The Great Longing for Railways - How the Periphery Became Connected with the Centres of Industrialisation

When railways began to revolutionize the transport systems in the middle of the 19th century many people were optimistic and full of hope about the positive effects the new technology would have on society: Trade, cultural and scientific exchange would flourish. The people would learn to know and understand each other better. Resentment, envy and hate would vanish. These and other visions were expressed in numerous memoranda which trumpeted for the construction of railways all over Europe.

These convictions spread with no less enthusiasm in countries which lacked experience with modern industry. Elites in these rural and agricultural regions of the Northern, Eastern and Southern periphery of Europe were longing for a modernisation of their economy and wished to take part in the success story of modern technology, engineering, and manufacture. They were convinced that economic strength would lead to political power and would pave the way for independence and sovereignty. Given this context, the railways became a central focus for fundamental political debates. The railway question moved to the core of various political and economic reform agendas while the question of economic development became intrinsically connected with progress in this field. Many hoped that railways would break the circulus vitiosus of backwardness and bring the country forward by pushing open the gates to the circle of civilized nations.

As an example one may quote a newspaper published in Lviv in the beginning of the 1850s, which underlined the importance of railways in the environment of the city: "From then on Galicia will be tied to the civilized West by iron chains. The railways will introduce dynamic development and vivid life into the stagnant and inert masses" On a similar note the Kronstädter Zeitung depicted a bright future for the region of Transylvania once it would be integrated into the railway system: "We will be waked up by steam. Railways should lead us to the states of Europe and show us the way by which we will move forward rapidly and not remain where we are. Transylvania will no longer be an unknown country".

The conference is organised by the International Railway History Association and the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe.

More information:
www.lvivcenter.org/en/conferences/railwayconference/