Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22586/ss.24.1.6
Count Ferenc Balassa and Civil Slavonia in the Second Half of the 18th Century
Ivana Horbec
orcid.org/0000-0002-4898-2555
Abstract
As a royal chamberlain, councillor to the Hungarian Lieutenancy Council, Supreme Count of Srijem County, Ban of Croatia-Slavonia, and advisor to Leopold II, Count Ferenc Balassa (1736–1807) was one of the more prominent figures in the politics of the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen in the second half of the 18th century. Balassa has rarely been discussed in Croatian historiography based on sources, often from differing and firm viewpoints. On one hand, he has been seen as a representative of the intelligentsia and an enlightened public servant; on the other hand, as a "foreigner," "Josephinist," and "commissary" of the Habsburg rulers. Balassa spent a significant portion of his career, from 1762 to 1790, in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, where he became acquainted with the local social and political traditions and acted as an intermediary between the estates and the demands of state structures at the local level during the period of enlightened absolutism. His extensive correspondence and other records greatly reveal his personal aspirations, as well as his individual views on the local politics of the time. This paper examines Balassa's role in shaping Habsburg policy towards Slavonian counties, particularly with regard to his education, personal ambitions, and political experience in Slavonia.
Keywords
Ferenc Balassa; Croatian history; Slavonia; Habsburg Monarchy; History of Public Administration; 18th Century
Hrčak ID:
323180
URI
Publication date:
8.12.2024.
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