The Reactionary Reforms of 1789

Joseph II was a controversial ruler. He began his reign with liberal reforms like the Edict of Toleration, which gave Lutherans, Calvinists, and Orthodox near equality with Roman Catholics. He also abolished serfdom and (temporarily) eased up on official censorship. However, Joseph was also an extreme centralist. In 1784, he informed the Hungarian government that its official language, Latin, was really not effective for modern government and would be changed to German. To add to their horror, Joseph refused to submit to a coronation in Hungary lest he have to swear to uphold laws that he did not wish to, and then he had the sacred crown of the kingdom moved to Vienna. In March 1787 Joseph swept away the constitution of the Austrian Netherlands and announced that from then on it would be ruled according to absolutist principles. Resistance simmered in the Austrian Netherlands until 1789 when it boiled over into open revolt. By that time there also were rumors of rebellion in Hungary and in Galicia, and for a time it appeared as if revolution might erupt in many parts of the monarchy.