The Economic Elite’s View of The Countryside from the End of the 18th Century to the Middle of the 20th Century

Abstract

The study aims to interpret the developments of the period through the behaviour of the economic elite in the century and a half preceding collectivisation. During this time, the image of the countryside in the minds of the actors under study changed radically. This was closely linked to the drive towards intensification of land use. The path of development is reconstructed on the basis of the economic elite members’ writings and activities of uncovered during historical research.

The change in the image of the countryside and rural areas is perceived as a long-term process that captures the structural transformation of the century and a half under examination, both in terms of the spatial economy and in terms of thinking about human resources and the pursuit of symbolic capital accumulation. Altogether, it is to presume that the Hungarian economic elite was initially unable to reduce the regional inequalities of the period due to a lack of comprehensive, country-wide, detailed knowledge about development and development potential, and from the second half of the period under review, due to its pursuit of rapid industrial development.