Oil Empire
Visions of Prosperity in Austrian Galicia
Seiten
2007
Harvard University Press (Verlag)
978-0-674-02541-7 (ISBN)
Harvard University Press (Verlag)
978-0-674-02541-7 (ISBN)
How and why did the promise of oil fail Galicia and the Austrian Empire, which at the beginning of the 20th century ranked third among the world’s oil-producing states? Alison Frank traces the interaction of technology, nationalist rhetoric, social tensions, provincial politics, and entrepreneurial vision in shaping the Galician oil industry.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Austrian Empire ranked third among the world's oil-producing states (surpassed only by the United States and Russia), and accounted for five percent of global oil production. By 1918, the Central Powers did not have enough oil to maintain a modern military. How and why did the promise of oil fail Galicia (the province producing the oil) and the Empire?
In a brilliantly conceived work, Alison Frank traces the interaction of technology, nationalist rhetoric, social tensions, provincial politics, and entrepreneurial vision in shaping the Galician oil industry. She portrays this often overlooked oil boom's transformation of the environment, and its reorientation of religious and social divisions that had defined a previously agrarian population, as surprising alliances among traditional foes sprang up among workers and entrepreneurs, at the workplace, and in the pubs and brothels of new oiltowns.
Frank sets this complex story in a context of international finance, technological exchange, and Habsburg history as a sobering counterpoint to traditional modernization narratives. As the oil ran out, the economy, the population, and the environment returned largely to their former state, reminding us that there is nothing ineluctable about the consequences of industrial development.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Austrian Empire ranked third among the world's oil-producing states (surpassed only by the United States and Russia), and accounted for five percent of global oil production. By 1918, the Central Powers did not have enough oil to maintain a modern military. How and why did the promise of oil fail Galicia (the province producing the oil) and the Empire?
In a brilliantly conceived work, Alison Frank traces the interaction of technology, nationalist rhetoric, social tensions, provincial politics, and entrepreneurial vision in shaping the Galician oil industry. She portrays this often overlooked oil boom's transformation of the environment, and its reorientation of religious and social divisions that had defined a previously agrarian population, as surprising alliances among traditional foes sprang up among workers and entrepreneurs, at the workplace, and in the pubs and brothels of new oiltowns.
Frank sets this complex story in a context of international finance, technological exchange, and Habsburg history as a sobering counterpoint to traditional modernization narratives. As the oil ran out, the economy, the population, and the environment returned largely to their former state, reminding us that there is nothing ineluctable about the consequences of industrial development.
Alison Fleig Frank is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University.
* Acknowledgments * Note on Translation * Introduction *1. The Land Where Salt and Oil Flowed: Austrian Galicia *2. Glacian California: Battle for Land and Mineral Rights *3. Petroleum Fever: Foreign Entepreneurs and a New National Industry *4. The Boys Don't Sleep at Home: Workers' Dreams of Wealth and Independence *5. Oil City: The Epidemic of Overproduction *6. Blood of the Earth: The Crisis of World War I *7. A Hotly Disputed Territory: The Struggle for Galicia * Conclusion * Appendix: Data on Oil Production * Notes * Archival and Primary Sources * Index
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 15.10.2007 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Harvard Historical Studies |
| Zusatzinfo | 12 halftones, 4 maps, 6 charts |
| Verlagsort | Cambridge, Mass |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 156 x 235 mm |
| Themenwelt | Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte |
| Technik ► Elektrotechnik / Energietechnik | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-674-02541-5 / 0674025415 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-674-02541-7 / 9780674025417 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
aus dem Bereich
eine kleine Soziologie des Heavy Metal
Buch | Softcover (2023)
Kohlhammer (Verlag)
CHF 29,90
Projekte, Visionen, Luftschlösser
Buch | Hardcover (2023)
Lehmstedt Verlag
CHF 41,95
