Szűts István Gergely (szerk.): A vidéki Magyarország kisipara és kiskereskedelme az 1910-es években - A Veszprém Megyei Levéltár kiadványai 38. (Veszprém, 2015)

Kaposi Zoltán: Nagykanizsa kisiparának változásai az 1910-es években

ABSTRACTS

Gergely István Szűts:

The social structure of rural craftsmen and small-scale traders at the

TURN OF THE CENTURY

However well-known might be the fundamentals of the industrialization in Hungary in the 19th century, some structural and divisional features and the situation of the several hundred thousand workers still remain unclear. It is highly relevant for the small-scale business and trade as they can hardly be described based on statistics since these branches were highly stratified in terms of geology, society and economy. The study aims at outlining the structural framework and the fundamentals of the daily life of rural small- scale craftsmen and traders in the first decade of the 20th century.

There were a number of significant changes in the history of small-scale business in Hungary during the dual monarchy, for example the abolition of guilds, the existence of a customs union in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the establishment of the trade corporations and chambers of commerce. Accordingly, issues of wider relevance like the statistical classification of craftsmen and of small-scale traders, their financial situation and their social embeddedness are also discussed in the preamble along with the legal framework of the industry.

Similarities and differences between the particular regions of historical Hungary are analysed based on the data of the population census of 1900 and 1910 and on the reports of the trade corporations. The study examines which branches of the small-scale business and trade were adversely or inadversely affected by the war and by the introduction of the war economy. Finally, issues of general working conditions of the small-scale traders and craftsmen that affected their daily lives such as the lack of capital, their education, their shop and business yard are dealt with in the study closure.

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