Review article
The County of Srijem in the second half of the 19th and the early 20th century (A review of the economy and social life)
Zlata Živaković-Kerže
Abstract
In the first half of the 19th century the County of Srijem was the biggest county in the eastern regions of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonija, with roughly 400,000 inhabitants in ten districts and 152 administrative municipalities. The towns of Mitrovica, Petrovaradin, Karlovci, and Zemun enjoyed privileged position and royal borough status. Market town Vukovar was the seat of the central administration of the County of Srijem, but Vukovar was granted town status only on November 25th, 1919. Positioned on the Danubian traffic route, the entire area of the County of Srijem was a meeting place of nations and religions, a multinational environment in which complex historical events shaped population density and economic and social circumstances.
The second half of the 19th century in particular was an introduction into a new era in which the new social class, citizens, was gradually growing stronger and assuming the leading role. True, the economy of this Croatian region was developing more slowly in this period than the economy of some other regions in the Monarchy, but the economic importance of the County of Srijem for the whole country increased drastically after Vienna decided to put the Danube waterway to a better use, which affected the industrialization process directly. The development of cities and citizens brought another peculiar phenomenon with it: the social life, in which a variety of organized associations surfaced in addition to private parties and gatherings, enriching social life in the towns in which they were active, and in time developing into a trademark of the Srijem area.
Keywords
County of Srijem; economy; social life; 19th century (second half); early 20th century; Vukovar; Ilok; Vinkovci
Hrčak ID:
77850
URI
Publication date:
29.9.2010.
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