Petrović, Nikola: Hajózás és gazdálkodás a Közép-Duna-Medencében a merkantilizmus korában (Vajdasági Tudományos és Művészeti Akadémia, Novi Sad - Történelmi Intézet, Beograd, 1982)
Summary
CHAPTER XVII - CANALSAND ROADS OF THE WORLD, A BRIEF HIS AND COMPARATIVE SURVEY After a brief introduction, this chapter first describes large-scale irrigation and water transport works in the Far, Middle and Near East, in the valleys of the „great historical rivers" which were the cradles of the marvelous early civilizations. It then refers to the „Wonderful Transport Canal" in China, built 215 B.C., and the Great or Imperial Canal, started in the 6th c. A.D. These two canals, and many others, were primarily used for transport in the centralized buroaucratic—feudal China. Unlike the preceding chapters of the book, this chapter has been written on the basis of published historical works of reference and hot the author's own research. The spotlight is then switched to France, where many canals (Canal du Midi, Seine—Loire, Canal du Centre, etc.) were built during the era of absolute monarchy, mercantilism and manufacture. Up to the mid—18th century France was the European leader in the number and length of navigable canals. The situation changed with the birth of the industrial revolution in England, which involved rapid development of the country's canal network, of which one of the outstanding pioneers was James Brindley (1716—1772). From data on the time sequence of canal works in England it can be deduced that during his stay there J.Kiss very probably visited the Worsley, Mersey and Great Trunk canals. It was in Great Britain that he learned about the construction of canals and roads by private stock camapnies. Some data are then given about the history of road building in France and Britain and about the builders and inventors who made the biggest contributions: Pierre Tresaguet, Thomas Telford, and especially John McAdam. Through a comparison of the conditions and circumstances relative to canal and road construction in the Habsburg Empire with those in France and Britain, and of the difficulties, successes and failures with which such undertakings met, the author tries to explain more fully and put into historical perspective this major transport development in the Central Danube Valley in late 18th century. * * * This book is dedicated to my brother, Vladimir Petrovic (1908 — 1943), agronomist, who fought in the ranks of the Kosmaj Partisan Regiment and the 1st Őumadija Brigade, and fell in the Battle of Prijepolje, 4 December, 1943. 514
