Shipping and Commodity Flows in the Late Eighteenth-Century Baltic

This study aims to present a comprehensive overall picture of the late 18th-century shipping and maritime trade in the Baltic Sea area. This is done by constructing systematic quantitative series of its volume and scope. Even its international importance is discussed. The principal data consists of...

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Autor Principal: Kaukiainen, Yrjö
Formato: Online
Idioma:inglés
Publicado: Finnish Literature Society / SKS 2026
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Acceso en liña:1458-526X (Print) 2669-9591 (Online)
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author Kaukiainen, Yrjö
author_browse Kaukiainen, Yrjö
author_facet Kaukiainen, Yrjö
author_sort Kaukiainen, Yrjö
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This study aims to present a comprehensive overall picture of the late 18th-century shipping and maritime trade in the Baltic Sea area. This is done by constructing systematic quantitative series of its volume and scope. Even its international importance is discussed. The principal data consists of the Sound Toll Records in their different incarnations, from the Sound Toll Tables to the modern online database (STRO). In addition, data on intra-Baltic shipping has been collected from the Swedish manuscript foreign trade statistics, newspapers published in Danzig, St. Petersburg, Lübeck and Copenhagen as well as from contemporary statistical publications. The Sound Toll Records (as well as most other sources referred to above) only register the numbers of ships, or voyages, while tonnages of ships were not recorded in the 18th century. On the other hand, detailed data about cargoes was collected and from this data the overall commodity volumes can be estimated. This has been done by applying so-called stowage ratios which tell us how much cargo (cubic metres per ton) different commodities required on board ships. The resulting estimates indicate that the commodity flows through the Sound grew very fast (c. 2% a year) from the 1750s to the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars. The volumes of intra-Baltic cargoes (which amounted to about 2/5 of the former) also increased almost as quickly. Such growth rates were very rare in 18th-century Europe. Even compared to certain other important sectors of maritime trade these rates and/or volumes were high, clearly exceeding those of e.g. Far East and West Indian shipping.
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publishDate 2026
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1736752026-05-04T18:58:20Z Shipping and Commodity Flows in the Late Eighteenth-Century Baltic Kaukiainen, Yrjö 18th century Baltic region Foreign trade Maritime transport Merchant shipping Merchant ships thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTM Maritime history This study aims to present a comprehensive overall picture of the late 18th-century shipping and maritime trade in the Baltic Sea area. This is done by constructing systematic quantitative series of its volume and scope. Even its international importance is discussed. The principal data consists of the Sound Toll Records in their different incarnations, from the Sound Toll Tables to the modern online database (STRO). In addition, data on intra-Baltic shipping has been collected from the Swedish manuscript foreign trade statistics, newspapers published in Danzig, St. Petersburg, Lübeck and Copenhagen as well as from contemporary statistical publications. The Sound Toll Records (as well as most other sources referred to above) only register the numbers of ships, or voyages, while tonnages of ships were not recorded in the 18th century. On the other hand, detailed data about cargoes was collected and from this data the overall commodity volumes can be estimated. This has been done by applying so-called stowage ratios which tell us how much cargo (cubic metres per ton) different commodities required on board ships. The resulting estimates indicate that the commodity flows through the Sound grew very fast (c. 2% a year) from the 1750s to the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars. The volumes of intra-Baltic cargoes (which amounted to about 2/5 of the former) also increased almost as quickly. Such growth rates were very rare in 18th-century Europe. Even compared to certain other important sectors of maritime trade these rates and/or volumes were high, clearly exceeding those of e.g. Far East and West Indian shipping. 2026-03-19T13:46:50Z 2026-03-19T13:46:50Z 2026-03-02T18:06:31Z 2026 book 1458-526X (Print) 2669-9591 (Online) https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/111042 9789518588378 9789518588361 9789518588354 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/173675 eng Studia Fennica Historica open access image/jpeg n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/111042/1/9789518588378.pdf Finnish Literature Society / SKS Finnish Literature Society/SKS 10.21435/sfh.29 10.21435/sfh.29 8ceefe60-b6e9-4502-8498-ff110bb0f062 9789518588378 9789518588361 9789518588354 Finnish Literature Society/SKS 147 Helsinki, Finland open access
spellingShingle 18th century
Baltic region
Foreign trade
Maritime transport
Merchant shipping
Merchant ships
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTM Maritime history
Kaukiainen, Yrjö
Shipping and Commodity Flows in the Late Eighteenth-Century Baltic
title Shipping and Commodity Flows in the Late Eighteenth-Century Baltic
title_full Shipping and Commodity Flows in the Late Eighteenth-Century Baltic
title_fullStr Shipping and Commodity Flows in the Late Eighteenth-Century Baltic
title_full_unstemmed Shipping and Commodity Flows in the Late Eighteenth-Century Baltic
title_short Shipping and Commodity Flows in the Late Eighteenth-Century Baltic
title_sort shipping and commodity flows in the late eighteenth century baltic
topic 18th century
Baltic region
Foreign trade
Maritime transport
Merchant shipping
Merchant ships
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTM Maritime history
topic_facet 18th century
Baltic region
Foreign trade
Maritime transport
Merchant shipping
Merchant ships
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTM Maritime history
url 1458-526X (Print) 2669-9591 (Online)
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