La Monarchie des Habsbourg et le Saint-Empire d’après les Voyages de Montesquieu

In his travel accounts, Montesquieu wrote few observations about the states of the House of Habsburg. They did not serve as a model for his reflection on political systems. He tasted, however, the charms of his stay in Vienna. However, when he arrived in Venice, he criticized the weight of Austrian domination, before the discovery of the Prussian system led him to reconsider the “gentleness” of the Habsburg government.