of administration across his lands to unify government, and his 1787 criminal code largely abolished the death penalty in ordinary courts. In 1789 he tried to replace peasant labor obligations with money payments. Joseph believed reason and a strong state could remake society quickly, and he worked tirelessly to do so.

His style, issuing thousands of decrees with little consultation, made enemies among nobles, clergy and many of the peoples he ruled.