Influence of Czech textile-makers on development of textile industry in Serbia from the beginning to the second half of the 20th century

The main topic of this study is influence of Czech nationals, primarily as immigrants, with capital invested in production of textile and textile products or with expert knowledge and entrepreneurship ability contributing to certain special features of Yugoslav and Serbian textile industry during the period of its development between the two World Wars. In this period the first industrial businesses for ready-to-wear and knitwear clothes have appeared, due to availability of locally manufactured woven and knit fabric, mostly produced from imported thread material. Both their initial establishment and later development were crucially influenced by foreign investments and immigrant workforce, hand-in-hand with craft workshops and communal manufactures specializing in finishing the pre-made products and creating the recognizable brand products. In addition to the predominant foreign capital from Austria, primarily Vienna, the next most important share was that of capital from Czechia, only distantly followed by that from England and Italy, with a significant contribution by the Jewish community from several European countries. At the same time, most of the qualified workforce immigrated from Czechia, including both ethnic Germans and ethnic Czech.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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