Trade in Hungary up to the mid-19th century was, according to the data of Hungarian statistician Fenješ Elek published in 1847, "poor and small." An exception is Vojvodina and places in other regions where Serb craftsmen and merchants lived.
Elek highlights Torontal County, which he describes as:
"Torontal is at present (referring to the year 1846 - note by LM) the most developed, the wealthiest county of our homeland; it has the most beautiful and richest towns in the whole country. Craftsmen are numerous in the towns. The trade in Torontal is of very great importance, supported by the Tisa, Mureș, and Begej rivers..."
It sounds somewhat unbelievable that Serbs who had fled to these regions managed to economically strengthen themselves so much compared to the more numerous Hungarians and Hungarian nobles who controlled the majority of the land. However, knowing that Hungarian nobles found it beneath their dignity to engage in trade and crafts, and that jobbagyi (serfs) lacked financial means and were dependent on the land-owning nobles, it is clear that someone else had to take over these activities.
In contrast to the Hungarians, Serbs, along with Greeks and Vlachs, were very adept and diligent in these professions. Greeks and Vlachs, due to their small numbers in certain places, could not organize their social and cultural life and were dependent on Serbs, as they shared the same religion and intermarried, so their assimilation occurred spontaneously and without coercion.
Additionally, it should be noted that Serbs, during the Great Migration of 1690 under Arsenije Čarnojević, were not, as Skerlić writes:
"...a mass of hungry and naked peasants and shepherds, but there were merchants and craftsmen among them, who brought not only money but also skills, expert knowledge, and organizational craftsmanship cooperation to the new homeland. This element, combined with previously settled Serbs who had already long been engaged in crafts and trade, and assimilated co-religious Greeks and Vlachs, created that solid Serbian bourgeois class..."
Serbian nobility in Hungary was small, and that number was becoming increasingly disconnected from its people, striving to conceal their plebeian origins, changing their religion and even surnames. A fortunate circumstance was that the number of bourgeois among the Serbs, especially merchants, was large and wealthy, making them a prominent force in cultural and general advancement in Serbian society. Skerlić portrays their role in cultural development as follows:
"Peasantry was the foundation, support, and reserve force, while the bourgeoisie was the representative and bearer of national ideas and national culture."
The political-geographic position of Vojvodina also had a significant impact on the development of trade. It provided favorable conditions for international trade between Austria and Hungary with Turkey and Serbia. Additionally, the transportation possibilities, at a time when there were no reliable land routes, were provided by rivers.
Trade development was particularly supported by a favorable trade agreement that Austria signed with Turkey based on Article 13 of the Treaty of Požarevac, which allowed merchants of both countries to trade freely in each other's territory with full protection and assistance from local authorities, with the only condition being payment of a fee. Consuls in Turkey were also appointed to oversee trade development and its complete security, as well as passport facilitation for Austrian merchants. Austrian merchants enjoyed the same rights, and possibly even greater, than local merchants. The provisions of this article were also extended in the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739. These provisions, with all their privileges, might have remained unused if the wealthy population from Serbia had not migrated during the Great Migration under Čarnojević.
Certainly, the domestic production of agricultural products and crafts had a tremendous impact on the development of trade in these regions, with the export of agricultural products being particularly significant.
In the chapter "The Role of River Shipping in the Development of Novi Bečej," the assessments and depiction of Hungarian statistician Fenješ Elek are presented, who writes in the Geographical Dictionary of Hungary that Novi Bečej was "the largest grain trading place in the entire monarchy..."
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