Uskok of Senj with a particular focus of the Uskok war

Šesnaesto i sedamnaesto stoljeće vrlo je turbulentno razdoblje, s konstantnim fluktuacijama stanovništva prvenstveno zbog osmanske opasnosti. Osmanlije, od nepoznata plemena u Maloj Aziji u XIV. stoljeću, uzdižu se do jedne od najvećih europskih i svjetskih sila, doprijevši tijekom XVI. stoljeća sve do srca srednje Europe – Beča. Na prostorima hrvatskih zemalja odvijale su se neprestane borbe protiv osmanskih osvajača koje su kulminirale bitkom kod Siska 1593. i velikom pobjedom kršćanstva nad islamom, čime je započeo „dugi turski rat―, a zaključen je mirom u Žitvatoroku 1606. Osmanlije su napredovale gotovo do Kvarnera, a njihova osvajanja na ovim prostorima zaustavila su se pred gradom Senjom, s time da su prethodno zauzeli čitavu Liku krajem drugog desetljeća XV. stoljeća. Uskoci, nazvani kasnije senjski, jer im je glavna baza operacija bio grad Senj, pod austrijskom zaštitom, nisu bili samo pridošlice s pograniĉnog mletačko-osmanskog i austrijsko-osmanskog područja, već i mnogobrojni dobrovoljci iz austrijskog područja koji će kasnije činiti grupaciju pod skupnim imenom senjski uskoci zajedno s građanima Senja. Bez tih triju država, njihovih stalno prisutnih antagonizama, sukoba religija i oportunizma sa svih strana te mletačkih i turskih jataka, nemoguće je zamisliti uskočku borbu. Zanimljiv je to fenomen sjevernog dijela istočne obale Jadrana, koji se u svojim prepadima širio od Istre pa sve Bokokotorskog zaljeva: za jedne zločinci, gusari i odmetnici, za druge heroji, prevodnici „antemurale christianitatis― u borbi protiv osmanskih osvajača i najjeftinija vojska na juţnim granicama Habsburškog Carstva. Uskoci su se povodili za pljačkom iz vrlo jednostavnog razloga: konstantna oskudica i škrti kraj u kojem su boravili. Modus operandi je izgledao otprilike ovako i ponavljao se desetljećima: uskoci bi isplovili na more u pljačkanje turskog teritorija, uz pomoć jataka domognuli se bogatog plijena, Mlečani bi ih gonili s relativno malo uspjeha, kasnije bi Turci Mlečane optužili da im pomažu kada tako lako prelaze preko njihovog teritorija, a Mlečani bi se žalili nadvojvodi koji ih je svaki put umiravao da će ukloniti uskoke iz Senja, znajući vrlo dobro da to neće učiniti sve dok su mu bili korisni. Pri kraju XVI. i početkom XVII. stoljeća tenzije postaju nepodnošljive, što kulminira u mnogobrojnim mletačkim blokadama Hrvatskoga primorja i svaki pokušaj pomirenja i izglađivanja prepreka je bio vrlo efemernog karaktera, što će kulminirati u Uskočkom ratu 1615.-1618. ili ratu za Gradišku. Rat se vodio zbog stoljetnih sukoba i razmirica između „mletačkog lava i austrijskog orla―, a gospodarska komponenta je odigrala veliku ulogu. Podanici jednih i drugih borit će se za banderijalnu svijest, a ne po etničkom principu, u što nas je pokušala uvjeriti romantičarska historiografija XIX. stoljeća. Tijekom i nakon završetka rata istarsko gospodarstvo je bilo upropašteno i neće se oporaviti sljedećih nekoliko stoljeća, a najviše je stradao upravo nedužni istarski seljak. Uskoci su u tom ratu imali epizodnu ulogu, a njihova balada završit će nakon što su velike sile, potpisavši sporazume u Madridu i Parizu, odlučile da im uskoci jednostavno više nisu potrebni te su postali višak kojeg se treba po kratkom postupku riješiti. To se nije dogodilo preko noći, ali uskočko pitanje je prestalo stvarati probleme u odnosima Republike Venecije i Kuće Austrije. Uskoĉko ime ostalo je sinonim za hrabrost i preţivjelo je u narodnoj predaji i epskim pjesmama sve do današnjih dana.The sixteenth and the seventeenth century were highly turbulent periods with constant fluctuations of population primarily because of the Ottoman incursions. Ottomans, who were from an obscure tribe in Asia Minor in the fourteenth century, have risen to be one of the greatest European and world powers all the while advancing towards the heart of central Europe – Vienna. In the areas of the Croatian lands constant struggle was taking place against the onslaught of the Ottoman invaders that came to its peek with the battle of Sisak in 1593. and with a grand victory of Christianity over Islam. Because of the aforementioned situation a „long Turkish war― took place and was concluded with peace in Zitvatorok in 1606. Ottomans advanced almost up to the Kvarner region, and their conquests in these areas halted in the close surroundings of the city of Senj. Before these triumphs, i.e. at the end of the second decade of the fifteenth century, they conquered entire Lika. Uskoks, latter called from Senj, because their main base of operations was the city of Senj which was under the Austrian protection, were not just newcomers from the regions of Venetian- Ottoman and Austrian- Ottoman dichotomy, but were also numerous volunteers from Austrian regions who will later, along with its citizens, form an overall group under the name of Uskoks from Senj. Without these three states, their constantly present antagonisms, their religious conflicts and oportunisms from all sides and also Venetian and Turkish accomplices, it would be impossible to imagine Uskoks struggle. We can observe an interesting phenomena of the northern part of the east Adriatic coast, which in its incursions spreaded from Istria all the way to the bay of Boka. For some they were criminals, corsairs and outlaws, while for the others they were heroes, fuglemans of ―antemurale christianitatis‖ in the conflict against the Ottoman invaders and the cheapest army on southern borders of the Habsburg Monarchy. Uskoks embraced robbery for very simple reasons: constant scarcity and stingy area in which they sojourned. Modus operandi looked approximately like this and it continued unaffected for decades: the Uskoks would sail out to sea with the aim of raiding the Ottoman territory. Thanks to the assistance of their accomplices, they would then procure a vast amount of plunder. Venetians would hunt them down with little or no success, and later the Turks would accuse Venetians of helping the Uskoks since they used to pass over their terrain with ease and the Venetians would then complain to archduke who placated them by saying that he will remove Uskoks from Senj. However, he was fully aware that he would not do such a thing as long as they were useful to him. At the end of the sixteenth and at the beginning of the seventeenth century the tensions were becoming unbearable. Because of this fact, the situation partaining the aforementioned events, culminated in numerous Venetian blockades of the Croatian Littoral and every endeavor of reconciliation was of rather ephemeral character which culminated in the Uskok war in the 1615. which lasted until the 1618., also called the War of Gradisca. The war was fought because of the centennial quarrels and disputes between the ―Venetian lion and the Austrian eagle‖, and the economic component played a major role. Althought the Romanticistic historiography of the nineteenth century tried to convince us that vassals on the both sides would fight for the ethnical principle, it was simply not true because they fought only for the allegiance to the banner. During the war and after its cessation, the Istrian economy was ruined and it would not recuperate in the following centuries. This led to the ungrateful state because of which the innocent Istrian serf suffered the most. In this war the Uskoks had an episodic role, and their ballad terminated after the great powers, by signing the treaties in Madrid and Paris, had decided that the Uskoks were simply no longer neccesary and that they became an encumbrance that was needed to be disposed in a brief manner. However, it did not happen overnight, but the Uskok question stopped creating problems in the relations of the Republic of Venice and the House of Austria. Uskoks name remained a synonym for valor and it survived in folk tales and epic songs hitherto