The Marriage Market of Europe

By the 1760s, European politics had shifted dramatically. The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) had reshuffled traditional alliances, and Austria found itself in an unexpected partnership with its longtime enemy, France. This "Diplomatic Revolution" created an opportunity that Maria Theresa was quick to exploit: a marriage alliance that would cement the new Franco-Austrian friendship.

The negotiations for Marie Antoinette's marriage began when she was barely ten years old. Count Johann Joseph Khevenhüller-Metsch and later Prince Kaunitz, Austria's chancellor, conducted delicate discussions with French diplomats. Their correspondence reveals the cold calculation behind royal marriages—discussions of dowries, territorial guarantees, and the young bride's ability to produce heirs dominated the negotiations. The French ambassador, the Marquis de Durfort, reported to Versailles about the young archduchess's appearance, health, and temperament as if appraising merchandise.

For the common people of Austria, these grand diplomatic maneuvers meant little. In Vienna's markets and coffehouses, merchants and artisans worried more about grain prices and guild regulations than royal weddings. Yet some recognized the significance. Joseph Richter, a popular satirist of the time, wrote pamphlets questioning whether sacrificing Austrian daughters to foreign courts truly served the empire's interests. His critiques, though couched in humor to avoid censorship, reflected broader anxieties about Austria's changing role in Europe.