Senj’s steam-shipping and socioeconomic circumstances at the turn of the 20th century

摘要

The authors of the paper examine the historical and geographical aspects of the emergence, development and decline of Senj’s steam-shipping as the crucial element of the overall social and economic progress of Senj at the turn of the 20th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, owing to the special city autonomy and the modern road connections, the Port of Senj was one of the most important maritime trading centres of the Croatian Littoral and the entire Adriatic in general, and its residents were important participants in social, economic and political turmoil of that time. Steam-shipping development has surely provided the residents of Senj a good market position in the times of demanding economic circumstances. The work also analyses important causes of weakening of Senj's economy, which during the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia isolated the city from the dominant maritime and economic processes, thus heavily influencing the city's socioeconomic situation.