engleski

The Quarantines of the Croatian and Slavonian Military Frontier and their Role in the 18th- Century Epidemic Control

The complex system of sanitary cordons along the Habsburg-Ottoman border in the 18th and 19th centuries played an important role in the state's health policy. As an integral part of the Military Frontier, the Cordon relied on the Frontier's military force and its organisational infrastructure. Due to frequent instances of cross-border spread of epidemic diseases (especially the plague), its foremost purpose in times of peace was to contain the spread of disease within the Habsburg territory and control the cross-border movement of people, live stock and merchandise. The Cordon's key institutions were quarantines (German: Kontumaz) which employed medical professionals and implemented state-controlled prevention measures. This paper aims to explore the role of the quarantines in the control and containment of epidemics in the Habsburg lands. The emphasis will be on the quarantines located on the Slavonian and the Croatian Military Frontier, and their function in the period of the Sanitary Cordon system's firm formation during the second half of the 18th century. The sources of the research are contemporary legal acts reflecting the public health policy, travel reports, statistics and other contemporary writings, as well as archival sources consisting of official quarantine reports, acts of local sanitary commissions and plans of quarantine sites. Within the paper's framework, the following topics are examined: the internal organisation of the quarantines and the duties of the personnel regarding management and medical treatment ; modalities of segregation of travellers, merchants and their assets, analysed by their social status, provenance, and their health condition ; cleaning methods that were employed and procedures that were followed in cases of infectious diseases ; the organisation of quarantine sites ; the social and political factors which affected the implementation of ordained preventive measures. In this regard, various difficulties the Cordon faced will be stressed, which show that the implementation of the State's ordinances, although supported by the strict military administration, often depended on a human factor. Finally, paper will evaluate the effectiveness of the segregation and cleaning methods applied in the quarantines and indicate the deficiencies of the Sanitary Cordon system.

Habsburg Monarchy, 18th-19th Century, History of Public Health, Sanitary Cordon, Quarantine, Anti-Epidemic Measures

nije evidentirano