تفكيك أوروبا العثمانية - إنشاء دول البلقان القومية

A History of East Central Europe #8

by Charles Jelavich, Barbara Jelavich, تشارلز ييلافيتش

This highly readable and thoroughly researched volume offers an excellent account of the development of seven Balkan peoples during the nineteenth and the first part of the twentieth centuries. Professors Charles and Barbara Jelavich have brought their rich knowledge of the Albanians, Bulgarians, Croatians, Greeks, Romanians, Serbians, and Slovenes to bear on every aspect of the area's history - political, diplomatic, economic, social and cultural.

It took more than a century after the first Balkan uprising, that of the Serbians in 1804, for the Balkan people to free themselves from Ottoman and Habsburg rule. The Serbians and the Greeks were the first to do so; the Albanians, the Croatians, and the Slovenes the last. For each people the national revival took its own form and independence was achieved in its own way. The authors explore the contrasts and similarities among the peoples, within the context of the Ottoman Empire and Europe.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, European History, War

371 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Christopher]

This book is the eighth volume in the series “a history of East Central Europe”, edited by Peter F. Sugar and Donald W. Treadgold. The series of East Central Europe History is to provide an overview of the region, instead of focusing on just one country or section. This volume details the modern history of seven Balkan states, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Serbia and the Slovenia as the focus of the book, beginning with their origins in the Ottoman Imperial history. The goal of this history is the establishment of the Balkan nations as peoples whose political development was hampered by Ottoman conquest.
The book is divided into 19 chapters that begins with the Ottoman Empire, and the conditions in the Empire, which allowed the Christian subjects in the Empire to rebel. The book opens with the Serbian Revolution, and then moves on to the Greek Revolution, distinguishing between the relative unimportance of the Serbian cause, and the much deeper impact that the Greek revolution had on the geopolitical circumstance. The next two chapters elaborate on the establishment of the autonomous Serbian state, and the Greek kingdom. Following this the Jelavichs examine the area of Wallachia and Moldavia prior to 1853. Next the book covers the reforms in the Ottoman Empire in 1876 and the looks at the United Principalities in the same year. The next four chapters detail the Bulgarian struggle for independence, the growing weakness of the Ottoman hold on their European possessions, as the Great Powers of Europe came to exercise power over the Balkan states, and delineate the internal developments of the Balkan states until 1914. The authors then tackle the expulsion of the Ottoman Empire from Europe, and the formation of Albania. The book moves on to examining the nationalities of the Balkans in the Hapsburg Empire, and then briefly they cover the cultural developments of the Balkans as a whole. The book closes with the First World War, the postwar settlement and a conclusion.
The Jelevichs demonstrate that the origins of the rebellions were found in the push for The Industrial revolution, which relegated the Turks to providing raw materials to Europe. This allowed the mostly Orthodox, and primarily Greek Orthodox merchants to be in a strong economic position in the Empire. This boon put the Greeks in contact with main currents of European thought, but also made the life of the average peasant worse, sowing the seeds of rebellion as conditions worsened. To antagonize the situation further the Ottomans were experiencing decentralization in power. The contact with Europe opened them to the nationalist ideas that were in vogue in the eighteenth century, originating in the French Revolution. The authors move to focus on the formation by pointing out the actors and causes in the various revolutions. To the authors credit they give the Philike Hetairia, a secret society important in maneuvering and driving the Greek national cause. The powder keg of tension resulted in a push towards autonomy and independence.
The various movements all required the support of the Great Powers as they sought to keep peace, make gains, and maintain peace. For example, Russia was trusted with the organization of Bulgaria 1878, and came to favor Bulgaria over Serbia, despite common religious ties, due to Bulgaria’s strategic position as a pathway to Constantinople for her armies. Eastern Rumelia, on the other hand, was in the hands of an international commission comprised of the Great Powers. This is a case where Western Europe was directly involved in Balkan affairs. Additionally, Europe provided monarchs for each Balkan country except Serbia. This made each country lean on their respective supporters, and lean even more so on Europe. In this way, the Jelavichs also demonstrate why the Balkans did not develop under the developmental wings of the Ottoman Empire, but of the West. The European Powers sought to maintain peace or gain advantage, in their meddling, and acted as legitimizing agents, especially when the first Greek King, Otto, royal prince of Bavaria, was German, and not Greek. Between the constant diplomatic interventions of Europe, the sympathy they shared with the Christian Ottoman subjects and geopoliticking the Balkan states developed under the tutelage of the Great Powers. The reader is led to see why the Great Powers were so important in the process of the formation of the Balkan states.
Unfortunately, as evident in the thesis of this volume, the two authors wrote under nationalist assumptions. Meaning, that the emergence of the Balkan states is assumed to be the emergence of these national identities long suppressed under the Ottoman imperia system. Beyond the presumed historical exactitude of each nationalist claim, the authors interact with the influence of European ideas on the revolutions only marginally, primarily in the case of the Greek Revolution. This ignores the complexities of a multicultural empire that operated in essentially, a premodern manner, and the relationship of ethnicity and empire, at least in this case. In short, the authors seem to view the role of nationality in an anachronistic manner, impugning the Enlightenment and romantic assumptions inherent to the nationalist idea to that of archaic certitude.
The book draws primarily from a host of secondary sources, except where the authors use cultural works. Naturally, this is not ideal in that the reader is treated to a work based on secondary sources, but on the other hand, this only helps the authors’ goal in establishing a broad understanding of the Balkans in that it synthesizes a multitude of works that center on different aspects into a smaller, digestible, and complete volume. The target of this book is the reader who does not have any particular knowledge in East Central European history, but is looking for an overview. This is most especially helpful for the student who considers specializing in the Balkan region, at least if the student is looking for a nationalist history of the region.

[Yoyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

وجدت الكتاب صوتيا مجانا على تطبيق منطوق للكتب الصوتية

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

good synthesis of the history of 2 centuries, 2 empires, 3 religions, & 7 ethnicities, & it's nice to see patterns & differences between the development of the individual states. plenty of responsibility for events & conflicts of interest placed on the great powers, largely owing to the region's geopolitical importance. could use more coverage of the emerging bourgeoisie, since their role in creating western-inspired states was clearly paramount.