| Abstract [eng] |
The dissertation analysis the socio-economic development of the Republic of the Two Nations (RTN) in the 16th–18th centuries by analyzing two competing historiographic approaches: the traditional Marxist concept emphasizing internal causes and the neo-Marxist capitalist world system (CWS) theory stressing external causes. The goal of the dissertation is to elucidate different explanations offered by traditional Marxist historiography and the CWS theory of the social economic development of Central Eastern Europe (especially RTN) in the 16th–18th centuries, perform a critical analysis of their assumptions and methodological oppositions and, based on the conclusions of this investigation and historical data, to determine what sort of socio-economic relations were dominant in the RTN in the 16th–18th centuries, either feudal serfdom feudal or peripheral capitalism. The investigation asserts that the essential feature of the second serfdom—the prosperity of the manor estate from the 16th to the 18th cneturies in Central Eastern Europe—was caused by a whole set of external and internal causes. It is shown that the manor estate of that period in the RTN, affected by the West’s developing capitalist relations, was an economy supported by the absolute domination by the master of the serfs oriented toward mercantile production as one of the forms for the master’s accumulation of wealth. It was found that, otherwise than CWS theory asserts, the manor estate in the RTN that was associated with the internal market dominated, and that demonstrates the small dependence on the international markets by the agriculture sector of these states. It concludes that feudal serf relations dominated in the socio-economic structure of the RTN in the 16th–18th centuries, but that is impossible to deny the increasing influence of peripheral capitalism elements in the RTN at that time. |
