Reform & modernize

People like to see history as a development which always leads to improvement, as a series of steps bringing innovations and progress in technology and society. What were the reforms that shaped the Habsburg Monarchy? Who reformed and modernized what, and why did they do so? Who were the winners and who the losers? Over the centuries the range of innovations in the Habsburg territories was wide, extending from social reforms through inventions and urban modernization based on new buildings and the practical application of technical achievements, to new developments in the field of culture.