How Did Maria Theresa Reform The Austrian Army?

Maria Theresa's senior advisor, Haugwitz, tried to provide extra finances for the army. It was agreed that an overhaul of training, equipment and recruitment was needed. Although he was not up to the job, Francis of Lorraine (Maria's husband) was given the command to reform the army but was replaced by Marshal Daun. Recruitment was taken out of the hands of the estates and given to local officials. This, along with tactics from Prussia, made a steady expansion of numbers possible. New manuals of drills were introduced, new artillery was developed, training and uniforms were introduced and two military academies were established. These reforms were some improvement but not as great as Maria Theresa would have hoped.

The army was able to fight to a reasonable extent during the Seven Years War, even though they eventually lost to Prussia. They were incompetent and over-cautious in battle. Some provinces, such as Hungary, insisted on keeping the system of recruitment in their own hands. These reform were not very "enlightened" as the majority of the philosophies wanted smaller armies and demilitarisation.