Abstract
This article will discuss the multiple and obscure roles of police officers who worked as informers – especially in the light of the metamorphosis and increase in the number of their roles at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century. From the occasional bounty hunters of the hajduks and their concealers in the mountain wilderness, undercover agents meanwhile became police informers, who operated mostly in taverns and other urban hubs of the Serbian capital. The increased vigilance of the Obrenović regime and their fear for their own safety led to the creation of many new confidants, informers and undercover agents loyal to the dynasty. The unusual development path of a little-known and entirely secondary profession testifies to the changes in the court police system and the growing importance of the concept of security, during the last years of Obrenovićs’ rule. From being a bounty hunter, the undercover agent gradually grew into an unofficial informer and collaborator of the secret police of whatever regime was in power, ready to serve as an agent and part-time informer for a modest financial compensation. Another question is how much the regime could in fact have benefited from individuals who, for personal gain, exaggerated the dangers that threatened the security of the dynasty. The appearance of an increasing number of unscrupulous informers, ready to portray perfectly upright citizens as enemies of the dynasty, did not contribute to security. On the contrary, it created unnecessary noise and increased the confusion, through which the undercover agents managed to obtain their modest monthly fees. The fate of the last members of the Obrenović dynasty, who along with all the networks of police informers and agents were executed in the May Coup of 1903, is the best testimony to the unreliability and unprofessionalism of the various security networks that were created in Serbia at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
Published Version
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