“We Have Been Able to do that for such a Long Time”: Peasant Easement and its Abolishment

Of the changes taking place in the agrarian field in 1848 as a consequence of the March Revolution, the abolishment, purchase and regulation of easement were the most significant economic changes that influenced the lives of the majority of the population still making a living by farming and managing the land. The way of land exploitation through peasant easement had been established especially in the eastern Germanic space. In most Austrian countries this was dominant to such a degree that in 1848 almost all land was burdened by some form of easement. This book focuses on easement as an important factor of farming in the Austrian provinces with the emphasis on Carniola and as an integral part of the agricultural economy, where easement sometimes represented an economic resource that was difficult to replace. In this manner it also affected the lives of peasant families and wider social community.