In Pursuit of Economic Emancipation

The aim of the paper is to explore the interaction between regulatory provisions governing the status of women, which were part of Croatia’s legal system as it developed in the period of history called the short 19th century (1848-1914). The Austrian General Civil Code, the Hungarian-Croatian Trade Code and Industry Act and the Croatian School Act constitute the backbone of the research. More specifically, the focus is on the provisions that enabled the economic emancipation of women in the context of guaranteed gender equality and access to education. Given the economic circumstances in the period under review, the opportunities as well as the restrictions faced by women in the labour market of the time, our intention is to ascertain whether and if so in what way the Austrian and Hungarian-Croatian acts, accompanied by Croatia’s autonomous legislative framework, influenced the process of transformation of the traditional understanding of the status of women in society.