CONSIDERATIONS SUR LES ANOMALIES CLIMATIQUES DANS LES PRINCIPAUTES DANUBIENNES ENTRE 1783 ET 1785
CONSIDERATIONS ON CLIMATIC ANOMALIES IN THE DANUBE PRINCIPALITIES BETWEEN 1783 AND 1785

Summary/Abstract: This lecture is part of a larger project dealing with the environmental history of South-East Europe in the 18th and 19th century. It will discuss the impact of natural and meteorological phenomena on a multicultural society in a borderland of the Russian, Ottoman and Habsburg Empire. The study assesses this topic from two perspectives: that of contemporary interpretations and that of contemporary intervention measures. The population’s perceptions at the time were permeated by religious concepts, such as divine punishment, while the official perception had only started to be influenced by the rational, enlightened interpretation of the transition period to modernity. The eruption of Laki in 1783 triggered a sudden and serious climate change. The ensuing drop in temperature caused a massive decrease in agricultural production which, in turn, lead to famine in the following years. The effects of this catastrophe in this part of Europe have not yet been thoroughly researched thus far. A great number of chronicles, travel books, memoirs, official documents in Central and Western Europe mention low temperatures, price hikes, poverty and famine. Based on external sources, this research will contribute to the development of historiography on the on climatic anomalies in the Danube principalities between 1783 and 1785 and analyses the impact of weather on the economy of both Romanian countries. In comparison with other Central European countries, the impact of the weather on the two Romanian principalities was rather weak, the economy functioned within its limits; the summer and autumn of 1785 were extremely rich. The main problem of both analysed countries was the plague, which broke out during this period.

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