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Kostas Raptis, Middle classes and middle class culture in Europe, 1789-1914: approaches in modern historiographyThe history of the european middle classes from the late 18th to theearly 20th century is a very wide topic and relates to economic, social,political, gender and culture history. This essay gives a brief overviewof the main subjects regarding it. It draws mainly on (pioneer) germanspeaking,but also on english and french literature. Following the currentdebate, it points to the different social and economic groups making upthe so called ((Bürgertum», to their common characteristics, as well astheir specific culture, the ((Bürgerlichkeit)).More specifically this paper is concerned with the followin subjects:— the composition of the «Bürgertum» and the features of its maingroups (professionals, bourgeois of money and bourgeois of knowledge)— the relevant terminology in german, french and english language— the comparison between upper middle class and nobility— the social position and role of the lowermiddle classes— the relation of the bourgeoisie to liberalism and nationalism— the study of the history of the middle classes in the specific contextof a town or a city (as an urban phenomenon)— the position and role of middle class women in a bourgeois society— the middle class family— the bourgeois way of life and culture in general ; Kostas Raptis, Middle classes and middle class culture in Europe, 1789-1914: approaches in modern historiographyThe history of the european middle classes from the late 18th to theearly 20th century is a very wide topic and relates to economic, social,political, gender and culture history. This essay gives a brief overviewof the main subjects regarding it. It draws mainly on (pioneer) germanspeaking,but also on english and french literature. Following the currentdebate, it points to the different social and economic groups making upthe so called ((Bürgertum», to their common characteristics, as well astheir specific culture, the ((Bürgerlichkeit)).More specifically this paper is concerned with the followin subjects:— the composition of the «Bürgertum» and the features of its maingroups (professionals, bourgeois of money and bourgeois of knowledge)— the relevant terminology in german, french and english language— the comparison between upper middle class and nobility— the social position and role of the lowermiddle classes— the relation of the bourgeoisie to liberalism and nationalism— the study of the history of the middle classes in the specific contextof a town or a city (as an urban phenomenon)— the position and role of middle class women in a bourgeois society— the middle class family— the bourgeois way of life and culture in general

Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα Ελληνικά. ; In the years 1830-1860 the formation of the newly established Greek State was based theoretically and practically on the political views of 19th century European liberalism. In accordance to the liberal beliefs, the Greek state political power was based on a small section of the adult male population. This section disposed additional economic and cultural qualifications compared to the rest of the population of the country. It is worthnoting that only to the above mentioned section of the population the state recognized full civil and political rights. In this context the term eligible citizens is used to describe those social strata which held the above mentioned special qualifications. In view of these qualifications the eligible citizens could not only exercise their electoral rights but they could be also elected or appointed as political, magisterial or administrative officials. Within the framework of the historical study of social stratification in the Greek society, during the period 1830-1860, it is worth concentrating on the analysis of historical sources relevant to the eligible citizens. These sources should supply information about the economic and cultural characteristics of these citizens. Based on this type of approach we present in this study the catalogues of candidate jurymen in the period 1849-1861 concentrating on the analysis of the year 1860. These catalogues constitute an important source of information about the characteristics of the eligible citizens. The candidate jurymen catalogues, for the year 1860, include information regarding the value of estate property, income, profession, age and place of inhabitancy for 8.337 adult men. These men amount to the 3.4% of the over 25 years old male population of the country in 1860. The quantitative analysis of the above mentioned catalogues led to the following general conclusions: In 1860 the greatest percentage of the eligible citizens derived from the middle social strata of property owners and income earners. These strata included mainly land owners, wealthy farmers and merchants. But there was also a much smaller section of social strata of wealthy men who possessed a relatively large amount of estate property and income of the country. The sharp economic inequality observed among the eligible citizens of the country permits the assumption that there was also among them a sharp social inequality. According to this we propose the continuation of the research with a more detailled study. This study will examine particular aspects of economic and social inequalities between the lower, the middle and the higher social strata. The same study will also examine in detail the regional aspect of these inequalities.

Δεν παρατίθεται περίληψη στα ελληνικά. ; Kostas Raptis, Merchants in Imperial Austria during the 'Long' Nine­teenth Century This article, which draws mainly on the Archives of the Austrian Ministry of Commerce, as well as on contemporary works and modern li­ terature, focuses on the examination of the historical course of merchants (above all the whole sale traders and the well suited shopkeepers and retail merchants) in Old Austria as a distinctive group within the Central European bourgeoisie. The contribution of the merchant­magnates (Großhändler) to the industrialization of the Austrian Half of the Habsburg Empire and the formation of a powerful business class, the importance of the involvement of businessmen from abroad in Austrian wholesale and foreign trade, the grip of the state and imperial allegiance in the commercial sector, the social position and the political activity of merchants– primarily at local and regional levels –as well as the attitudes of the multi­ethnic merchant class towards all kinds of nationalist movements in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, are the central issues of this essay. Merchant­magnates, among whom many of foreign provenance or/ and not of Catholic faith (Protestants, Jews and Greek­orthodox) established themselves as the most active entrepreneurial group within the Austrian bourgeoisie during most of the nineteenth century (at least until the 1870s), since they exploited promptly every new opportunity to accumulate and augment their capital and income: in industry, banking, insurance and other share­holding companies, transport, shipping and real estate. The bourgeois status of the Austrian merchants is confirmed for the same period by their participation in all sorts of (bourgeois) associations, their subscription to public benefit causes, their charitable and philanthropic activities. The imperial state's favorable disposition towards entrepreneurs in general and merchants in particular, its recognition and reward of their contribution to the Austrian economy and export trade, of their mercantile knowledge and professional experience, as well as of their charity and philanthropic work, are documented in the appointment of honorary consuls of Austria abroad or of consuls of foreign states in the capital and cities of the Monarchy, the conferring of the highest social distinctions on merchants by Emperor Franz Joseph through award of medals, honorary titles and titles of nobility or the merchants' collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce as elected members and officials of chambers of commerce, as experts, special advisers and commission agents. In addition to the merchants' indirect relations with politics there were direct ones too, in other words their active participation as elected representatives, primarily to municipal councils and secondarily to the local and imperial parliaments of Austria after the constitutional reforms of 1860­1861. During the so­called era of liberalism, from the 1860s up to the mid­1880's, it was mainly german­speaking merchants, who, together with industrialists and other middle class groups, dominated in most towns, whereas in the three decades which preceded the First World War –an era of increasing anti­semitism and nationalism– they had to share power with new emerging petit­bourgeois strata (among them many shopkeepers). The article concludes with a remark on the upheavals caused to the merchant world by the two World Wars and national­socialism, which destroyed the unified economic space of Austria­Hungary, nationalized its cosmopolitan bourgeoisie and finally led to the expulsion, material depravation or/and extermination of such a dynamic and prominent group, like the Jewish merchants and entrepreneurs, followed by the abolition of the capitalist economy by the new socialist regimes in Central and East­Central Europe after 1945.