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Hello, when Maria Tureza inherited the Austrian throne in 1740 at the age of 23, her

neighbors circled her, seeing a chance to bite into that great empire.

In two months, Frederick the Great seized one of her most prized lands, exploiting her vulnerability.

Yet over the next 40 years, through political reforms, alliances and marriages, she built

Austria up into a formidable power.

And she would do whatever was needed to save the souls of her Catholic subjects, with her

agility her son and her couldn't wait to challenge.

With me to discuss Maria Tureza and Martin Raidi, professor of Central European history

at University College London, Thomas Biscoup,

lecturer in early modern history at the University of Hol, and Katriy Ernest S,

Marshal Fosch, professor of French literature at the University of Oxford.

Katriy and I have father had no male heir.

Can we say that the neighbouring powers saw that as an opportunity?

I think the neighbouring powers definitely saw the fact that Maria Tureza's father,

Emperor Charles VI, had no male heir, as an opportunity.

He had tried to guarantee the fact that his heirs would inherit the throne, even if he

only had female heirs.

...