What stood behind Maria Theresa's forestry policy?
score:18
The industrial revolution obviously had nothing to do with it. Maria Theresa reigned from 1740 to 1780; the Industrial Revolution only began in Britain from around the 1760s and didn't come to Central Europe until much later.
Her laws on forestry were enacted over a period of decades. The measures you cited were clearly motivated by a concern for sustainability, which was a common theme in Habsburg forestry laws at the time.
In 1755, Maria Theresia placed the Viennese Forest into the ownership of the state. Nevertheless, the forest was managed in the same was as before. Forest laws of this time [were published] to avoid, generally, forest destruction and forest devastation.
-Johann, E. "17 Shaping the Landscape: Long-term Effects of the Historical Controversy about the Viennese Forest (Wienerwald)." *The Conservation of Cultural Landscapes (CABI, 2006): 242.
Maria Theresa issued similar laws in both Bohemia and Hungary, For example, her famous ordinances for the Carniola forests in 1771:
The Carniolan forest ordinance issued by the Empress Maria Theresa in 1771, represents a major progress in formal development and practice of sustained forest. Not only does it express a concern for public interest in sustainable forestry, it is also an interesting silvicultural guideline dealing - among other matters - with rejuvenation, reflecting the general spirit of the times.
- News of Forest History, Issue 13-21, 1984
This was by no means a suddenly new development. As early as 1565, Emperor Maximilian issued the landmark Constitutio Maximiliana which attempted to regulate forestry. However, it was under Maria Theresa's rule that population boom and environmental changes necessitated a more concerted effort to conserve and regenerate the forests of the Habsburg domains.
The forestry problem became a really pressing one only in the XVIIIth century, when the draining of the swamps deprived the soil of much of its humidity and the rapid increase of the population was followed by wholesale destruction of forests.
- International Bulletin of Agricultural Law, 1940.
Upvote:1
It was the British (and later European) Agricultural Revolution of the 1700s, not the Industrial Revolution, that brought about this result.
The development of new seeding, hoeing, and weeding technologies made it far more possible to grow crops in "marginal" lands such as forests and swamps. The result was that after stagnating for four centuries from 1300-1700 (the Black Death, Hundred Year's War, various wars between the Hapsburgs and France, including the 30 Years' War), Europe's population resumed its growth in the 18th century.
The resulting use of "non-traditional" land for agriculture threatened the survival of the forests. A way to combat this threat was to require the planting of new trees for each one cut down; both "restoration" and a disincentive to cutting down trees.
More post
- 📝 Why did the Jacobites lose the Battle of Aughrim?
- 📝 How do we know the tonnages U-boats sank?
- 📝 What was Hitler’s personal involvement in the Holocaust?
- 📝 Is there a word for this aesthetic from the late 80s and early 90s?
- 📝 Is there any short summary of John Rowe's theory of horizons about the Incas?
- 📝 Did Stalin prevent the partitioning of Bulgaria by the western Allies after WW2?
- 📝 What is the line of descent from from emperor Louis III to Henry VII?
- 📝 Why wasn't Angelica Schuyler in danger in London despite supporting revolution?
- 📝 Why do more historians state Rome was a superpower, than Persia?
- 📝 When and why did war chariots stop being used?
- 📝 What was this 1917 shell casing used for?
- 📝 How long did it take to make a 16th century arrow?
- 📝 How to research controversial history?
- 📝 Why did the Merovingians and Pippinids adopt Christianity so fervently?
- 📝 Were there any high-ranking female soldiers during the Middle ages?
- 📝 What was Texas called after gaining its independence and why was it called that?
- 📝 Homo Sapiens Sapiens: Are genetic studies to be trusted?
- 📝 Help identifying image of winged robed figure and young man
- 📝 What was entering Grand Central Station like in 1943, especially interior?
- 📝 Why did so many ruling European families hold on to Catholicism during the Reformation?
- 📝 What is 'redemptive anti-Semitism'?
- 📝 How did the Swedish soldiers pray during the Thirty Years' War?
- 📝 in what form did William the Conqueror write the date of his own coronation?
- 📝 How common was the German desire for revenge for the humiliation of 1918 armistice?
- 📝 Can you help identify this European military uniform and medals?
- 📝 When and how did classic "Italian" cuisine come to be?
- 📝 Why were "holding out" outposts a feature of the European war in 1944-5 but not 1940-1?
- 📝 Why didn't America "rent" parts of China?
- 📝 Did more Jews live in Poland than any other country, prior to the Holocaust, because of how Polish laws and people regarded Jews?
- 📝 How has it happen, that Soviet Union, after the win in WW2 did not took German technologies?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What stood behind Maria Theresa's forestry policy?
- 📝 What is the significance behind "40 days" that often appears in the Bible?
- 📝 In WWII, what was behind the very early decision to accept nothing but unconditional surrender in 1941-42?
- 📝 What was the policy on academic research being published beyond the iron curtain?
- 📝 What is the truth behind this speech by (Lord Macaulay)?
- 📝 What was the foreign policy of 1791 France?
- 📝 What is the story behind the tall Northern offshoot on the West Virginia map?
- 📝 What is the historical evidence behind the claim that the Soviet armies perpetrated mass rapes during their stay in Germany?
- 📝 What was the logic behind Stalin's brutality?
- 📝 What defenses did Lee leave behind when the Army of Northern Virginia left for Gettysburg?
- 📝 What is the history behind the stripes on the East India Company's flag?
- 📝 What were the effects of US foreign policy in the South East Asian region in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s on states with capitalist economies?
- 📝 What was the context behind Felix Frankfurter's quote?
- 📝 What were the factors behind the lowest AAA corporate interest rate in U.S bond history during 1946?
- 📝 What was the purpose behind Charles II's charter for Connecticut squatter settlements?
- 📝 What is the meaning behind this Panama joke published in a 1914 newspaper?
- 📝 What was the reasoning behind the Washington Committee's complaint to the Liquor Tax during the Whiskey Rebellion?
- 📝 What is the meaning behind Thomas Nast's political cartoon "Compromise--Indeed!"?
- 📝 What was the impetus behind the British Empire's acquisition of what is now Canada?
- 📝 What was the rationale behind restrictions on camera ownership in post-war Germany?
- 📝 What were the reasons behind Allen W. Dulles resignation?
- 📝 What is the reasoning behind these huge numbers for participants in the Battle of Grunwald 1410?
- 📝 What was the American policy on colonisation and why?
- 📝 What is the symbolism behind the Sauser family crest from Sigriswil, Switzerland?
- 📝 What is the backstory behind the White Sun of Angola?
- 📝 What was the motivation behind prohibiting hunting in King's forests?
- 📝 What was the goal behind the 9 state approval of the United States constitution?
- 📝 What is the science behind lead not contributing to the fall of Rome?
- 📝 What is the historical explanation behind the name of the French village Ramatuelle?
- 📝 What is the secret behind the economic success of Republic of China (Taiwan)?