The Foreign Policy of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I in Light of the Documents of Reichstag (1758—1705)

This article examines the specifics of the foreign policy implementation of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Leopold I in the second half of the 17th century. The structure of the empire implied joint decision-making on foreign and domestic policy between the emperor and the imperial estate-representative body — the Reichstag. This, in turn, required active negotiations, which were officially documented in texts including imperial appeals to the Reichstag, estate conclusions, and drafts of imperial decrees. These sources contain expert assessments, estate opinions, and imperial-wide decisions on foreign policy issues, allowing us to trace Leopold I’s process of overcoming numerous diplomatic crises during his reign. Despite their importance for studying the politics of the Holy Roman Empire, a systematic analysis of these sources has been virtually absent, making their study highly relevant. During Leopold I’s rule, the empire faced many political challenges from France and the Ottoman Empire. Based on materials from negotiations with estates at the Reichstag, this article explores how the empire and emperor developed a unified political line and established an imperial defense system. Leopold I succeeded in conducting negotiations with estates at the Reichstag — which during his reign became a forum for international political issues — to revise imperial military regulations and create a unified army funded by imperial estates. By using the Reichstag to shape public opinion, Leopold I consistently built an image of himself as a protector of Christendom, a supporter of the Peace of Westphalia, and a guarantor of the rights and freedoms of imperial estates. All this enabled the emperor to consolidate imperial officials and personally lead the imperial army in key European conflicts of the second half of the 17th century. The degree of consolidation among imperial officials allowed Leopold I to grant an almost universal imperial status to these wars. The Great Turkish War (1683—1699), the Dutch War (1672—1678), the War of the League of Augsburg (1688—1697), and the War of Spanish Succession (1701—1714) were declared in the name of the entire empire with full approval from estates obtained during Reichstag sessions. The number of soldiers and funding provided by estates for the imperial army steadily increased throughout Leopold I’s reign. The emperor succeeded in defending the empire from threats from both west and east. The support for imperial policies by estates at the Reichstag became a foundation for the success of Austria’s international diplomacy in the second half of the 17th century.