Danube navigation

The importance of the ports of Braila (Wallachia) and Galati (Moldavia) in European trade increased greatly in the 1840s, following the massive British involvement in the Danubian grain market. However, these promising possibilities were hindered by a diversity of natural or artificial obstacles, tolerated by the Russian authorities: the onerous quarantine measures the prevailing climate of extreme illegality, their failure to prioritize the attainment and maintenance of a navigable depth on the Sulina channel and bar, and so on. British consular officials amplified the protests coming from commercial circles, so that the question attained a notable political relevance in the overall context of strained British-Russian relations from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. In this context, the Crimean War provided the opportunity for a resolution of the Danube question, with the anti-Russian coalition unanimous in its resolve to break Russia’s hold over navigation on the river.

Abstract: The security of demand for fossil fuels (crude oil, oil products, natural gas and coal) in the wider Central Europe is determined by energy intensity of economies, economic activity, access to maritime trade and availability of substitutes. Assuming that the Western Balkan countries are (collectively) potential providers of access to maritime trade and specific substitutes, their collective and individual governance (including cross border cooperation, use of infrastructure, urban planning, etc.) determines the actual use of that potential. If the quality of governance is not adequate, it represents an effective barrier to access for overseas traders (to use existing infrastructure), Central European traders (to trade substitutes) and investors into new
infrastructure. The introduction of inadequate governance is a device at disposal of incumbent suppliers to ensure the security of demand. The use of this device remains cost-effective as long as the costs are low, and the resource rents are high. Incumbent suppliers need a certain degree of coordination and coercive capacity of the state to avoid free riders and increase the cost-effectiveness of the device. Such barriers to trade tend to simultaneously increase the costs and risks of supplying energy to some EU consumers and the political risks for the EU as a whole. In the context of climate change, these barriers to access limit policy options and increase the social and political costs of transition to sustainable energy. The countries of the Western Balkan collectively refrain from utilising existing infrastructure and are maximising demand for boondoggle investments in new infrastructure, resource rents and financial liquidity. The likelihood of poverty reduction remains negligible low, while the risks to development aid providers are maximised.

On the section of the Danube between Radujevac and Milutinovac (km 857 to 900), from September 6 to September 20, 1944, a large number of German war and transport ships, as well other watercrafts, have been disabled and sunk by their crews so that they would not fall into the hands of the Red Army and its allies, but at the same time, the ships were also sunken in order to obstruct the waterway and hinder navigation. The greatest concentration of the sunken ships is in the region of Prahovo, i.e. from km 857 to 862 of the Danube course. 74 years after they have been sunken, the remains of the German fleet still pose a serious threat to the navigation in this section of the Danube.

In connection with Romania’s efforts to defend her sovereignty at the Lower Danube, Great Britain reacted according to her own interests, opposing Romania’s intentions to name the Port Captain of Sulina and the Navigation Inspector or to levy custom taxes at Sulina, but, at first, supporting indirectly the Bucharest cabinet in resisting the pressures of Austro-Hungary and Russia (the latter trying to remove the Chilia branch from the European jurisdiction). In the complicated dispute related to the creation of the Mixed Commission of the Danube (an instrument which would have given the dual monarchy a total control over the Danubian sector between the Iron Gates and Galaţi) Great Britain acted as the country most interested in respecting the freedom of navigation on the Danube. But the problem of the prolongation of the European Commission of the Danube made the Foreign Office more open to arrangements with Vienna and St. Petersburg. The negotiations and compensations among the cabinets led to the Conference of London (1883), whose mission was to establish a new international regime of navigation at the Lower Danube. Although Great Britain acted as a supporter of Romania’s participation at the Conference on equal footing with the European Powers, the Foreign Office was more eager to reach satisfactory results in the important problems concerning the prolongation of the European Commission of the Danube and the extension of its jurisdiction to Brăila – the terminus point of the maritime Danube. The favorable solution of these questions was the result of two important concessions made to Austro-Hungary and, respectively, Russia – the approval of the Regulation for Navigation, Police and Supervision between the Iron Gates and Galaţi and, respectively, the detachment of the Chilia Branch from the jurisdiction of the European Commission.
Accused by many contemporaries of sacrificing the Danube for the Nile,Great Britain acted according to her own interests, too little similar with those of Romania, and thus had an important contribution in determining the Bucharest government to look for a direct agreement with Austro-Hungary in the problem of the freedom of navigation on the Danube, that eventually led to Romania’s joining the Triple Alliance (1883).

18. Yüzyılda Tuna Nehri Donanması (1711-1792) adlı bu çalışma ile Osmanlı Devleti’nin, Balkanlarda ve Avrupa’daki hâkimiyetinin adeta sembolü olan Tuna ince donanmasının durumu tespit edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Devletin Avrupa’ya doğru aldığı sefer kararları, donanmadaki tamir ve inşa faaliyetlerinin yoğun bir şekilde başlamasına yol açardı. Bu tamir ve inşa faaliyetleri geniş bir organizasyonu gerektiriyordu. Her şeyden evvel organizasyonu yürütecek en yetkili isimden, hizmetli sınıfına kadar bütün çalışanların hazırlanması, gemi donatmak için ihtiyaç duyulan malzemelerin ve gemi imalatında gerekli olan hammaddelerin, bulundukları yerlerden ilgili tezgâhlara güvenle aktarılması son derece önemliydi. Bunun yanında hem İstanbul’da hem de Osmanlı Tunası üzerindeki tersanelerde, yaptırılması emredilen gemi, çeşitleri ve bu gemilerin özellikleri, söz konusu yüzyılda devletin gemi teknolojisini göstermesi açısından mühimdir. Bütün bu konuların yanısıra donanma personelinin ücretleri, bu ücretlerin karşılandığı kaynaklar, sağlık hizmetleri, gıda ürünleri ve bu ürünlerin sevkiyatı, Tuna’nın güvenliği gibi konular ayrı ayrı başlıklar altında metinde geniş yer bulmuştur.
Osmanlı donanma tarihinin Tuna ayağı, birçok yönüyle incelenerek, Tuna ince donanmasının yeri ve önemi üzerinde durulmuştur. Tuna Nehri’nde, Osmanlı donanmasının siyasi, ekonomik ve teknolojik gelişmelere paralel olarak nasıl bir konumda bulunduğu ve bu konumunun Osmanlı siyasi tarihine etkisi konularına da cevap aranmıştır.

Named as 18th Century Danube River Navy, This study aims to determine the situation of the Danube River navy, which was the literal symbol of rulership for the Ottoman Empire over Balkans and Europe. The expedition decisions made by the government towards Europe paved the way for the navy to be intensively repaired and its construction activities given a go. For the aforementioned to be realized, a comprehensive organization was due. Above all, to run this organization; a competent leader and the preparation of necessary personnel were required, also the equipment needed for the navy and the raw-material necessary for ship manufacturing had to be transported to the shipbuilding yards with safety. Back in that century, the ships ordered to be manufactured both in Istanbul and on Danube, the variety of these ships and their properties were of paramount importance for the government to showcase its shipyard technology. Aside from these, this paper does not fail to shed light on other topics under separate titles such as personnel wages, resources used to cover these wages, health services, safety of Danube, food products and their transportation.
By examining different aspects of this particular historical period of the Ottoman Navy on Danube, the importance and the place of Danube River Navy were covered. As parallel with the political, economic and technological advancements of Ottoman Navy on Danube; its position in history and the impact of this position on the Ottoman political history were evaluated.

Volum apărut cu sprijinul NEC-Institutul de studii Avansate din București Constantin Ardeleanu (n. 1976) este profesor de istorie modernă la Universitatea "Dunărea de Jos" din Galați și long-term fellow la New Europe College, București. Temele sale de cercetare privesc istoria socio economică a sud-estului Europei, cu interes special pentru regiunea Dunării și a Mării Negre. Preocupat de reprezentarea spațiului românesc în descrieri de călătorie, a tradus și editat, singur sau în colaborare, relatări ale câtorva autori străini care au vizitat spaţiul românesc în secolele XIX-XX. Acestea se regăsesc în diverse volume din seria Călători străini despre Țările Române în secolul al XIX-lea

4th International Conference on the Roman Danubian Provinces - Traian and the Danubian Provinces. The political, economic and religious life in the Danubian Provinces. Zagreb, 15-17/XI/2017: Several high-ranking members in Trajan’s general staff were decorated with coronae classicae during the Dacian Wars of 101 – 106 AD. These decorations used to be granted to consular ranking officers for naval military victories over enemy navies. In this context: how and where could naval battles have taken place in a conflict like Trajan’s Dacian Wars?
The conflict scenario, criss-crossed by the Danube and its huge tributary rivers and flanked by the Black Sea Western Coast, proves the vital importance that taking control of fluvial and sea spaces would have had for any army who intended to launch an offensive to or from Roman territory in the early 2nd Century AD.
Furthermore, we should keep in mind the climatic, logistic and purely practical contingencies that prevented Barbarians and Romans from crossing a river like the Danube, usually frozen in the harshest part of winter, with a big army. The unavoidable struggle between Dacians, Romans and their respective allies for the strategic control of the Danube, its tributaries and the Black Sea Western Shore made naval battles between enemy navies inevitable.

У лето 1862. године први државни пароброд Кнежевине Србије је под заповедништвом поморског капетана Божа Радоничића из Доброте, у Боки Которској, Дунавом допловио до Кусјака, у близини Прахова. Већ само име Делиград, које је пароброд добио по бојевима са Турцима на Делиградском шанцу 1806, 1807. и 1809. године, указивало је на важност коју је овај брод имао за тадашњу Србију. У веома бурним историјским временима, Делиград је више од пола века обезбеђивао континуитет пловидбе под националном заставом и због тога се дан његовог упловљавања у српске  воде Дунава обележава као почетак савременог бродарства, односно паробродарства у Србији.
Изложбом Капетани мора и река - Србија и Бока Которска, Музеј науке и технике је обележио 150-годишњицу овог важног датума за историју пловидбе и бродарства у Србији и и укључио се у обележавање и прославу шездесетогодишњице постојања и рада Поморског музеја у Котору. Изложба је пратила историју речног бродарства у модерној српској држави, односно у хронолошком оквиру који обухвата време од почетка 19. века до 60-тих година 20. века, стављајући акценат на учешће помораца из Боке Которске у њеном стварању.

The article summarizes the author’s four year long quest to find a lost antique sundial in the Danube narrows of Romania. Its existence has been mentioned, albeit contradictorily, in several written sources up until 2012. However, our investigations have shown that the sundial was most probably submerged by the rising waters of the Danube river after the construction of the Iron Gates Dam in the early 1970s. With the help of an old navigational chart we track its former GPS location (44,58 N:22,25 E) and based upon its baroque shape inferred from a 1968 drawing we disprove its antique origin. The sundial was most probably carved onto the rock face in 1836 during the building of the adjacent former road, both of which now lie under several meters of water. A brief graphical analysis shows that this vertical direct south dial measured local apparent time quite accurately.

THE DANUBE NAVIGATION AND THE AUSTRIAN-BRITISH TREATY OF JULY 1838
The paper analyses the context in which the British and Austrian governments signed at Vienna, on July 3, 1838, a new treaty of commerce and navigation, which stipulated, in its fourth article, that “all Austrian vessels arriving from the ports of the Danube, as far as Galacz inclusively, shall, together with their cargoes, be admitted into the ports of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and of all the Possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, exactly in the same manner as if such vessels came direct from Austrian ports, with all the privileges and immunities stipulated by the present Treaty of Navigation and Commerce. In like manner, all British vessels, with their cargoes, shall continue to be placed upon the same footing as Austrian vessels, whenever such British vessels shall enter into or depart from the same Ports”. Though initially considering it as advantageous for British merchants and ship-owners, the conservative opposition strongly criticised the treaty, as it was based on a double fallacious foundation: firstly, there were no Austrian ports on the Danube where British sea-going vessels could call, and thus the two signatories agreed upon the terms of entering Turkish ports; secondly, it was contrary to navigation laws to allow Austrian ships loaded at the Danube to sail to British ports. Thus, in 1839, when an Austrian vessel, the “Vallaco”, attempted to enter the port of Gloucester, with a cargo of Danubian grain, it was seized on the ground of violating the navigation laws and then relieved, after the payment of a fine. Proving inoperative and illegal without further legislative measures, the treaty was criticised both by the conservative politicians and the antigovernmental publicists. The paper covers the parliamentary debates and the works of two vocal and influential publicists, William Cargill and David Urquhart, so as to give an idea of the public echo of these agitations, fully revealing the prospects which the British political and economic circles related to the development of the Danube navigation and the exploration of the Romanian Principalities’ resources. In the same time, the treaty is analysed in the context of the strained British-Russian relations in the Near East, after the conclusion of the treaties of Adrianople and Unkiar Skellesi, when the Russian impositions in the way of the Danube navigation became the object of Britain’s diplomatic representations.

После неколико неуспелих покушаја да своје бродарство подигне на ниво паробродарства, Кнежевина Србија је 1862. године купила свој први пароброд. Од Друштва за паробродску пловидбу „Аустријски Лојд“, у Галацу купљен је девет година стари парни тегљач Пјаћенца (Piacenza) који је преименован у Делиград.

In the summer of 1862, the first state owned steamship of the Principality of Serbia has sailed to Kusjak near Prahovo by the Danube river, under the command of the captain Božo Radončić of Dobrota, the Bay of Kotor. Its very name, Deligrad, that steamship got after the battles with Turks at the Trench of Deligrad in 1806, 1807 and 1809, accented the importance that this ship had for the then Serbia. In very turbulent historical times, Deligrad has provided navigational continuity under the national flag, and that is why its coming to Serbian waters of Danube river is marked as a start of modern shipping or steam shipping in Serbia.
By the exhibition Captains of Rivers and Seas - Serbia and the Bay of Kotor, the Museum of Science and Technology marked 150 years of this important date for the history of navigation and shipping in Serbia, and, at the same time, contributed to the celebration of sixtieth anniversary of existence and successful work of the Maritime Museum of Kotor, Montenegro. Exhibition followed the history of river shipping in the modern Serbian state from the start of 19th century to sixties of 20th century, accenting participation of mariners from the Bay of Kotor in its formation.

With the organisation of the Scientific symposium "History of Navigation through Iron Gate Gorge" Museum of Science and Technology - Belgrade marked the 120th anniversary of the ceremonial opening of the Sip Canal, the most important hydropower facility built during the 19th century in the Iron gate sector of the Danube River. The Sip channel was officially opened on September 27, 1896, and was in operation until the construction of the hydroelectric and navigation system Đerdap I in 1969.
On this meeting Gordana Karović presented the paper "Submerged Allied ships as the underwater cultural heritage of the First World War. Iron Gate on the Danube, 1914-1915

Научним скупом „Историја пловидбе Ђердапском клисуром“, одржаним 27. и 28. септембра 2016. године, Музеј науке и технике - Београд обележио је 120 година од свечаног отварања Сипског канала, најважнијег хидрограђевинског објекта изграђеног током 19. века у ђердапском сектору Дунава. Сипски канал је свечано отворен 27. септембра 1896. године и био је у функцији све до изградње хидроенергетског и пловидбеног система Ђердап I 1969. године.
На овом скупу Гордана Каровић је презентовала рад „Потопљени савезнички бродови као подводно културно наслеђе Првог светског рата. Сектор Ђердапа, 1914-1915. година.

Тhe First Royal Serbian Privileged Shipping Company was founded in Belgrade, on August 25, 1891. The first steamship of the Company was Mačva, built in Italy, in the machine shop of Nicolò Odero in Sestri Ponente near Genova. Mačva arrived at the Sava port in Belgrade on July 20, 1893.

In the Collection of the River Navigation of the Museum of Science and Technology - Belgrade, there are a certain number of well-preserved, typologically and chronologically diverse items from the Danube riverbed, about which basic information are given in this article.

The first English book on contemporary Italian writer Claudio Magris, this study examines the connections between space and individual, national and European identity in his works. Magris invites us to cross the borders that enclose private and public spheres in order to discover the otherness within ourselves and reject the fanaticism of self-sameness. Through the recurring image of temporary homes, the book explores Magris’s ceaseless search for meaning and values, aiming at a habitable life, where diversity and tolerance can prevail over all fundamentalisms. With a sophisticated theoretical framework, this innovative analysis involves Magris’s entire fiction and non-fiction writings, down to his most recent, still untranslated collections. With what Pireddu calls “geography of domesticity,” Magris addresses the crucial question of the return to humanism that is moving literature and theory beyond the alleged death of the subject, and confirms the enduring value of the humanities as a critical and constructive tool.

This paper refers to the organisation of the Danubian leech trade in the second quarter of the 19th century, a period when it grew tremendously, in the context of increasing demand for this product on the Western markets. By the early 1830s, the leech trade witnessed a tremendous growth in the Danubian principalities. Large quantities were exported, and their price boomed on the local market, making leeches a luxury product hardly accessible to its customers. Given the product’s strategic
importance for public health, but also with reference to environmental concerns, authorities in Wallachia and Moldavia regulated the trade in leeches. It was the moment when the demand of leeches reached its climax, and French merchants established profitable contacts in the Ottoman Empire, in Wallachia, Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, and Bulgaria. As local consumption was lower than in the West, and marshes were abundant, French wholesalers came to South-Eastern Europe and took over the business of their former Italian, Greek or Jewish providers. These transnational trading connections completely changed the value of otherwise useless marshes. The paper details several aspects related to the profitable leech trade until the 1860s, when its popularity started to decrease, with the coming of other medical practices.

The oldest photograph in the Collection of River Shipping of the Museum of Science and Technology was taken on April 3, 1867. It recorded the moment of ceremonious reception of Prince Mihailo Obrenović in Turnu Severin, a city that the Prince had visited on his return fromConstantinople. It was the second subsequent journey by Prince Mihailo to the Ottoman capital, which was extremely important because on that occasion the Prince received an edict from the Sultan by which the fortified cities were to be handed over to the Serbs and the Ottomans were finally to leave Serbia. This was a huge step for the Principality in obtaining the independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Vienne se distingue comme un grand port fluvial au cœur du continent européen où s’articulent trois échelles commerciales locale, régionale et internationale, au rythme des rapports entre la ville et la résidence impériale qui se partagent l’espace urbain. Son exemple invite à considérer les grands ports fluviaux au regard de leurs spécificités et de leurs ressemblances avec les grands ports maritimes de Méditerranée, d’Atlantique ou de mer du Nord et ainsi à connecter les modèles et études et à dépasser la disciplinarisation de plus en plus aiguë des études historiques. Cela participe encore à la réalisation d’une histoire du Danube qui serait obligatoirement transnationale et donc au renouvellement des perspectives de l’histoire économique et sociale de l’Europe centrale qui n’est souvent envisagée que dans un cadre exclusivement national, si ce n’est local. L’histoire de l’approvisionnement du port de Vienne permet de s’inscrire dans une approche transdisciplinaire des étrangers en ville, de leur intégration et du cosmopolitisme qu’ils nourrissent. Elle traverse les champs historiques et se situe au croisement de l’histoire de l’administration, de l’histoire sociale et d’une géographie historique de la ville.

Прво краљевско српско повлашћено бродарско друштвo основано je у Београду 25. августа 1891. године. Први брод Друштвa био је пароброд Мачва, изграђен у Италији, у машинској радионици Николе Одера, у месту Сестри Поненте (Sestri Ponente) код Ђенове. У савско пристаниште у Београду Мачва је упловила 20. јула 1893. године.

After the WWI larger number of men from the Bay of Kotor entered the river service of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes with headquarters in Belgrade. Those were sailors with experience, but also the ones who just finished the Nautical school at Kotor. Mariners found jobs in Serbia that were none at the sea, and Serbia got educated people necessary to start again destroyed river traffic as soon as possible. One of them was Vladimir Mitrović, born in Budva in 1902 as a legitimate son of Orthodox parents Nikola Mitrović from Budva and Ljubica Medin from Petrovac. This work follows his career in river shipping, then in the Directorate of Maritime and River Transport of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, in the Djerdap administration and as the Port Captain in Veliko Gradište where, when retired, he completed his long and successful career.

The Habsburg dynasty ruled over an empire, which from 1815 until its collapse in 1918 encompassed much of modern-day Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and parts of Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Montenegro and Italy. Modernizing forces throughout the nineteenth century fueled nationalist sentiment, which disrupted the social cohesion in the multiethnic empire. The state fought to counter these trends by reaffirming the positive role and influence it had on people’s lives. Specifically, the Habsburgs supported technological innovations such as river regulation and the rise of steamboats on the Danube, which capitalized on historical associations people had to the river, enhanced the river’s importance to people’s livelihoods, and re-channeled people’s loyalties and connections to both the state and to each other.

„Djerdap is ancient history and a rare natural beauty. It is a symphony of wilderness, elements, extremes, steep cliffs, noisy waterwhirls, endless garden of fragnant lilacs and power of human mind and indelible traces of ancient history“ (Marinko Paunović).
Djerdap section is the name of the middle section of the Danube where the river made its path cutting through the mountainous system of South Carpathian Mountain system. It includes the section of the Danube from Moldova Veche to Turnu Severin on the left bank, and from the village of Vinci to Kostolac on the right bank, with total length of 117 km. When the water levels were low, in some parts it was possible to cross the river and go from Serbia to Romania hopping from one rock to the other. During the low waters, the navigation through Iron Gates had to be completely stopped, and when the water levels were normal, the navigation was very difficult due to the irregular water currents caused by underwater rocks. The more extensive works in the Danube riverbed were performed in the last decade of the 19th century and they represented one of the largest investment projects in Europe in the 19th century.

На току Дунава од Радујевца до Милутиновца (km 857 до 900), у периоду од 6. до 20. септембра 1944. године потопљен је велики број немачких ратних и транспортних бродова и других пловних објеката. Посаде су саме онеспособиле и потопиле пловила како не би пала у руке Црвене армије и њихових савезника, али су истовремено бродови потапани и тако да запрече и онеспособе пловни пут. Највећа концентрација потопљених објеката је у рејону самог Прахова, односно од km 857 до 862 тока Дунава. И после 74 године од потапања, остаци немачке флоте представљају озбиљну сметњу пловидби на овом делу дунавског тока.

In the eve of World War I, Serbian Shipping Company (SSC) had 12 steamships. Those steamships constituted the major part of Serbian trading and passenger fleet, while the Kingdom of Serbia did not have its military fleet. Being aware of the danger for the ships of the Society after the break of diplomatic relations between Austria and Serbia, the management of SSC immediately sent all the vessels to the lower Danube in order to save them from being captured and sunk. However, of ten ships and a number of scows that happened to be in Iron Gate Gorge two days before the proclamation of the war on 28th July 1914, only tugboat "Takovo" with six scows managed to pass through the Sip Channel and sail to safe Serbian-Romanian waters of the Danube.

Пред Први светски рат Српско бродарско друштво (СБД) имало је 12 пароброда који су чинили највећи део српске трговачке и путничке флоте, док ратну флоту Краљевина Србија није ни имала. Предвиђајући опaсност која је настала за бродове друштва по прекиду дипломатских односа између Аустрије и Србије, управа СБД-а је сва своја пловила упутила ка доњем Дунаву како би их склонила низводно од Ђердапа и тако спасла од заробљавања и потапања. Али, од десет бродова и већег броја шлепова који су се 26. јула 1914. године, два дана пре објаве рата, затекли у Ђердапу, само је реморкер „Таково“ са шест шлепова успео да се пробије кроз Сипски канал и отплови у сигурне српско-румунске воде Дунава.

L’agglomération de la Heuneburg dans le sud-ouest de l’Allemagne est l’un des sites archéologiques les plus importants de l’Âge du Fer européen. Les spectaculaires découvertes archéologiques des dernières années indiquent que durant son apogée ce site s’étendait tout au long d’une superficie de 100 hectares, devant regrouper plusieurs milliers d’habitants. Un facteur fondamental expliquant la prospérité de la Heuneburg est sa localisation près du cours du Danube. Dans le cadre de la présente contribution, divers aspects ayant trait à l’étroite relation entre le site et le fleuve seront explorés, incluant la célèbre citation d’Hérodote sur les sources du Danube, la question de la navigabilité du fleuve ou les nouvelles découvertes de fibules qui pourraient être éventuellement mises en relation avec la réalisation de pratiques rituelles.

Апстракт: У чланку смо покушали приказати најважније аспекте ђердапског питања, које се, с обзиром на важност у контексту цјелокупног дунавског питања, налазило на уочљивом мјесту југословенске спољне политике. Ђердапско питање је било средишње питање дунавског проблема у међуратном периоду, а преко њега можемо сагледати и далеко шири контекст у међународним односима, почевши од британског, француског и њемачког утицаја у Подунављу до југословенско-румунских односа, који су имали знатно другачију ноту у односу на оне "видљиве" односе. Питање контроле над Ђердапом је, отуда, било од изузетне важности. Чланак је настао на основу архивских докумената похрањених у Архиву Југославије, Дипломатском архиву Министарства спољних послова и Архиву Војводине, као и на основу релевантне литературе.

Article is dedicated to only one period of work, commitment and creativity of Mladen Djuričić - time that he spent in the River shipping of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. That time left so deep impression on him that until the end of his life it was  the inexhaustible inspiration for his literary works of the most diverse forms. Having passed all the steps in the shipping hierarchy, Mladen Djuričić became the captains of river navigation, the shorter time served as the assistant commander of the Belgrade port, then as the ship's commander, later as an official in the Directorate of river navigation, editor for many years of the journal named „Brodar“ and the president of the Club of the captains of river navigation. Following a career of Mladen Djuričić in river shipping, the emphasis has been placed on some of his lesser known activities, but also on the troubles he had for always holding steadily to his ideals and principles.
Serbian: Чланак је посвећен само једном периоду рада, ангажовања и стваралаштва Младена Ђуричића - времену које је провео у Речном бродарству Краљевине Србије и Краљевине Срба, Хрвата и Словенаца. Јер управо то време је на њега оставило тако дубок траг да му је до краја живота представљало неисцрпну инспирацију за бројна књижевна дела најразличитије форме. Прошавши све степенике у бродарској хијерархији, стигао је до капетана речне пловидбе, краће време био на функцији помоћника команданта београдског пристаништа, затим бродски заповедник, касније чиновник у Дирекцији речне пловидбе, вишегодишњи уредник часописа „Бродар“ и председник Клуба бродарских капетана. Пратећи каријеру Младена Ђуричића у речном бродарству, акценат је стављен на неке његове мање познате активности, али и невоље које је имао држећи се увек и непоколебљиво својих идеала и принципа.

The paper gives a brief history of navigation on the rivers in the Principality and the Kingdom of Serbia, as well as participation of the sailors from the Bay of Kotor in the creation of the Serbian river shipping. Special attention is paid to the turning points in the development of the Serbianshipping until the end of the World War I.

In the eve of World War I, Serbian Shipping Company (SSC) had 12 steamships. Those steamships constituted the major part of Serbian trading and passenger fleet, while the Kingdom of Serbia did not have its military fleet. Being aware of the danger for the ships of the Society after the break of diplomatic relations between Austria and Serbia, the management of SSC immediately sent all the vessels to the lower Danube in order to save them from being captured and sunk. However, of ten ships and a number of scows that happened to be in Iron Gate Gorge two days before the proclamation of the war on 28th July 1914, only tugboat "Takovo" with six scows managed to pass through the Sip Channel and sail to safe Serbian-Romanian waters of the Danube.

The political and economic controversies between the European powers stepped into a new period after the end of the Russo-Romanian-Turkish war of 1877–1878. Among the harsh conditions imposed on the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of
San Stefano which worried the Foreign Office was the return of Russia as a riparian state at the Lower Danube, following the re-annexation of Southern Bessarabia. The opposition of the British diplomats to the practical realization of this treaty led to a considerable increase in the efforts of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to co-operate with Great Britain against Russian expansion towards the Danube Mouths, due to the important British commercial interests in the Danubian region. But, as Salisbury, the British Foreign Secretary, admitted in a private conversation with N. Callimachi-Catargi, the Romanian minister in Paris, the London cabinet “won’t go so far as to take arms” against Russia only for defending the rights of the Romanians. Through secret policy, mutual concessions and compensations, Great Britain and the Russian Empire reached an agreement which solved many of the previous contradictions, including that concerning the Bessarabian issue. Despite these arrangements, British reaction regarding the problem of the freedom of navigation on the Danube was not “a comedy rehearsed in private”. The English plenipotentiaries at the Congress of Berlin “were quite indifferent to the rights and wrongs of the Romanians, but were very much concerned with the possible effects of the settlement of the freedom of the Danube”. Due to the great interests of the London government in maintaining the freedom of navigation, important for the development of the British Danubian commerce, Great Britain insisted for the transformation of the European Commission of the Danube into a strong and independent body, a solid guard for her continuously growing commerce through the Sulina bar. Thus, the extension of the E.C.D. competence to Galaţi, with complete independence of territorial authority, was a partial success for the Foreign Office at the Congress of Berlin.