Nationalism in the Balkans

2021 ◽  
pp. 305-316
Author(s):  
Michael Llewellyn-Smith

This chapter deals with the period of military build-up and preparation for war against Turkey. An important factor was the outbreak of war between Italy and the Ottoman empire in autumn 1911, which weakened Turkey and was seen by the Balkan states as creating a new opportunity. Bulgaria and Serbia signed a treaty and military convention in March 1912. Venizelos, helped by Bourchier of The Times, proposed a similar treaty with Bulgaria, which following lengthy negotiations was signed in May 1912. The main issue to be resolved concerned the division of territory in the event of a successful war. Here Venizelos insisted that there should be no prior agreement on territory. In parallel with these developments the French continued the work of their military mission, and Venizelos and Metaxas had to resolve an awkward problem when the Crown Prince spoke disparagingly about the French mission. Naval procurements and ministerial appointments furthered the preparations for war.

Belleten ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 81 (291) ◽  
pp. 525-568
Author(s):  
Nazan Çi̇çek

This study largely drawing upon the established conceptual framework of Orientalism in Saidian terms shall analyse the British perceptions and representations of the Bulgarian Crisis of 1876, a salient feature of the Eastern Question, as they appeared in British parliamentary debates. It will also make occasional yet instructive references to the coverage of the Crisis as well as the image of the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans which were organic parts of the Crisis, in some influential periodicals of the era such as the Times and the Contemporary Review in order to better contextualize the debates in the parliament. The main point this article shall make is that the Bulgarian Crisis worked as a catalyst in reinforcing the hegemony of the Orientalist discourse in the political construction of the Ottoman Empire as an absolute external Other in Britain at the time. It shall also delve into the construction of the Balkans as an "intimate other" whose Oriental and European features were alternately accentuated during the Crisis with a view to enlist the British public in either supporting or denouncing the Bulgarian uprising. All in all, it will suggest that the Orientalist rhetoric was embedded at the very core of the Victorian British elites' cognitive map, and was also unsparingly employed in negating the domestic political opponents swamping them with negative Orientalist stereotypes.


Balcanica ◽  
2005 ◽  
pp. 151-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cedomir Antic

On the eve of the 1914-18 war, Great Powers had competed for influence in the Balkans. While preparing for the war with the Ottoman Empire the Balkan states were ready to take huge war credits and to place big orders for weapons and military equipment. Foreign Office did not show any interest in involving British capital and industry in this competition. British diplomacy even discouraged investments in Serbian military programme before 1914.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 11-27
Author(s):  
Sait Š. Šabotić ◽  

Already with the defeat at Vienna in 1683. the Ottoman court became aware of the need to adapt to the Western world. The necessity of establishing harmonious relations between the Muslim and non-Muslim populations imposed the undertaking of a series of reforms, which came to full expression with the coming to power of Sultan Mahmud II, who created the conditions for the social modernization of the Ottoman Empire. The enactment of Haticerif by Gulhana in 1839, which formally equated Muslim and non-Muslim subjects in rights, opened the door for further reforms that imposed themselves as a historical necessity, and much less as a result of pressure from the great powers. Under the influence of their thinkers, the population of the Ottoman Empire has been emphasizing its demands for the establishment of a regime that would enable a greater degree of democracy and freedom, which would create conditions for freer trade and better education, since Haticerif of Gulhana. A big problem was also the finances that needed to be reformed in a way to achieve productivity. With such demands, Ottoman society embarked on reforms that remained known as the Tanzimat. It was a time when "ruin and progress were tackled", hence the conclusion that it was the "longest life" of the Ottoman Empire. The planned reforms were particularly difficult to implement in the Balkan provinces. The central Ottoman government showed a lot of inability to quell the local uprisings, regardless of whether they were of a social or national character. A major obstacle in that process was the interference of European powers, which in that way realized their interests and considered the Balkan states as their sphere of influence. Apart from political issues, the difficult situation was also felt in the field of agriculture. Primitive cattle breeding and traditional agriculture could not provide the conditions for meeting all other living needs, which is why the demands of the broadest strata of the population were aimed at liberalization and removing barriers that could lead to the presence of any dependence, especially from greengrocers. In addition to the presence of progressive forces, there were also stubborn structures of society in the Ottoman Empire that wanted to preserve the system that was present before the implementation of reforms. Resistance to the use of Tanzimat in the middle of the 19th century was very pronounced in the Ottoman provinces in the Balkans. In that sense, the reactions of the rural population from the area of the kadiluks Bihor and Rožaj were not absent, primarily to the application of certain decisions in the field of agrarian relations. The key measure was the introduction of tithing, which was considered another new tax among the poorer strata. The response to this measure of the central government was an armed uprising that broke out in 1851. in Bihor and the Rožaje region. It was brutally quelled by military units under the command of Omer Lutfi-pasha. The aim of this paper is precisely to present the circumstances in which this revolt took place and to point out its consequences. While the mentioned riots lasted, Omer Lutfi-pasha carried out certain administrative reforms on the territory of the Bosnian eyalet, which also had their reflections in the area of the Bihor kadiluk. With a stronger connection to the Bosnian eyalet, the kadiluk Bihor with Trgovište (Rožaje) will be formed in its next period as an integral part of that area, and in the spirit of the decisions made in Sarajevo as the new seat of the Bosnian vali.


2021 ◽  
pp. 159-171
Author(s):  
DRAGAN ĐUKANOVIĆ

Since the middle of the 19th century, ideas related to the mutual rapprochement of the Balkan states and the creation of their broader associations have appeared within the ruling circles in Serbia. In that sense, the author analyzes the concepts of the Balkan unions of the rulers from the Serbian dynasty Obrenović (Prince Mihailo, King Milan and King Aleksandar), as well as King Petar I Karađorđević starting from 1860 to 1912. These concepts of the Balkan alliance, whether they were autochthonous or otherwise the result of the influence of the leading political factors of the then European order, did not have a significant foothold in the then public of Serbia. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, the concept of a transient inclusive Balkan alliance aiming to liberate certain parts of the Balkans from the Ottoman Empire prevailed, and after its success in 1912, it was modified by the abandonment of Bulgaria. Also, despite the undoubtedly unfavorable international influences and the aspiration of the Balkan states to round up their ethnic territories, there was no genuine possibility to realize the concept of Balkan interstate solidarity during the second half of the 19th century.


Author(s):  
D.R. Zhantiev

Аннотация В статье рассматривается роль и место Сирии (включая Ливан и Палестину) в системе османских владений на протяжении нескольких веков от османского завоевания до периода правления султана Абдул-Хамида II. В течение четырех столетий османского владычества территория исторической Сирии (Билад аш-Шам) была одним из важнейших компонентов османской системы и играла роль связующего звена между Анатолией, Египтом, Ираком и Хиджазом. Необходимость ежегодной организации хаджа с символами султанской власти и покровительства над святынями Мекки и Медины определяла особую стратегическую важность сирийских провинций Османской империи. Несмотря на ряд серьезных угроз во время общего кризиса османской государственности (конец XVI начало XIX вв.), имперскому центру удалось сохранить контроль над Сирией путем создания сдержек и противовесов между местными элитами. В XIX в. и особенно в период правления Абдул- Хамида II (18761909 гг.), сохранение Сирии под османским контролем стало вопросом существования Османской империи, которая перед лицом растущего европейского давления и интервенции потеряла большую часть своих владений на Балканах и в Северной Африке. Задача укрепления связей между имперским центром и периферией в сирийских вилайетах в последней четверти XIX в. была в целом успешно решена. К началу XX в. Сирия была одним из наиболее политически спокойных и прочно связанных со Стамбулом регионов Османской империи. Этому в значительной степени способствовали довольно высокий уровень общественной безопасности, развитие внешней торговли, рост образования и постепенная интеграция местных элит (как мусульман, так и христиан) в османские государственные и социальные механизмы. Положение Сирии в системе османских владений показало, что процесс ослабления и территориальной дезинтеграции Османской империи в эпоху реформ не был линейным и наряду с потерей владений и влияния на Балканах, в азиатской части империи в течение XIX и начала XX вв. происходил параллельный процесс имперской консолидации.Abstract The article examines the role and place of Greater Syria (including Lebanon and Palestine) in the system of Ottoman possessions over several centuries from the Ottoman conquest to the period of the reign of Abdul Hamid II. For four centuries of Ottoman domination, the territory of historical Syria (Bilad al-Sham) was one of the most important components in the Ottoman system and played the role of a link between Anatolia, Egypt, Iraq and Hijaz. The need to ensure the Hajj with symbols of Sultan power and patronage over the shrines of Mecca and Medina each year determined the special strategic importance of the Syrian provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Despite a number of serious threats during the general crisis of the Ottoman state system (late 16th early 19th centuries), the imperial center managed to maintain control over Syria by creating checks and balances between local elites. In the 19th century. And especially during the reign of Abdul Hamid II (18761909), keeping Syria under Ottoman control became a matter of existence for the Ottoman Empire, which, in the face of increasing European pressure and intervention, lost most of its possessions in the Balkans and North Africa. The task of strengthening ties between the imperial center and the periphery in Syrian vilayets in the last quarter of the 19th century was generally successfully resolved. By the beginning of the 20th century, Syria was one of the most politically calm and firmly connected with Istanbul regions of the Ottoman Empire. This was greatly facilitated by a fairly high level of public safety, the development of foreign trade, the growth of education and the gradual integration of local elites (both Muslims and Christians) into Ottoman state and social mechanisms. Syrias position in the system of Ottoman possessions clearly showed that the process of weakening and territorial disintegration of the Ottoman Empire during the era of reform was not linear, and along with the loss of possessions and influence in the Balkans, in the Asian part of the empire during the 19th and early 20th centuries there was a parallel process of imperial consolidation.


Author(s):  
Stefanos Katsikas

Drawing from a wide range of primary archival and secondary Greek, Bulgarian, and Turkish sources, the book explores the way the Muslim populations of Greece were ruled by state authorities from Greece’s political emancipation from the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s up to the country’s entrance into World War II, in October 1940. In particular, the book examines how state rule influenced the development of the Muslim populations’ collective identity as a minority and how it affected Muslim relations with the Greek authorities, Greek Orthodox Christians, and other ethnic and religious groups. Greece was the first country to become an independent state in the Balkans and a pioneer in experimenting with minority issues. With regards to its Muslim populations, Greece’s ruling framework, and many of the country’s state administrative measures and patterns were to serve as a template at a later stage in other Christian Orthodox Balkan states with Muslim minorities (e.g., Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Cyprus): Muslim religious officials were empowered with authorities they did not have in Ottoman times, and aspects of Islamic law (sharia) were incorporated into the state legal system to be used for Muslim family and property affairs. The book shows that these and any policies can be ambivalent and cannot be a guide to present-day solutions. It also argues that religion remained a defining element and that religious nationalism and public institutions played an important role in the development of religious and ethnic identity.


DIYÂR ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-207
Author(s):  
Munir Drkić

This article considers the presence of Persian within the educational system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the westernmost frontier of the ‘Persianate world’, between the 1860s and the first decade of 1900. Based on a survey of primary sources, such as the first journals introduced in Bosnia by the Ottoman administration, I show that the introduction of new educational establishments in the 1860s and 1870s brought a mass expansion of the teaching of Persian in Bosnia. Even after the Austro-Hungarian occupation of 1878, Persian continued to be taught in old and some newly founded schools. However, the following decades saw a lively debate on the teaching of Persian, highlighting the redundancy of this language in a new social and cultural context. As a result, Persian was completely removed from Bosnian schools at the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to presenting new knowledge about the spread of Persian in the Balkans, and the instruction of foreign languages in the Ottoman Empire, I intend to demonstrate here that a similar process of withdrawing and removing Persian from the educational system was occurring in Habsburg Bosnia simultaneously with the decline of Persian in British India.


Author(s):  
Goran Ilik

This chapter explores the key features of the concept of postnationalism, its modes, and theoretical implications regarding the European Union. The main research intention is to explore the EU as a model and an agent for reconciliation of the Balkan region. For that purpose, the main operative elements of both the South East European Cooperation Process and “Yugosphere” are examined. At the end, it is concluded that the emulation of EU postnational model by the Balkan countries enables the process of reconciliation. Hence, the Balkan states seems to be “forced” to cooperate with each other, in order to achieve their common objective – their full integration into the EU, which strongly confirms the role of the EU as an agent for reconciliation of the Balkans.


2021 ◽  
pp. 231-236
Author(s):  
Michael Llewellyn-Smith

Venizelos, who took the position of War Minister himself, attached high priority to restoring discipline and strengthening the army, knowing that it would be tested in war within a few years. He favored appointments on merit, of the best men regardless of political affiliations, to high positions both in the army and in the administration. His first and most significant appointment was of staff officer Ioannis Metaxas, a dynamic royalist, as his ADC. He decided to bring back Crown Prince Constantine to the position of Inspector General of the army, though he knew that this would displease Zorbas and his former colleagues in the military league. Contrary to the views of the king and crown prince, Venizelos invited a French military mission and a British naval mission to Greece. The missions were generally successful in improving 8training, less so in procurement, where the British were unable to wean the Greek navy off its preference for large capital ships


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