THE FALL OF THE REPUBLIC 383
Rukavina landed at Zara with an army ; in a few weeks he had occupied the whole of Dalmatia and part of Albania. But trouble arose at Cattaro among the turbulent Boc-chesi ; some of them favoured the Austrian régime as the heir to that of Venice, others, chiefly Orthodox Christians, desired a union then, as now, with the Vladika of Montenegro, while a third party was imbued with French ideas and clamoured for a democratic constitution. The Vladika himself was hostile to Austria, and encouraged a rising in Albania. But General Rukavina conciliated the Cattarini and entered the town without opposition. By the Peace of Campoformio, Istria, Dalmatia, and Cattaro, as well as Venice and her mainland possessions, were ceded to Austria (October 18, 1797).1
   The fall of Venice was on the whole satisfactory to the Ragusans, but the close proximity of the Austrians, who were useful protectors so long as they remained at a safe distance, was regarded as a danger. They sent protestations of fealty to Vienna and to the local Austrian authorities ; their fears were not groundless, for Rukavina did actually intend to violate their neutrality, as appears from a despatch from the Austrian Minister Count Thugut to Count Thurn, who had been appointed Governor of Dalmatia. Thugut disapproved of this project, as he feared that it might cause trouble with the Turks as protectors of the Republic. But he complained to dAjala, the Ragusan Minister, that Ragusa was a hotbed of revolutionary ideas.2 The Emperor, however, expressed his intention of protecting the Republic in every way.
1	Pisani, La Dalmatie de 1797 à 1815, pp. 33 sqq.
2	Ibidpp. 125-126.