Final Report Summary - FORTR18 (The Forest as Habitat in Transylvania of the 18th Century: Society, Economy and Environment in the Edge of the Hapsburg Empire)
Essential results:
1. The forest in the eighteenth century Transylvania: The over-exploitation of forests and the growing demand for wood, which turned into a wood crisis, offered the opportunity for the protection and safeguarding of forested areas and their resources. Thus, a decisive impulse was given to the regulation of the use of forests, and a leveling of the interests in their use was devised. The over-exploitation was replaced by a regulated forest management, protecting the new tree plantations destined for future use. The birth of the concept of "forest durability" in the eighteenth century was underpinned not only by the fear of a wood crisis which loomed large over Europe due to the destruction of forested areas and their over-exploitation, but also by the ever increasing living standards and later by the advent of the industrial era. The birth of the concept of "sustainability" in the eighteenth century was due to the concerns generated by the wood crisis in Central Europe following not only the destruction and excessive use of forests, but also the increase of living standards.
2. Technical progress and forest conservation. Technical progress in the mining sector also provoked a strong revival in favor of forest conservation. Through the introduction of blast furnaces for smelting ores, the consumption of wood decreased and forests were largely spared from being cut in order to provide the immense quantities of woods required by melting plants. This factor, together with the officials'continuous efforts to ensure the necessary wood to the industry, led to the creation of a specialist corps whose task was the preservation of forests.
However, despite all this, progress was made toward imposing a more evolved forestry regime through the elaboration of a series of measures regarding forest preservation and conservation as well as through the establishment of suitable forms of forest management in order to satisfy the constant wood requirements of the mining industry.
3. The House of Habsburg and Transylvania. The second result was the clarification of the relations between the Viennese authorities and the Transylvanian society in the eighteenth century. For Transylvania, the transition from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century coincided with its transition from one epoch to another: externally, the end of Ottoman domination and the beginning of Habsburg domination, and internally, the transition from the feudal state to the modern form of absolutism. The study shows what type of conflicts were born out of the use of forests in Transylvania, the manner in which they were solved by the Viennese Court, and what resource policies the latter implemented in Transylvania.
4. Conflicts of interest over forests. There were manifold interests linked to forests in Transylvania: those of the normative authority (provincial administration and the nobility), noblemen, peasants, as well as non-owners (manufacturers, miners, civil servants, and soldiers). Therefore, several types of conflicts over forests emerged during the wood crisis: a) conflicts from within the structures of the normative authority. b) conflicts from within the agrarian society (peasants and noblemen); c) conflicts between the military authorities and subjects; d) conflicts between the agrarian and pre-industrial societies; e) conflicts generated by the measures taken by the Viennese authorities. The interests connected to the use of forests generated many tense situations. There were various demands regarding both the manner and content of forest exploitation within certain population groups as well as among interest groups. Following the examination of these conflicts, several types of perception of forests resulted.
5. The forest as obstacle. Forests constituted an obstacle in front of the expansion of settlements at the foot of mountains. The creation of new agricultural lands was achieved only through massive deforestatiion