ABSTRACT
Theresa's wars not inconsiderable forces, some of wh ich
earned much dis t inct ion, but her sacrifices i n blood were
small, and i n money, moderate. The contributio (war-tax)
reincorporated areas.
This prolonged peace of course made possible a very real
recovery i n many directions. The population increased
very rapidly, large-scale immigra t ion reinforcing the effects
o f a high rate of natural increase. By Joseph II 's reign i t
had risen to a total o f about 9 J mil l ions (just under 6 J
mill ions i n Inner Hungary, nearly 1 , c o o , 0 0 0 i n Transyl-
vania, 6 c o , 0 0 0 i n civil ian Croatia and 7 0 0 , 0 0 0 i n the
Front ie r ) . The g rowth was, of course, especially fast i n
the areas wh ich had been the chief sufferers under the
previous devastation: i n the county of Bacs-Bodrog, the
gain for the country, wh ich could absorb i t easily; i t was
only i n a few areas of the no r th , and i n Transylvania, that
rural congestion began to show itself, and migrat ion down
to the plains drained off most of these local surpluses. In
spite of the g r o w t h of allodial farming, the taxable area of
the country, i .e . , that contained i n 'urbarial ' peasant hold-
ings, mul t ip l i ed fivefold. In many of the former devastated
areas, especially where German colonists were settled,
the whole face of the countryside was changed. Swamps
were drained, forests cleared, land brought under the
plough. Where no sign of human habitation had broken the
solitude, unless the hovel of a gypsy or a Vlach herdsman,
neat villages now stood amid fields of smiling corn. In the
n o r t h and west, where foundations had survived on w h i c h
to build, there was evidence of prosperity and even of luxury. Some of the great landlords here disposed of enormous rent-rolls and other resources. The annual income of Prince Esterhazy, the richest of them, was estimated at over 700,000 florins; that of Count Batthyany at 4co,ooo. Two other magnates had incomes of over 300,000 florins, four more at over 1 co,ooo, and there were many fortunes of ro-60,000 florins. The wealth of the roman catholic church could vie wi th that of the lay magnates: the net income of the Primate-Archbishop was put at 360,000 florins, that of the Bishop of Eger at 80,000 and of Nagyvarad at 70,000.
