Élet az uradalom árnyékában. Gazdálkodás a belső-somogyi Homokhátságon (1920–1941)[Life in the shadow of the manor. Farming on the sand plains of inner Somogy (1920–1941)]

Kaposi, Zoltán (2024) Élet az uradalom árnyékában. Gazdálkodás a belső-somogyi Homokhátságon (1920–1941)[Life in the shadow of the manor. Farming on the sand plains of inner Somogy (1920–1941)]. AGRÁRTÖRTÉNETI SZEMLE, 65 (1-2). pp. 77-102. ISSN 0002-1105

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Abstract

The essay explores the economic and social changes a traditional farming district underwent between the world wars. The village of Somogyszob, covering 8250 cadastral yokes, lies in an economically and geographically disadvantageous region of Somogy County. The village was unique in the sense that more than two-thirds of its land belonged to the German Prince Hohenlohe, and thus the villagers could only farm a smaller part of the area. The region is characterized by huge forests and several swamps, and only a fraction of the land was arable. The survey shows that the economic model of the villagers had changed, albeit slowly. The most important sector was still farming (field crops, animal husbandry, wine growing, horticulture), but there were possibilities of manufacture and trade. The number of independent manufacturing entrepreneurs and the related activities had grown. The largest change affected the service sector. Trade had become increasingly versatile: apart from traditional general stores the quickly expanding Hangya cooperative became especially influential. More and more cooperatives were formed in the village: already in the 1930s it had a credit union and a dairy cooperative. Infrastucture had improved too: apart from favourable railway connections a public road was built and electricity was introduced. The analysis shows that during the development of market economy village society was no longer an immobile, extroverted community, and increasingly began to adapt to the changes of its circumstances.

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