It was a hunting-ground of the West Saxon kings, but, as already stated, was afforested by the Conqueror, whose cruelty in the matter is probably exaggerated by the traditional account.
Yet although the curve of burned lands parallels the curve of afforested lands, afforested lands, afforestation is only a minor part of the problem.
Ban Jellacic, though loyal to the Emperor, had given expression to their aspirations towards unity as early as 1848; but Francis Joseph handed over the Croats and Serbs to Magyar domination (1867), and Dalmatia, the territory of the Austrian Croats, had been neglected by Vienna for years past; thus it was not till the years immediately preceding the war that it was rapidly developed by the construction of ports and railways and the encouragement of tourist traffic. The Slovenes, who inhabited Carinthia and Carniola, had less grounds for discontent, for the barren Karst had been afforested at the expense of the state; but though they were at the very gate of Serbia, they suffered from a shortage of meat, for Hungary obstructed the traffic in livestock in the interests of her great territorial magnates, and Austria bore the brunt of this.
Land once afforested became subject to a peculiar system of laws, which, as well as the formalities required to constitute a valid afforestment, have been carefully ascertained by the Anglo-Norman lawyers.