Economy of the Habsburg Monarchy
Economy of the Habsburg Monarchy refers to economic development and financial policies of the Habsburg Monarchy, until the creation of the Austrian Empire in 1804. Central state institution, that oversaw economic and financial affairs in Habsburg lands, was the Court Chamber (German: Hofkammer), also known as the Aulic Chamber (Latin: Camera Aulica), formed in 1527 by Ferdinand I, and centered in Vienna.[1]
History
With the abolition of serfdom in the 18th century, the Habsburg Monarchy, with the major industrial, mining areas and forestry of regions Moravia and Bohemia leading the way, began to experience unprecedented economic growth. Beginning in 1841 per capita annual growth in the Habsburg monarchy approached 3.6 percent, a number rivaling that of neighboring Germany. While this growth was rapid and astonishing, it was not sustained.
Within the next decade, a period of stagnation occurred, while other European countries began to experience a continued, steady growth. This slow down can be accredited, for the most part, to a period of ongoing war, beginning in 1848 and ending in 1866 with the Habsburgs' defeat by Prussia. This period of war, and a mounting budget deficit, took resources away from private industry, which discouraged industrial growth. This factor eventually brought the economy to a halt in the years after 1855.
The Habsburgs' wars in the mid 19th century caused considerable economic backwardness through the rest of the 19th century. As other European economies had grown from the 1850s on, the Habsburgs' had shrunk, a consequence of the Habsburgs' continuing wars and Eastern Europe's continuing neutrality.
References
- Fodor & Dávid 2000, p. 35.
Sources
- Adler, Simon (2020). Political Economy in the Habsburg Monarchy 1750–1774: The Contribution of Ludwig Zinzendorf. Cham: Springer Nature.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Fodor, Pál; Dávid, Géza, eds. (2000). Ottomans, Hungarians, and Habsburgs in Central Europe: The Military Confines in the Era of Ottoman Conquest. Leiden: Brill.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)