Agrarian Development and Social Change in Eastern Europe, 14th-19th Centuries


Book Description

What was 'Eastern European' about the historical development of Eastern Europe? How is the region to be defined? And, specifically, where was Hungary to be situated in relation to it? These are the questions underlying the studies in this volume. In the first part, Professor Gunst sets out to analyse some of the characteristics of the economic and social history of Eastern Europe. He then focuses on Hungary and argues that the course of its agrarian development, in particular, has since the Middle Ages been primarily shaped by the influence and military challenge from the West. The most important factor in this, however, was the mass immigration of German peasants, which had a far-reaching impact on village and community systems, and patterns of taxation and crop rotation.




Agrarian Development and Social Change in Eastern Europe, 14th-19th Centuries


Book Description

What was ’Eastern European’ about the historical development of Eastern Europe? How is the region to be defined? And, specifically, where was Hungary to be situated in relation to it? These are the questions underlying the studies in this volume. In the first part, Professor Gunst sets out to analyse some of the characteristics of the economic and social history of Eastern Europe. He then focuses on Hungary and argues that the course of its agrarian development, in particular, has since the Middle Ages been primarily shaped by the influence and military challenge from the West. The most important factor in this, however, was the mass immigration of German peasants, which had a far-reaching impact on village and community systems, and patterns of taxation and crop rotation.




Agrarian Change and Imperfect Property


Book Description

This book is situated at the crossroads of two recurring themes in rural history: agrarian contracts and property rights. Emphyteusis is at the heart of agrarian history in that it brings together agricultural history and the nature of social relations in traditional societies. Despite this, many such contracts have been blithely ignored, or unjustly dismissed, either because they are hard to identify, given the many variants that existed, or because, as a form of divided property, they are generally perceived in a negative light. Nevertheless, emphyteusis is to be found everywhere, even in regions which deny its existence, and it is far from being obsolete. Rather, it is flourishing, prospering and long-lived, particularly in urban areas. Emphyteusis has a long history and has played a central role, sometimes misleading, but always crucial, in the process of agricultural development. It has held sway as a substitute when access to property has been impossible, and as a source of conflicts has often revealed the nature of power relations between property owners on the one hand, whether seigneurial or not, and cultivators, short-term and long-term tenants on the other. The different chapters in this volume illuminate these multiple facets and forms of this type of contract and imperfect property rights. Though the focus is on Mediterranean societies, the questions raised have relevance far beyond this specific area.




East European Nationalism, Politics and Religion


Book Description

The multi-national region of Europe situated between the German-speaking lands and those of the former Soviet Union has witnessed many varied manifestations of nationalism over the last two centuries. Professor Sugar has been in the forefront of those seeking to understand and explain these Eastern European nationalisms, and eleven of his essays on the subject are included in this second selection of his studies. The first two essays deal with problems of ethnicity and its specific manifestations in the region; the next three present the growth of national antagonisms during the 19th century. The third, and longest, section then sets out to examine the interaction of fully developed nationalism in Eastern Europe with the various political movements and religious organizations that impacted upon these lands.










Bibliography of European Economic and Social History


Book Description

This bibliographical guide contains 10,000 references to the economic and social history of 30 European countries during the period 1700-1939. More than 3000 periodicals have been consulted to obtain references, as well as books, edited collections and conference proceedings. The information is listed in categories such as industry, agriculture, finance, migration, labour conditions, urban communities and organizations. Full publication details are included, so that references may be located easily.




Workers, Women, and Social Change in Poland, 1870–1939


Book Description

The studies collected here deal with social and cultural changes in Polish lands during the early phases of industrialisation, i.e. the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Attention is first given to the stabilisation of urban agglomerations and workers' communities, and the accompanying transformations in social status, family structure, and collective life and culture of the workers. An especial focus is the cultural transformations which occurred at the time of the 1905-1907 revolution in the Kingdom of Poland, incorporating it into tsarist Russia. In parallel with this, Professor Zarnowska has been concerned to examine the gender-determined inequalities of the life opportunities of women and men, and how these altered as social modernisation in Poland progressed. She looks at the changing legal and social status of women and their life chances, as well as the emergence of new social models of women's roles. Several studies are also devoted to the impact exerted by urban civilisation, as well as the growing professional activity of women upon the changes to cultural norms regulating the relations between women and men, as well as the development of women's aspirations in the family, society and culture.




Evolution of the Hungarian Economy 1848-1998: One-and-a-half centuries of semi-successful modernization, 1848-1989


Book Description

This volume is a major contribution to Hungarian economic history since the middle of the nineteenth century. In this first volume of three on the evolution of that economy, the authors focus on the beginnings of the modern capitalist economy (1848-1914), on economic nationalism (1918-1944) and on the socialist attempt at modernization (1945-1989).




Hungarian Agrarian Society from the Emancipation of Serfs (1848) to the Reprivatization of Land (1998)


Book Description

Exposing the far agrarian developments after 1850 and the effects of World War I and the postwar peace treaty, the essays in this book, written by leading Hungarian scholars of history, sociology, anthropology and political science, explore the similarities and contrasts between the Hungarian and other East Central European Patterns.