Original scientific paper
The Significance of the Slavonia-Podravina Railway in Social Development of Slavonia in the 19th Century
Ivan Balta
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, J. J. Strossmayer University Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Abstract
Slavonia-Podravina railway is more known as "Gutmann's rail", as it was called by its passengers. For the areas of Slavonian Podravina and territory north of Papuk was of significant economic and socio-cultural importance, especially for the development of Belisce wood factory, from which it had emerged. Area of Slavonian Podravina, to the foothills of Papuk, as the parts of Papuk, were in the 19th century attractive area for investment because of it's rich ancient woods.
Exploitation of wood mass began when the broders Gutmann in 1884th purchased from the estate Valpovo, exactly baron Prandau, larger areas of forests, and later from the other manors (such as Donji Miholjac, Vocin, Orahovica ...). Purchased were, in fact, only the trees. Chucks were processed into saw-mill and gained wood elements were sold mostly overseas. There were no constructed roads from these woods to the saw-mill in Belisce, so it was decided to perform the transportation by rail. It was necessary to build the simple railway line, but also that the transport can be done by the locomotive. Soon after the first kilometers of narrow-guage railway for transporting the timber mass were built, which was later used for passenger traffic, very important for social development of Slavonia. Concessionaires of Slavonia-Podravina railway, at the beginning, directed the railway to the river Drava, from where all the export of wood volume went toward the Danube to the Central Europe or to the Adriatic Sea, but with the development of vinical's railways in Slavonia, their joined that narrow-gauge railway to them (in Noskovci, Prandauovci, Cacinci, Osijek and Donji Miholjac). The strongest reloading stations were Osijek and Cacinci, but in Donji Miholjac a lot of goods were transferred to Pécs and other places in Hungary. Railway Miholjac - Pécs was used by the inhabitants of Podravina, because it has provided a good connection with Pécs, Harkány, Siklós and even Zagreb. Inevitable calculations between the construction of railroads, on the one hand, and traditional routes (river and road), on the other hand, which has brought the predess of industrial revolution, with the application of new and improved methods of capitalist business and the fact that the rail roads are in foreign hands, more complex and difficult affected the developing countries, especially Slavonia, where has been a serious crisis. To the consequences of the crisis only resisted large landowners, rich peasants and rural usurers, while the others were largely exposed to pauperization. Medium and small nobility without the required capital tried to save themselves by renting and napolica, but the family cooperative could not be saved, which has let to the disturbing fragmentation of the ancient land. Since the 1880's crisis had resulted in emigration from Slavonian Podravina. mostly to America, and immigration mainly Germans and Hungarians by Slavonia-Podravina railway. All Gutmann railways were built from 1884 till 1908, at the time of the Julian action, so that same railways were associated with hungarization of Slavonia across the schools and railways.
Changing socio-political relations after World War I, Slavonia-Podravina railway became a joint stock company increasingly losing its significance due to the reduction of a wood mass and alternative ways of transporting.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
105180
URI
Publication date:
8.7.2013.
Visits: 2.136 *