During the times of her childhood, the House of Habsburg had no male heirs, as her only brother, Archduke Leopold Joseph of Austria (1700-1701) died in infancy.

During the reign of her grandfather, Maria Josepha's father and uncle signed the Mutual Pact of Succession of 1703, which was issued by her grandfather, Emperor Leopold I, and effectively made Maria Josepha the heiress presumptive to her uncle, Emperor Charles VI.

Through this marriage between the Houses of Wettin and Habsburg, Frederick Augustus II's father hoped to place Saxony in a better position should there arise a war of succession to the Austrian territories.

[3] The couple's eldest surviving son, Frederick Christian, eventually succeeded his father as Elector of Saxony.

Though Saxony was her main residence, she enjoyed her stays in Poland-Lithuania because it was a Catholic nation where she could exercise her faith openly.

Between November 1734 to February 1736, she and Frederick Augustus made their longest visit to Poland-Lithuania, prolonged because of the War of the Polish Succession.

She was devoted to Catholicism and especially venerated Saint Francis Xavier and was actively involved in the building of the Catholic Hofkirche in Dresden.

[4] Queen Maria Josepha was politically active and, though not formally proclaimed regent during the absence of her spouse, she informally acted as his representative.

She undermined any attempts of Frederick Christian to found a power base of his own before the death of his father, and among other things prevented a meeting between him and his spouse with Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in 1754.

[5] She, as well as Frederick Christian and his spouse Maria Antonia, were all placed under house arrest at the palace of Dresden guarded by a Prussian commandant.

Despite several restrictions, she managed to channel secret information about Saxon Field Marshal Maximilian Ulysses Browne, besieged by Frederick the Great at Struppen.