War in the Balkans
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War in the Balkans
AN ENCYCLOPEDIC HISTORY FROM THE FALL
OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE TO THE BREAKUP
OF YUGOSLAVIA
Richard C. Hall, Editor
Copyright © 2014 by ABC-CLIO, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a
review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
War in the Balkans : an encyclopedic history from the fall of the Ottoman Empire to the breakup
of Yugoslavia / Richard C. Hall, editor.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–1–61069–030–0 (hard copy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–1–61069–031–7 (ebook)
1. Balkan Peninsula—History, Military—20th century—Encyclopedias. I. Hall, Richard C.
(Richard Cooper), 1950– editor.
DR45.W37 2014
2014014296
949.60 0403—dc23
ISBN: 978–1–61069–030–0
EISBN: 978–1–61069–031–7
18 17 16 15 14
1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook.
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Contents
List of Maps, xiii
Balkan Entente, 1934, 20
Preface, xv
Balkan League, 20
Introduction, xvii
Balkan Pact, 1954, 21
Balkan War, First, 1912–1913, 22
REFERENCE ENTRIES
Balkan War, Second, 1913, 26
Abdulhamid II (1842–1918), 1
Balkan Wars, 1912–1913, Causes, 28
Adrianople, Siege of, 1912–1913, 2
Balkan Wars, 1912–1913, Consequences, 31
Adrianople, Treaty of, 1829, 3
Albania, Italian Occupation of, 1939, 3
Balkan Wars, 1912–1913, Naval
Campaigns, 32
Albania in the Balkan Wars, 5
Balli Kombetar, 33
Albania in World War I, 7
Berlin, Treaty of, 1878, 34
Albania in World War II, 8
Bessarabia, 35
Albanian Uprisings, 1910–1911, 10
Bihać, 36
Alexander I, King of Yugoslavia
(1888–1934), 11
Black Hand, 36
Black Sea Campaign, 1941–1944, 37
Alexander Obrenović, King of Serbia
(1876–1903), 12
Boris III, Czar of Bulgaria (1894–1943), 39
Alexander of Battenberg, Prince of Bulgaria
(1857–1893), 13
Bosnia, Austrian Occupation, 1878, 40
Ali Pasha (1750?–1822), 14
Bosnian Forces, 43
Antonescu, Ion (1882–1946), 15
Bosnian Revolt, 1876, 44
Austria-Hungary in the Balkans during
World War I, 16
Bosnian War, 1992–1995, 45
Bosnian Crisis, 1908–1909, 41
Brioni Agreement, 47
Averescu, Alexandru (1859–1938), 18
vii
viii
Contents
Bucharest, Treaty of, 1913, 47
Dayton Peace Accords, 1995, 91
Bucharest, Treaty of, 1918, 48
Dimitriev, Radko (1859–1918), 92
Bukovina, 49
Dimitrijević, Dragutin (1876–1917), 93
Bulgaria in the Balkan Wars, 50
Djilas, Milován (1911–1995), 94
Bulgaria in World War I, 53
Dobro Pole, Battle of, 1918, 95
Bulgaria in World War II, 57
Dobrudja, 96
Bulgarian “Fatherland War,” 1944–1945, 58
Dodecanese Campaign, 1944, 97
Bulgarian Horrors, 1876, 59
Doiran, Battles of, 1915–1918, 98
Bulgarian-Serb War, 1885, 60
EAM/ELAS, 100
Carol I, King of Romania (1839–1914), 62
EDES, 101
Carol II, King of Romania (1893–1953), 63
Enver Pasha (1882–1922), 102
Ceausescu, Nicolae (1918–1989), 64
Epirus, 104
Cer Mountain, Battle of, 1914, 66
Ferdinand I, Czar of Bulgaria
(1861–1948), 106
Četniks, 67
Chataldzha, Battle of, 1912, 68
Cherniaev, M. G. (1824–1898), 70
Cold War in the Balkans, 70
Constantine I, King of Greece
(1868–1923), 73
Constantinople, Treaty of, 1913, 75
Contested Zone (Macedonia), 1912, 75
Corfu Channel Incident, 1946, 76
Corfu Declaration, 1917, 77
Corfu Incident, 1923, 78
Cretan Crisis, 1896, 79
Crete, Battle of, 1941, 80
Crimean War, Balkan Operations, 82
Croat Forces, 1991–1995, 83
Croat War, 1991–1995, 84
Cypriot Civil War, 1963, 87
Cyprus War, 1974, 88
Fiume/Rijeka, 1919–1924, 106
Gallipoli, 1915, 108
Germany in the Balkans during World
War I, 111
Germany in the Balkans during World
War II, 113
Greco-Italian War, 1940–1941, 116
Greco-Ottoman War, 1897, 118
Greco-Turkish War, 1919–1922, 119
Greece, Invasion of, 1941, 120
Greece in the Balkan Wars, 122
Greece in World War I, 123
Greece in World War II, 125
Greek Civil War, 129
Greek Military Coup, 1909, 132
Greek War of Independence,
1821–1832, 133
Contents
Greens (Montenegro), 134
Macedonian Front, 1915–1918, 176
Handschar SS Division, 135
Macedonian War, 2001, 178
Herzegovina Revolt, 1875, 136
Mahmud II, Ottoman Sultan (1785–1839), 180
The Holocaust in the Balkans, 137
Mahmud Muhtar Pasha (1866–1935), 182
Horseshoe, Operation, 1998, 141
Mărăşeşti, Battle of, 1917, 184
Hoxha, Enver (1908–1985), 142
Mehmet Ali (1769–1849), 185
Ilinden Uprising, 1903, 144
Metaxas, Ioannis (1871–1941), 186
Iron Guard, 145
Michael I, King of Romania (1921–), 187
Italy in the Balkans during World War I, 146
Mihailov, Ivan (1896–1990), 187
Italy in the Balkans during World War II,
148
Mihajlović, Dragoljub “Draža” (1893–
1946), 188
Izetbegović, Alija (1925–2003), 150
Military League (Bulgaria), 189
Janina, Siege of, 1912–1913, 153
Milošević, Slobodan (1941–2006), 190
JNA (Yugoslav People’s Army), 154
Mladić, Ratko (1943–), 192
Kalimantsi, Battle of, 1913, 157
Montenegro in Balkan Events,
1876–1878, 193
Karadžić, Radovan (1945–), 157
Karageorge (George Petrović;
1768–1818), 158
Kemal, Mustafa (1881–1938), 160
Kosovo, Battle of, 1915, 162
Kosovo Liberation Army, 163
Kosovo War, 1998–1999, 164
Kumanovo, Battle of, 1912, 166
Lake Prespa, Battle of, 1917, 168
Lausanne, Treaty of, 1923, 169
Levski, Vasil (1837–1873), 170
Little Entente, 171
London, Treaty of, 1913, 172
Lyule Burgas–Buni Hisar,
Battle of, 1912, 173
Macedonia, 174
Montenegro in the Balkan Wars, 194
Montenegro in World War I, 195
National Schism (Greece),
1916–1917, 197
NATO in the Balkans, 198
Navarino, Battle of, 1827, 199
Nedić, Milan (1877–1946), 201
Neuilly, Treaty of, 1920, 203
Nikola I, King of Montenegro
(1841–1921), 204
North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 205
Novi Pazar, Sanjak of, 207
Obrenović, Milan (1854–1901), 209
Obrenović, Miloš (1780–1860), 210
Odessa, Siege of, 1941, 210
ix
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Contents
Ottoman Counterinsurgency Operations in
the Balkans and Crete, 212
Ottoman Empire, 214
Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Wars, 215
Ottoman Empire in World War I, 220
Papandreou, George (1888–1968), 223
Partisans, Albania, 224
Partisans, Bulgaria, 225
Partisans, Yugoslavia, 226
Pavelić, Ante (1889–1959), 227
Pleven, Siege of, 1877, 228
Ploesţi, Bombing of, 1943–1944, 229
Princip, Gavrilo (1894–1918), 231
San Stefano, Treaty of, 1878, 264
Sarajevo, Siege of, 1992–1995, 265
Sarajevo Assassination, 1914, 266
Sarkoy and Baloyir, Battles of, 1913, 267
Savov, Mihail (1857–1928), 268
Scutari, Siege of, 1912–1913, 269
Selim III (1761–1808), 270
Serbia, Invasions of, 1914, 271
Serbia, Invasions of, 1915, 272
Serbia and the Balkan Wars, 274
Serbia in World War I, 277
Serbian Retreat, 1915, 280
Putnik, Radomir (1847–1917), 232
Serbian War of Independence,
1804–1817, 281
Radomir Rebellion, 1918, 236
Serbo-Ottoman War, 1876, 283
Romania, Invasion of, 1916, 237
Sèvres, Treaty of, 1920, 284
Romania, Invasion of, 1944, 238
Shipka Pass, Battles of, 1877–1878, 286
Romania in the Balkan Wars, 240
Skanderbeg SS Division, 287
Romania in World War I, 242
Slivnitsa, Battle of, 1885, 288
Romania in World War II, 245
Slovene War, 1991, 289
Romanian Campaign in Hungary, 1919, 248
Smyrna, Destruction of, 1922, 291
Romanian Campaign in Hungary,
1944–1945, 249
Srebrenica Massacre, 1995, 292
Romanian Coup, August 1944, 250
Romanian Peasant Uprising, 251
Russo-Ottoman War, 1806–1812, 252
Russo-Ottoman War, 1828–1829, 254
Russo-Ottoman War, 1877–1878, 256
Saint-Germain, Treaty of, 1919, 259
Sakarya River, Battle of, 1921, 261
Salonika, 262
Stalingrad, Battle of, 1942–1943, 293
Stamboliski, Aleksandŭr (1879–1923), 297
Stepanović, Stepa (1856–1929), 298
Storm, Operation, 1995, 299
Süleyman Hüsnü Pasha (1838–1892), 300
Tepelene, Ali Pasha (1744–1822), 303
Tito, Josip Broz (1892–1980), 305
Transnistrian War, 307
Trianon, Treaty of, 1920, 308
Contents
Trieste Dispute, 310
Yugoslavia, 337
Truman Doctrine, 311
Yugoslavia, Axis Occupation Forces in
World War II, 340
Tsolakoglou, Georgios (1886–1948), 313
Tudjman, Franjo (1922–1999), 314
UNPROFOR, 316
Ustaša, 317
Vance-Owen Plan, 1993, 319
Vaphiadis, Markos (1906–1992), 320
Venizélos, Eleuthérios (1864–1936), 321
Vienna Award, Second, 322
Vladimirescu, Tudor (1780–1821), 324
VMRO, 325
Yugoslavia, Collaborationist Forces in
World War II, 342
Yugoslavia, Invasion of, 1941, 345
Yugoslavia in World War II, 347
Yugoslav Military Coup, 351
Yugoslav Overflight Incidents, 1946, 353
Yugoslav-Soviet Split, 353
Yugoslav Wars, 1991–1995, 355
Yugoslav Wars, 1991–1995, Causes, 358
Vukovar, Siege of, 1991, 327
Yugoslav Wars, 1991–1995,
Consequences, 360
Warsaw Pact, 328
Zhekov, Nikola (1864–1949), 364
World War II Peace Settlement in the
Balkans, 331
Zog, King of the Albanians
(1895–1961), 365
Young Turks, 334
Ypsilantis, Alexander (1792–1828), 336
Chronology, 367
Bibliography, 371
Editor and Contributors, 375
Topical Index, 379
Categorical Index, 387
General Index, 393
About the Editor, 411
xi
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List of Maps
Contemporary Balkans, xxi
Bosnia and Herzegovina, xxii
Croatia, xxiii
Serbia, xxiv
The Balkans, 1878–1913, 29
Bosnian Genocide, 1992–1995, 46
Dardanelles/Gallipoli Campaign, 1915, 109
Ottoman Empire, 1877, 217
Balkan Front, 1914–1918, 278
Yugoslavia, 1945, 348
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Preface
Southeastern Europe, also known as the
Balkan Peninsula, has a distinct geography.
It is bordered on the west, south, and east
by significant bodies of water, the Adriatic
Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Black Sea,
respectively. In general, the reverse “S” of
the southern part of the Carpathian mountain
system provides a northern border. The
topography of much of the interior is irregular. The Danube River system provides a
unifying route through much of the region.
The Balkan Peninsula has long maintained a political and cultural identity
distinct from that of Western Europe. The
major defining characteristics were established by the split in Christian ideology in
the eleventh century and the Ottoman
conquest in the fifteenth century. Afterward,
the Balkan Peninsula was largely under the
political control of the Ottoman Empire
from its capital in the ancient imperial city
of Constantinople, and under the cultural
direction of the Orthodox Church, also
based in Constantinople.
Any precise characterization of this
region is very difficult. For purposes of this
volume, the Balkan Peninsula is defined as
that part of southeastern Europe that is
largely Orthodox Christian or Muslim
culturally south of the mountain divide.
This includes the modern states of Albania,
Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia,
Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey.
Other areas that at the time were in political
arrangements with Balkan partners, such as
Croatia and Slovenia, are dealt with only in
the context of those arrangements.
By the beginning of the nineteenth
century, western European ideas based
upon Enlightenment principles had begun
to intrude into southeastern Europe. The
influx of concepts such as reason, rights of
man, and nationalism caused major disruptions throughout the region. The peoples of
the Balkans sought to emulate the perceived
successes of the western European national
states. Conflict and war marked the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the Balkans as the inhabitants adopted national
identities and sought political arrangements
to conform to those identities. Inevitably
these national conflicts attracted the attention of the European Great Powers, who
sought economic and political advantage
from them. This process continued on into
the twentieth century and the cataclysms of
World War I, World War II, and the Cold
War. This volume is intended as a guide to
these conflicts in this region.
All dates in this volume are according to
the Western or Gregorian calendar, even
though it did not come into general usage
in the region until the early twentieth
century. Transliterations from Cyrillic are
xv
xvi
Preface
based upon the Library of Congress system.
Place names are generally given according
to the most common usage, although I have
made an effort to include alternative place
names—i.e., Scutari (Shkodër). Other
names are given according to their time
reference—i.e., Constantinople until 1923,
and Istanbul afterward. I have attempted to
be consistent throughout the locations and
names of the peoples of the Balkans. I take
full responsibility for any errors of fact or
interpretation that appear here.
Introduction
Ottoman domination of southeastern
Europe, often referred to as the Balkans,
began in the fourteenth century. Initial
Ottoman rule provided relative peace and
stability for the region for the next three centuries. This was the pax ottomanica, or the
Ottoman Peace. The long Ottoman decline
began after the Ottoman defeat outside the
city of Vienna in 1683. Throughout the
eighteenth century, Ottoman control of
southeastern Europe receded. This permitted
the intrusion of Enlightenment ideas from
Western Europe at the end of the eighteenth
century. The concept of nationalism,
imported from Western Europe, in particular
caused desires for political change throughout the Balkans. Its influence would provide
the main basis for conflict in southeastern
Europe, lasting throughout the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries. At first the selfidentified nationalities of the Balkans, first
the Serbs, then the Greeks, Romanians,
Bulgarians, and finally the Albanians all
sought to obtain national states, mainly at
the expense of Ottoman rule.
This process lasted throughout the nineteenth century. It began in 1804 with the
Serbian revolt. Although initially the Serbs
acted to redress local wrongs, their revolt
soon assumed nationalist overtones. By
1818, Ottoman authorities in Constantinople
acknowledged the autonomous status of a
small region around Belgrade. Gradually
the Ottoman government granted additional
privileges, which culminated in full
independence at the Congress of Berlin in
1878.
Next, the Greeks sought complete separation from Ottoman authority. Their revolt
against Ottoman rule started in 1821. By
1827, the Greeks, with the help of the
Great Powers, obtained an independent
state. The borders of newly independent
Greece did not conform to the distribution
of Greek-speaking people in southeastern
Europe. Accordingly, the government in
Athens adopted a policy of irredentism.
The withdrawal of the Russians from the
Danubian principalities of Moldavia and
Wallachia in 1856 and the unification of the
principalities under the same prince that
same year marked the establishment of
Romania. The formal end of Ottoman
suzerainty at Berlin in 1878 established a
fully independent Romania.
Due to their proximity to the Ottoman
capital, the Bulgarians were slower to
develop a national movement. A nationalist
revolt against Ottoman rule in 1876 failed.
This failure, however, attracted Russian
sympathy and support. The Russians intervened against the Ottomans the next year,
initiating the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877–
1878. The Russian victory in that conflict
xvii
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Introduction
established a Bulgarian state that technically
remained under Ottoman suzerainty.
Through the Treaty of Berlin of 1878, the
Great European Powers confirmed the borders of the Bulgarian principality as well as
the independence of Montenegro, Romania,
and Serbia.
The Treaty of Berlin satisfied none of the
Balkan states. All sought unification with
their co-nationals in the Ottoman Empire
and, in the case of the Romanians and
Serbs, also those living in Austria-Hungary.
The Romanians additionally recognized a
Romanian minority within the borders of
the Russian Empire in Bessarabia. Sometimes, as in the case of Ottoman Macedonia,
the aspirations of the Balkan states overlapped. After 1878, all of the Balkan states
attempted to realize their national ambitions. National unification was perceived as
the necessary basis for further economic
and political development. National rivalries, however, precluded unified action by
the Balkan states against the Ottomans.
The Young Turk Coup in Constantinople
in 1908, with its stated goals of military
and political reform, motivated the leaders
of the Balkan states to begin diplomatic
talks for a Balkan alliance. They recognized
that they would be less likely to realize their
nationalist agendas at the expense of a revitalized Ottoman Empire. The outbreak of
the Italian-Ottoman war in 1911 provided
further incentive for a Balkan Alliance. In
the fall of 1912, a Balkan League was
formed. It was really a loose series of bilateral agreements.
In October 1912, in the First Balkan War,
the Balkan League overwhelmed the Ottoman Empire. By the spring of 1913, the
Ottoman Europe was limited to a bit of
territory in front of Constantinople and a
part of the Gallipoli Peninsula. In December 1912, an independent Albania emerged
from the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire.
This weak state soon became the object of
contention from its Greek, Montenegrin,
and Serbian neighbors.
The Balkan allies failed to find a formula
for the division of the conquered Ottoman
territories. Consequently, in the summer of
1913, Bulgaria confronted its erstwhile
allies primarily because of disputes over
Macedonia. The ensuing Second Balkan
War was brief but bloody. While Bulgarian
forces were deployed against the Greeks
and Serbs, the Ottomans and Romanians
seized the opportunity to invade Bulgaria
from the southeast and northeast. After a
month of fighting, the Bulgarians sued for
peace. They surrendered territory to all of
the surrounding states.
Even though Austro-Hungarian and Italian objections had barred Serbia from access
to the Adriatic, Serbian troops continued to
maintain a presence in the new state of
Albania after the Balkan Wars. The antagonism between Austria-Hungary and Serbia
continued through 1913 and into 1914. One
consequence was the Sarajevo assassination
on June 28, 1914.
For the Balkan peoples, World War I was
a continuation of the fighting that had
begun in the autumn of 1912. Three
Austro-Hungarian invasions of Serbia in
1914 failed. When the Austro-Hungarians
returned in 1915, they had assistance from
the Bulgarians and the Germans. Bulgarians
were eager to obtain Macedonia, which they
had lost in the Balkan Wars. The Central
Powers quickly overran Serbia and neighboring Montenegro. In an effort to help the
beleaguered Serbs, British and French
forces landed at Salonika. The Bulgarians,
however, stopped and contained them at the
Greek frontier. The war divided Greece into
supporters of the Entente and advocates of
neutrality. This lasted until the summer of
Introduction
1917, when the interventionists, with British
and French military assistance, ousted neutralist King Constantine. Afterward, Greek
troops deployed on the Macedonian Front
alongside the British, French, Italian, and
Serbian forces.
The Romanians had joined the Entente in
the summer of 1916. They quickly advanced
into Austro-Hungarian territory. A rapid
Central Powers counterattack thrust deeply
into Romania. The Russian revolution left
Romania isolated and forced the Romanian
government to accede to terms with the
Central Powers.
An Entente offensive undertaken on
September 15, 1918, broke through the
Bulgarian lines at Dobro Pole. The Bulgarians,
exhausted after six years of intermittent war,
collapsed and sued for peace. The Ottomans
followed soon afterward. In November 1918,
Serbian troops, advancing north from the
Macedonian Front, finally returned to their
homeland. At the same time, Romania
rejoined the Entente.
The conclusion of World War I in
southeastern Europe did not end conflict
there. After a turbulent birth as a nation,
Albania increasingly came under Italian
control. Bulgaria, defeated for the second
time in five years, remained committed to
unification with Macedonia. Montenegro
disappeared into the new South Slav state,
officially called Yugoslavia after 1929.
Yugoslavia, together with the other two Balkan victors in World War I, Greece and
Romania, struggled to maintain the status
quo in the face of foreign and domestic
opposition. The former Ottoman Empire
was revitalized as a secular Turkey under
the leadership of the former Young Turk
Mustapha Kemal Ataturk (1881–1938).
The rise of Nazi Germany and its
demands for foodstuffs and raw materials
brought unprecedented prosperity to the
Balkan states. By the mid-1930s, they all
had strong economic ties with Germany. Bulgaria also was attracted to German revisionism. The failure of the British and French to
protect Czechoslovakia at Munich also made
clear to the Balkan states the fact of German
continental domination. By the time of the
outbreak of World War II in 1939, all of the
Balkan states were in some position of subservience to Nazi Germany. The only possible
exception was Albania, which Italy invaded
and annexed in April 1939. The seizure of
Romanian territory by Bulgaria, Hungary,
and Soviet Russia in the summer of 1940
served to emphasize German domination of
the region.
Actual fighting returned to the Balkans in
the fall of 1940 when Italian dictator Benito
Mussolini (1883–1945) sought to recreate
the Roman Empire by invading Greece
from Italian bases in Albania. Greek resistance soon pushed the invaders back into
Albania. The British hastened to send aid
to Greece. This attracted the attention of
the Germans, who were then planning their
invasion of Soviet Russia in the following
spring, Operation Barbarossa. Hitler decided
to eliminate this potential threat to the
southern flank of Operation Barbarossa. A
pro-British coup in Yugoslavia added
urgency to the German plans. In Operation
Marita, German troops swiftly overran
Yugoslavia and Greece. On the eve of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, all of
southeastern Europe was under the control
of Nazi Germany or its Bulgarian, Hungarian, or Italian allies.
When the Germans invaded Soviet Russia
on June 22, 1941, they received considerable
aid in manpower and material from Romania.
Meanwhile, strong resistance against the
Germans and their collaborators began to
emerge in Greece and Yugoslavia. In both
places this developed into a three-sided
xix
xx
Introduction
conflict among collaborators, pro-Communist
resistance, and anti-Communist resistance. At
the same time, deep in Soviet Russia, the Romanian army shared in the disaster at Stalingrad.
By the summer of 1944, the Red Army was at
the eastern approaches of the Balkans while
the Communist resistance forces in Greece
and Yugoslavia were winning the conflicts
against both the collaborators and the antiCommunists. At the end of the summer, first
Romania and then Bulgaria changed sides,
and began to fight alongside the Red Army.
The Germans undertook a long retreat out of
Greece, Albania, and Yugoslavia.
The victorious Red Army then imposed
Soviet-style regimes in Bulgaria and Romania. The triumphant Partisans of Josip Broz
Tito (1892–1980) did the same thing in
Yugoslavia and Albania. Tito, however,
came to resent the Soviet presence in his
country, and in 1948, he broke off his connections to them. The Albanians utilized
this Yugoslav-Soviet break to rid themselves
of the Yugoslavs. Meanwhile in Greece, the
three-sided fighting of World War II had
morphed into a civil war between pro- and
anti-Communist forces. By 1950, the antiCommunist forces had prevailed in this
conflict, due in part to the considerable
quantities of aid from the United States and
other Western countries.
The next three decades were relatively
quiet in the Balkans. Greece and Turkey
joined the Western military alliance NATO,
while Bulgaria and Romania adhered to the
Soviet-backed Warsaw Pact. Yugoslavia
and, after 1961, Albania remained outside
of the Cold War organizations. Ideology triumphed over nationalism, at least for the
time being. The pax sovietica replicated the
pax ottomanica that had prevailed in
the region up until the nineteenth century.
The death of Tito on May 4, 1980, and the
decline of Soviet power through the
subsequent decade allowed dormant Balkan
nationalisms to revive. Communist regimes
in Bulgaria and Romania quickly collapsed
at the end of 1989. While the Bulgarian Communists conceded power with little resistance,
the Communist regime in Romania fell with
considerable violence. In 1992, the end of
the isolated Communist government in Albania attracted little world notice. This was
mainly because neighboring Yugoslavia was
undergoing ideological and national collapse.
The adhesive qualities of Titoism had eroded
considerably over the 10 years after the Yugoslav dictator’s death. A particularly virulent
nationalism revived throughout Yugoslavia.
A series of bloody wars tore the state apart.
By 1996, Yugoslavia had dissolved into its
national components, with Montenegro and
Serbia still maintaining a loose confederation.
By 2010, not only had the MontenegrinSerbian arrangement ended, but Kosovo had
declared its independence from Serbia. Out
of the six federal states of Titoist Yugoslavia
had emerged seven independent states.
In the aftermath of the nationalist revival
in southeastern Europe, all of the new governments sought inclusion in wider European organizations. Greece and Turkey had
been members of NATO since the Cold
War, and Greece was one of the original
members of the European Union. Bulgaria
and Romania joined NATO in 2004 and the
European Union in 2007. As of this writing,
the other Balkan states are all in the process
of joining both of these international organizations. After two tumultuous centuries
of nationalist conflict in southeastern
Europe, full admission and participation in
international organizations offers at last
some expectations of peace and prosperity
for the region. These were exactly the same
goals the Balkan peoples had anticipated
gaining with the achievement of national
unity.
xxii
xxiii