There is some myth and legend about this incident, Maria Theresa has been portrayed as a woman distressed pleading for help with her infant son in her arms, this was not so, Maria Theresa displayed her son to the Hungarians as a pledge that they would one day have a real king (Crankshaw: 79).The war ended in 1748 with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and on the face of it all Maria Theresa looked to be the greatest loser of the war (Crankshaw: 85) She had lost Silesia and Prussia was established as a major power, rendering null and void Austrian pretensions to dominate the German states (Crankshaw: 85). But the Hapsburg Empire, on the brink of extinction before this war, miraculously survived as a concept and matured as a power, it was stronger and more real that it had ever been (Crankshaw: 85). The upheavals of the war had created conditions for a complete reorganization of government, administration, army, and constitution (Crankshaw: 85). .
Maria Theresa appointed Count Haugwitz as her chief minister and the instrument through which she implemented her reforms for a unified and centralized state (Crankshaw: 188). He created, with Maria Theresa's support, a centralized bureaucracy, a centralized standing army, and a centralized treasury (Crankshaw: 191). The Haugwitz plan called for a standing army of 108,000 men with a budget of 14 million gulden (Crankshaw: 191). The Estates would be responsible for the cash burden of the army while the government would be responsible for recruiting and equipping the army (Crankshaw: 191). The taxation system was clearly laid out, it was based on the value of each individual's immovable property, land, and fixtures and rents, determined by a commission of experts (Crankshaw: 191-192). In May of 1749 Maria Theresa abolished the separate chancellories of Bohemia and Austria and merged the two administrations into a single body, which was to conduct the administration and domestic policy of the unified Austrian state (Crankshaw: 194).