scholarly journals THE ROAD TO PEACE IN THE BALKANS IS PAVED WITH BAD INTENTIONS

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-154
Author(s):  
Gregory R. Copley
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Independent State ◽  
East Europe ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Road ◽  
South East Europe ◽  
The Stability

It has been long and widely forecast that the security situation in the Balkans — indeed, in South-Eastern Europe generally — would become delicate, and would fracture, during the final stages of the Albanian quest for independence for the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija. The Kosovo region is now a lawless area. It has been ethnically-cleansed of Serbs, and re-populated by Albanians who have progressively and illegally, over the past decades, migrated into the area. Years of so-called peacekeeping by the international community count for nothing. Kosovo’s presence as a nominally independent state, without any of the essential foundations to meet the true criteria for sovereignty, can in no way further the stability of the region, or of Europe. Neither can it serve US strategic interests, unless US interests can be defined as a breakdown of viability of Eastern and southern Europe. Not only Kosovo, but all of Albania and other Balkan communities have become captive of the criminal-political movements which owe their power to their alliance with Al-Qaida, Iran, and the Saudi-funded Wahhabist movements. Therefore, new warfare will be supported by many elements of the international Јihadist movements which work closely with Albanian groups such as the KLA along the so-called Green Transversal line (or Zelena Transverzala) — really a clandestine highway or network — which not only carries jihadists but also narcotics and weapons along international supply lines crossing from Turkey and the Adriatic into the Balkans and on into Western Europe. So, the broader battle is now being joined in South-East Europe, in Kosovo, Rashka, the Preshevo Valley, in FYROM, Montenegro, and Epirus being in large part proxy warfare which is symptomatic of the emergence of a new Cold War on a global scale. One can only imagine the negative consequences for Balkan stability if, for example, Turkey’s status changes and Ankara no longer feels obliged to temper its activities, or its use of Islamist surrogate or proxy groups to further pan-Turkish ambitions. On the other hand, we have not yet seen the completion of the break-up of Yugoslavia, and even the wrenching of Kosovo may not complete it. We will then see the dismemberment of some of the Yugoslav parts already independent, perhaps even the dismemberment of FYROM and Bosnia. Perhaps those State Department officials will be surprised, too, to see — a decade or two hence — the claims of autonomy emerging for parts of Arizona, Southern California, or Texas, citing the same pretext of “self-determination” now being claimed by those who moved across the borders to occupy Serbia’s Kosovo province. The Balkans region and the Eastern Mediterranean generally are entering a further period of crisis, insurrection, and possibly open conflict. None of the regional states, but particularly Serbia, are doing enough to address the security ramifications of the coming de facto independence of Kosovo. Finally, conflict issues in the Middle East, and specifically in Iraq, and relating to Iran, will continue to have a profound impact on the stability of the Balkans, and vice-versa

The Allies Do Not Come; the Italians Withdraw 1943

2020 ◽  
pp. 151-214
Author(s):  
Stevan K. Pavlowitch
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Independent State ◽  
East Europe ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
South East Europe ◽  
Economic Position ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Fortress Europe

This chapter reviews the outcomes of the Allied victories at Stalingrad and in North Africa at the end of 1942. It analyses the expected assault on 'Fortress Europe', interest in the Balkans, and the mood in the peninsula. The chapter also discusses Yugoslavia's partisans safe base — the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). Along with pro-Allied anti-communist armed groups, they became a concern for the Germans, who wanted to destroy all native enemies, real and potential, before an Anglo-American landing. The chapter then takes a look at Germany's preparations for the imminent Italian withdrawal and the fear of an Allied attack. It also claims that Italy's economic position in the NDH had been weak from the start and its zone was the poorest. Ultimately, the chapter assesses the Italian withdrawal and how the Germans had to take over responsibility for the whole of south-east Europe.

Music in the Balkans

Music ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Samson
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Art Music ◽  
National Narratives ◽  
East Europe ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
South East Europe ◽  
International Visibility ◽  
Agrarian Communities ◽  
Political Communities ◽  
National Perspective

For the purposes of this article, “the Balkans” refers to the territories of present-day Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and the successor states of Former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia). The geographical scope has been determined principally by Ottoman presence and legacy in Europe, though the European part of present-day Turkey is not included. Nor is Hungary, despite the Ottoman presence there, since its cultural history is more closely aligned to Habsburg Central Europe. Conversely, Slovenia, which was never occupied by the Ottomans, is admitted, since it was drawn into the political communities of the two Yugoslav states. These days it is usual to describe the wider region as South East Europe, implying an accommodation to the European project. In contrast to this, the term “Balkans” has acquired pejorative connotations in some circles, signifying what is taken to be the darker past of the region. The art music of the Balkans is not widely known. Of individual composers, only George Enescu and Nikos Skalkottas have achieved anything like international visibility, though Josip Slavenski and Manolis Kalomiris are highly valued in some quarters. As a result, the major studies of art music are by native scholars, and in languages that are arcane to most. Yet there is no option but to persevere, since these studies are in many cases the only source of detailed information, especially given the absence of published scores for much of the repertory. In contrast, the traditional music of the region has been much foraged by scholars from without, and notably by North American academics. Partly because premodern music-making survived longer in the Balkans than in many other parts of Europe, ritual repertories from agrarian communities have highly distinctive qualities, and have often been subject to appropriation, a prey to exoticist agendas from without or to nationalist agendas from within. It is partly to correct an ideologically motivated imbalance in coverage that a number of younger scholars have been giving greater attention to Ottoman-influenced urban traditions from the early 20th century, and to present-day popular music. A separate scholarly thread running through literature on the region concerns the Orthodox chant that is found across the Christian Balkans. There is an industry of publication in this field, much of it dealing with the distribution and provenance of specific manuscripts. It should be noted that although this is a transnational repertory, it is frequently incorporated within national narratives. Once again, it has fallen to younger scholars to mitigate the distorting effects of this national perspective, notably by examining the connections that exist between Orthodox traditions and Ottoman sanat (art) music.

The Role of the Stability Pact for the Security in South East Europe

Der Donauraum ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 47-51
Author(s):  
Donald B. Kursch
Keyword(s):  
East Europe ◽  
South East Europe ◽  
Stability Pact ◽  
The Stability

Shroud and Portrait of a Medieval Ruler

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-223
Author(s):  
Michael Mitterauer
Keyword(s):  
Woven Fabrics ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Medieval Art ◽  
Renaissance Art ◽  
Francesco Petrarca ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
East Europe ◽  
The Road ◽  
South East Europe ◽  
History Of

The research is concerning two unusual evidences of the late Medieval art, which could be seen in the Museum of the cathedral St. Stephan in Vienna. Both of them are related to Herzog Rudolf IV of Austria (1358 - 1365). One artefact in the museum is his silk gold woven shroud elaborated with especial mastership from Chinese silk in Tabriz, a city in present Iran. Especially important for this fabric is that thanks to the interwoven name of the ruler it could be dated precisely. The road of this Near East fabric to Europe and to the tomb of the Herzog in Vienna could be reconstructed. Rudolf IV died suddenly during the visit to his relative Bernabo Visconti in Milano who was one of the richest men in Europe by that time. Probably the fabric was brought across the Silk Road to Constantinople and further across the sea to Genova and to the city of silk Lucca and then to Milano. Such gold woven fabrics from the Islamic world could be found not rarely in the European ruler’s tombs. The second unusual object in the cathedral museum is a portrait of the Herzog. So far this portrait was attributed to a Prague artist. But it could be proved that it originated from Upper Italy and probably was painted by an artist from Verona who was associated to the society around the great humanist Francesco Petrarca. This portrait rises the question about the emergence of early ruler's portraits in Eu-rope and in this aspect is also related to achievements of the „Palaeologus Renaissance“ art in South – East Europe. The two objects are considered as expression forms of the ruler’s funeral culture of the late Medieval age. In the context formed by the comparative approach new possibilities for analysis are created which cross over the traditional methodology of History of Art.

The Technology of Primary Copper Mining in South-East Europe

1979 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Jovanović
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Copper Mining ◽  
East Europe ◽  
North East ◽  
South East Europe ◽  
Direct Knowledge ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Copper Metallurgy ◽  
Mining Works ◽  
Open Cast

Through lack of data, knowledge of primary copper mining has remained for a long time unclear (Bognár-Kutzián 1976, 75; Sherratt 1975, 577). For the same reason, comparisons with the mining of flint, well known in Central and Western Europe, were not possible. This lack of direct knowledge of copper mining has meant that theories concerning the origins of copper metallurgy have been based largely on the results of examination of various copper objects (Tylecote 1976, 5; Rowlands 1971, 210).Recent excavations carried out in SE Europe underline the importance of mining as a new element in the investigation of the beginning of copper metallurgy. Two sites are foremost: Ai Bunar in South Bulgaria and Rudna Glava in North-East Yugoslavia (fig. 1). Mining works of considerable size, attested at Ai Bunar, have not been completely examined (see now Cernych 1978, not available when this report was prepared). According to the published results, it seems to be a combination of open-cast and shaft extraction; the places of exploitation are numerous—eleven of them have been investigated—but this may not be the final total. An ore bed of copper carbonate minerals, mainly malachite and to a lesser extent azurite, has been exposed for a distance of 1·5 km (Cernych 1975, 133; Cernych 1978).

The Conquering Balkan Orthodox Merchant

1960 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Traian Stoianovich
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Aegean Islands ◽  
Merchant Class ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Business Concentration

The origins of a Balkan Orthodox merchant class or classes may be traced back to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Not until the eighteenth century, however, did it become sufficiently strong in wealth and number to capture the trade of Hungary, South Russia, and the eastern Mediterranean. The eighteenth century was a time of expansion of French, German, English, and Russian trade in the Balkans. It was also a time of growth of the trade of Moslem Albanian and Bosnian merchants. But, in terms of its significance to the cultural, political, and general historical evolution of the Balkan peoples, most important of all was the expansion of the Balkan Orthodox merchant: the Greek trader of Constantinople, Salonika, and Smyrna, the Greek and Orthodox Albanian merchant, sailor, and shipper of the smaller Aegean islands, the Greek, Vlach, and Macedo-Slav muleteer and forwarding agent of Epirus, Thessaly, and Macedonia, the Serbian pig-merchant of Šumadija, the “Illyrian” muleteer and forwarding agent of Herzegovina and Dalmatia, who set up business in Ragusa (Dubrovnik) or Trieste, the “Rascian” of Pannonia, and the Greek or Bulgarian of the eastern Rhodope. The Balkan Orthodox merchants were Ottoman, Habsburg, and Russian subjects, but their principal business was to bring goods into or out of the Ottoman Empire. The area of their primary business concentration stretched north and west of the political limits of the Ottoman Empire to Nezhin in South Russia, Leipzig in Germany, Vienna in Austria, and Livorno and Naples in Italy. In western Europe, they succeeded in creating an area of secondary commercial penetration.

Climate Forcing Due to the 8200 Cal yr BP Event Observed at Early Neolithic Sites in the Eastern Mediterranean

2006 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Weninger ◽  
Eva Alram-Stern ◽  
Eva Bauer ◽  
Lee Clare ◽  
Uwe Danzeglocke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermohaline Circulation ◽  
Near East ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
East Europe ◽  
The North ◽  
South East Europe ◽  
Study Interval ◽  
Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation ◽  
Early Farmers

AbstractWe explore the hypothesis that the abrupt drainage of Laurentide lakes and associated rapid switch of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation 8200 yr ago had a catastrophic influence on Neolithic civilisation in large parts of southeastern Europe, Anatolia, Cyprus, and the Near East. The event at 8200 cal yr BP is observed in a large number of high-resolution climate proxies in the Northern Hemisphere, and in many cases corresponds to markedly cold and arid conditions. We identify the relevant archaeological levels of major Neolithic settlements in Central Anatolia, Cyprus, Greece and Bulgaria, and examine published stratigraphic, architectural, cultural and geoarchaeological studies for these sites. The specific archaeological events and processes we observe at a number of these sites during the study interval 8400–8000 cal yr BP lead us to refine some previously established Neolithisation models. The introduction of farming to South-East Europe occurs in all study regions (Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, Bulgaria) near 8200 cal yr BP. We observe major disruptions of Neolithic cultures in the Levant, North Syria, South-East Anatolia, Central Anatolia and Cyprus, at the same time. We conclude that the 8200 cal yr BP aridity event triggered the spread of early farmers, by different routes, out of West Asia and the Near East into Greece and Bulgaria.

scholarly journals The Itineraries of the Orthodox Painters in the Eighteenth Century: The Common Aesthetics in South-East Europe

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenia Drakopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
East Europe ◽  
Orthodox Christian ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Byzantine Art ◽  
South East Europe ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Balkan Area ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Christian Population

<p>During the eighteenth century, the aesthetic preferences of the Orthodox Christian population in the Balkans continued to depend upon the tradition of Byzantine art, which had been the case throughout the period following the Fall of Constantinople. The painters were scattered all over the Balkans, where the Orthodox population had been accustomed since previous centuries to the tastes emanating from Byzantine artistic tradition. The Patriarchate of Constantinople and Mount Athos played a crucial role, on account of their religious and political status, in the movements of Orthodox painters, whose missions and apprenticeships they regulated to a considerable degree. The great number of paintings, the observation of the itineraries of Orthodox painters throughout the Balkan area of the Ottoman Empire and the shared aesthetic of these works supply evidence of the development of a common painting language among the Orthodox population of South-East Europe during the eighteenth century, just before the formation of the nation-states.</p>

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