Impact of pre-modern war on forests: The case of the Hungarian-Ottoman Military Frontier (ca. 1521–1690)

Abstract

The paper aims at demonstrating the impact of premodern wars on forest resources. The example studied is Transdanubia (Dunántúl) in present-day Western Hungary which in the early modern times was a site of a lasting military struggle between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary ruled by the Habsburgs for the time being. It is argued that in the military defense of the region, the Hungarian party heavily relied on the usage of natural obstacles, such as marshes, rivers, and woodlands. The region chosen for a qualitative analysis is Western Transdanubia with the River Rába/Raab at its center. Using surveys, defense plans, letters, and other sources it is demonstrated that forests combined with waterways were key elements of the military tactics of the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Hungarian defense system. Forests therefore had a strategic role in the period of the Ottoman wars, and as such were strictly taken care of and administered by landlords, and military personnel.