Participation of the Subjects of the Habsburg Empire in the Flour Industry of the Right-Bank Ukraine (19th — Early 20th Centuries)

Abstract

The article analyzes the participation of the subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the milling industry of the Right-Bank Ukraine in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was revealed that during the researched period, citizens of the Habsburg monarchy played a prominent role in the flour industry of the Right-Bank Ukraine. It was found that they gave a powerful impetus to the development of the flour industry and the formation of the qualified workforce of mill workers, which in turn became an important factor in accelerating the economic development of the region. It is noted that this was facilitated by the close economic, social and political ties between the two empires and the relevant legislation in the field of trade and industrial entrepreneurship. It is shown that the active participation of Austrians, Hungarians, Czechs and other representatives of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the flour milling industry of the Right-Bank Ukraine ensured their positive influence on the development of milling. It was revealed that the Austrian immigrants expanded advanced technologies, European entrepreneurial and management culture, invested capital in the flour industry. It was found that high professionalism and good reputation of the citizens of Austria-Hungary contributed to their recruitment to the positions of employees, mill workers, therefore, on the Right-Bank of Ukraine specialists from European countries were highly valued and recruited to the most important positions: managing directors, assistant managers, machinists, mechanics. It is shown that many Austro-Hungarian industrial and trading companies had their representative offices on the Right-Bank of Ukraine, through which they sold goods of Austrian and Hungarian production. Steam engines and mill mechanisms manufactured by the Royal Hungarian Engineering Works in Budapest proved very popular in the region’s steam mills. It is proven that with the beginning of the First World War, the entrepreneurship of Austrian subjects began to curtail as a result of a series of laws, according to which German and Austro-Hungarian subjects were obliged to forcibly sell real estate (land, enterprises, firms) that they owned.