Maria Amalia married Ferdinand, the Duke of Parma, a Bourbon from Isabella of Parma's family, strengthening French ties, who had been an enemy of Austria during the Austrian Wars of Succession.

Leopold married Maria Louise of Spain, a distant relative as a branch of the Hapsburgs ruled Spain also.

Maria Carolina married Ferdinand of Naples-Sicily. The marriage, like a few others in the family, was a depressing one. Carolina hated her husband, but she had to learn to love him and bear his heirs. The responsibility of marrying Ferdinanc originally belonged to Maria Elizabeth, Maria Carolina's elder sister. However, Maria Elizabeth caught smallpox which left her terribly pitted and ugly. She would have been the bride of Ferdinand of Naples-Sicily, but after her disfigurement, Maria Carolina married Ferdinand instead.

Ferdinand married Beatrice of Modena, a princess of Milan, a territory of the empire, to have powers in the Italian areas of the empire.

Maria Antonia (the French called her Marie Antoinette) married Louis, the Dauphin of France and the later Louis XVI. They were fond of each other and had simple love, but their illustrious lifestyle and ill-preparedness to rule led them into the French Revolution.

Maria Theresa 's error in bringing up her children

Maria Theresa made an unforgivable error in bringing up many of her children. She did not prepare any of her daughters in the art war and how to rule a country suitable for the role which many rulers frequently had to assume. As a result, her daughters knew nothing of how to rule a country, just as Maria Theresa  had been raised herself. Maria Theresa had to learn all these skills herself to be the ruler she was after her husband died. However, Maria Theresa 's daughters did not have the skills she had and they grew up unprepared for their roles. Had Maria Theresa been teaching Marie Antoinette how to be a queen and how to rule a country, Marie Antoinette 's life might not end up the way history recorded.