Between emerging as a settlement in the 7th century to its conquest by Napoleon at the beginning of the 19th, Dubrovnik repeatedly held a significant position beyond what could have been expected of this tiny city-state. Its diplomatic expertise was legendary, its political stamina extraordinary; its merchants, trading throughout the huge Ottoman Empire, enjoyed privileges denied to other Western states. A politically skilled and commercially enterprising ruling class took every opportunity to maximise the Ragusan Republic's wealth. But Dubrovnik also faced the extreme dangers posed by Venetian plotters, Ottoman aggressors, a terrible earthquake in 1667 and, finally, Napoleon. In modern times, the city has survived the besieging Yugoslav army in 1991-92, which heavily damaged but did not destroy Dubrovnik's cultural heritage.