Original scientific paper
The Intelligence Service of the Dubrovnik Republic during the Austro-Turkish War, 1737-1739
Zdravko Šundrica
Abstract
The Austro-Turkish War (1737-1739) was merely one in a series of upheavals which befell the Republic of Dubrovnik. Apart from presenting the general circumstances that led to this war, the author analyzes the organization and activities of the Ragusan intelligence service. The information reports which the Senate received from its agents were often of essential value for the security and well-being of the Republic. The broader context of Ragusan foreign policy was in no way hampered by the fact that its intelligence failed to be organized as an independent service. It was established and developed as an integral part of diplomatic service and procedures, under the immediate supervision of the Senate. Ragusan secret intelligence agents in European capitals represented an important segment of the intelligence network. Dubrovnik recruited its secret agents from its own subjects employed in the foreign service, as well as from the numerous merchants and seamen who acted as intelligence sources in times of war and peace. The appendix of this paper contains part of the correspondence between the Senate and two major Ragusan agents during the Austro-Turkish war: Petar Bianchi in Vienna and Nikola Đivović in Hungary.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
11811
URI
Publication date:
5.8.1999.
Visits: 6.404 *