Behind the Habsburg absolutism in 1620-1740. Participation of Silesia in the financing of military forces of the monarchy

Abstract

In order to show how the Habsburg reign of absolute power coexisted peacefully with the state system, the author has focused on the participation of Silesian states in the financing of the Habsburg monarchy military forces. It was essential that the final resolutions passed by the Seym were consistent with the monarch's will. In the first 20 years this was achieved through the use of all-Silesian states assemblies which were more easy to manage. In the next 20 years, the vote of the princess curia which actually held the decisive power in final Seym resolutions was practically fully controlled by the emperor whose subsequent assent was then a formality. The two-tier financing mechanism was based on, first, the repartition of the army at the state level, and then the repartition of Silesian states establishing localities. The necessary funds were raised through internal taxes collected by each state individually.