Owing to
Rákóczi's War of Independence (1703–1711), the position of Serbian militiamen in the
Military Frontier of the
Habsburg monarchy was endangered. In 1704 the first Serbian attempts were made to offer their services to
Imperial Russia in the latter's struggle against the
Ottomans. Prior to the beginning of the
Russo-Turkish War (1710–11) Russian Emperor
Peter the Great invited Serbian militiamen and Serbs in general to join the Russian forces. Albanez travelled to St. Petersburg with a
Montenegrin delegation that was sent in 1711 Danilo, Miloradović and Lukačević then organized military operations (such as the attack on
Nikšić). These Serbs in Russian service provided the Russian state with valuable information on political and social matters and the status of Serbs in the Ottoman Empire (primarily those of
Old Montenegro,
Brda and
Old Herzegovina). Peter the Great eventually decided to expand this Serb unit and turn it into a separate Serbian regiment. In 1723 Peter the Great sent Albanez to the
Pomorišje and
Potisje regions of the Military Frontier of the Habsburg monarchy to recruit additional Serbian militiamen. The invitation letter carried by Albanez was signed by Peter the Great on 23 October 1723. On 5 May 1724, Albanez reported from the
Habsburg Kingdom of Serbia that he had recruited ten officers, including one colonel. According to some sources, 459 Serbs emigrated to Russia in 1724, and 600 in 1725. A detailed list of the military unit commanded by Albanez was made in 1726. They formed a small military unit commanded by Albanez and referred to as the Serb Command. In 1727 Albanez was appointed the first commander of the newly established
Serb Hussar Regiment. ==See also==