Vanjska politika Dubrovačke Republike (primjer međunarodne suradnje i diplomatske vještine)
Foreign Policy of the Dubrovnik Republic (Example of International Cooperation and Diplomatic Skill)

Summary/Abstract: Foreign policy and diplomatic skills played a key role in the survival and development of the Dubrovnik Republic for more than four and a half centuries. Throughout the period, the Dubrovnik Republic had foreign-policy sovereignty, which was manifest in the fact that it autonomously decided upon its relations with other states (including recognition of other states), signed international contracts, and established and maintained diplomatic and consular relations. Through timely awareness of the advantages of their geopolitical position and through their orientation towards the sea, the people of Dubrovnik entered into numerous international political and trade relations, both with countries in their continental background and with countries throughout, and beyond, the Mediterranean. They were able to assess and utilize such geopolitical and other relevant characteristics wisely and skilfully in the defence of their independence, sovereignty and economic growth, resorting almost exclusively to diplomatic means and diplomatic skill. The Dubrovnik foreign policy was based on the principle of remaining neutral in international conflicts and of stressing its position of the last Christian enclave in south-eastern Europe. As a small country with no military force, Dubrovnik managed to survive by seeking protection of powerful states, such as the Ugric-Croatian Kingdom, the Pope, the Spanish King and, finally, Turkey. In spite of the fact that first the Ugric-Croatian Kingdom, and then Turkey, provided it with “supreme protection”, the Dubrovnik Republic succeeded in establishing and preserving for centuries all relevant components of state sovereignty.

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