Review article
THE DANUBE AND SAVA RIVERS AND THE FIRST PROJECT REGARDING THE CONSTRUCTION OF A DANUBE-SAVA CANAL
Zlata Živaković-Kerže
; Croatian Institute of History, Department for the History of Slavonia, Syrmia and Baranya, Slavonski Brod, Croatia
Abstract
In order to improve navigation on the Sava, the systematic cleaning of the waterchannels on the territory of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia was undertaken beginning in 1733. From the middle of the eighteenth century, the export of grains and other agricultural products from Slavonia along the Sava river was quite large. Trade ran along the Maros from Arad to Segedin, on the Tisza down to Novi Beč, and from Temesvar along the Beg and Temis to Titel, or Slankamen, on the Danube then to Zemun and up the Sava to Sisak. From the beginning of the nineteenth century increased attention was paid to the repair of old roads, the regulation of rivers and the creation of new trade links. In this regard, an important part was played by a joint stock company formed in Vienna aiming at the regulation of the river Kupa and the creation of new trade routes. The dismantling of the military frontier in 1881 changed the socio-political and economic conditions in the area from Jasenovac to Zemun and Petrovaradin, which stimulated steamship transport on the Sava river.
The idea of constructing a Danube-Sava canal (Vukovar-Šamac) was always popular, and many projects were begun, which demonstrated not only the projects expected benefit for transport but also its geopolitical importance. The territory of Slavonia, Srijem and Baranja always had appeal due to its role as a transit zone between the lands linked by the Danube and its tributaries and the Croatian adriatic harbours. The construction of this canal represented a multi-purpose project because this canal would have the effect of modernizing and stimulating agricultural production in Slavonia, Srijem and Baranja and it would improve navigation on the rivers mention above.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
212210
URI
Publication date:
1.12.1999.
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