Austrian measures for prevention and control of the plague epidemic along the border with the Ottoman Empire during the 18th century

Abstract

Throughout centuries, policies of states in the Western Balkan region were largely shaped in accordance with the infection outbreaks and consequences of plague epidemics. Austrian policy was not out of the line in this context, so the general aspects of dealing in organisation of military border with the Ottoman Empire were always crucially connected with the reactions towards epidemics. Especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, Austria battled hard to stop expansion of epidemics that during those times mainly fluxed in from the side of the Ottoman Empire. The decisive change came in the 18th century. During this period, the Austrian reaction to plague outbursts at the area of south-eastern Europe was already a product of general rise of sanitary standards in western European regions, where attempts for implementation of some of newest qualities in perception of the quarantine requirements and medicine applications met with complex aspects of life in a turbulent area of military border. Efficiency of measures was instant and sustainable in the long term.

Keywords

• plague
• austrian empire
• ottoman empire
• epidemics
• quarantine