 Aware of the inadequacy of bureaucracy in Austria , and wishing to improve it , Maria Theresa reformed education in 1775 . In a new school system based on the Prussian one , all children of both genders from the ages of six to twelve had to attend school . Education reform was met with hostility from many villages ; Maria Theresa crushed the dissent by ordering the arrest of all those opposed . Although the idea had merit , the reforms were not as successful as they were expected to be since no funding was offered from the state ; in some parts of Austria , half of the population was illiterate well into the 19th century . 
