Venice’s position on the eastern Adriatic and the Balkans after 1718 was one of attentiveness without the pretension of expansion, as if to acknowledge that the Republic had reached its peak. Neutrality meant the abandonment of any military operations, a stance that was reaffirmed in 1733, when the problem of the Polish Succession reopened the Austro-French struggle for Italy, and again in 1738, during the Austro-Russian-Turkish war. In both cases, Venice avoided taking part. Now, besides being in the shadow of the Habsburg monarchy, Venetian government leaders were increasingly polarized between pro-Austrian and pro-French factions. Venice’s neutrality did not leave it absolutely “unarmed”; it increased its forces during the wars of the Polish and Austrian successions at significant cost to its already heavily leveraged state budget. Recent detailed study of the secret services reveals no deterioration in Venice’s intelligence system at the government level during the eighteenth century; indeed, we can say that it was particularly active in the Dalmatian and Balkan areas. It monitored developments in Montenegro and the adjacent Ottoman territories, as well as trade and other activities in Dubrovnik and Trieste, which had become a free port in 1719.

The Peace of Passarowitz in Venice's Balkan Policy

IVETIC, EGIDIO
2011

Abstract

Venice’s position on the eastern Adriatic and the Balkans after 1718 was one of attentiveness without the pretension of expansion, as if to acknowledge that the Republic had reached its peak. Neutrality meant the abandonment of any military operations, a stance that was reaffirmed in 1733, when the problem of the Polish Succession reopened the Austro-French struggle for Italy, and again in 1738, during the Austro-Russian-Turkish war. In both cases, Venice avoided taking part. Now, besides being in the shadow of the Habsburg monarchy, Venetian government leaders were increasingly polarized between pro-Austrian and pro-French factions. Venice’s neutrality did not leave it absolutely “unarmed”; it increased its forces during the wars of the Polish and Austrian successions at significant cost to its already heavily leveraged state budget. Recent detailed study of the secret services reveals no deterioration in Venice’s intelligence system at the government level during the eighteenth century; indeed, we can say that it was particularly active in the Dalmatian and Balkan areas. It monitored developments in Montenegro and the adjacent Ottoman territories, as well as trade and other activities in Dubrovnik and Trieste, which had become a free port in 1719.
2011
The Peace of Passarowitz, 1718
9781557535948
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11577/166203
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