This is a revised and updated edition of a highly acclaimed history of the early modern Habsburg monarchy. Charles W. Ingrao challenges the conventional notion of Habsburg state and society as peculiarly backward by tracing its emergence as a military and cultural power of enormous influence. The Habsburg monarchy was undeniably different from other European polities: geography and linguistic diversity made this inevitable, but by 1789 it had laid the groundwork for a single polity capable of transcending its uniquely diverse cultural and historic heritage. Charles W. Ingrao unravels the web of social, political, economic and cultural factors that shaped the Habsburg monarchy during the period, and presents this complex story in a manner that is both authoritative and accessible to non-specialists. This edition includes a revised text and bibliographies, new genealogical tables, and an epilogue which looks forward to the impact of the Habsburg monarchy on twentieth-century events.